Information on the internet with disseminate. Everyone here who cries "information wants to be free" when the topic of the RIAA comes up needs to recognize that the same goes with your information when it gets on the internet. "Online" and "secure information" are oil and water.
Abrams is simply doing a retread and once the dust settles people will go back to being tired of Roddenberry's creation.
This is a complete retread, why bother? There is so much left unexplored in the Trek Universe, now if he was giving me the story of Kirk's younger brother, who rebelled and became a smuggler, then we might have something. Tell me the story of the people who aren't military officers, much loved by their quadrant spanning government.
There was a slight caustic edge to it but I think that's understandable in this case...
Slightly caustic isn't going to do much about this problem of DMCA notices put up by non-copyright holders, but wouldn't the act of insisting on a improper takedown legally infringe on Doctorow's property? As in he is entitled to damages. Umbrella groups that represent artists are businesses, and the only was to effect the way a business acts is by hitting it in the profit margin. I would love to see Doctorow go after severe punitive damages and then use the money to promote Creative Commons.
One should wonder if people will demand longer careers (past their 70s) to pay for this extension of life too.
As socialized medicine seems just around the corner and the social security system is already in danger, I would go so far as to say longer careers should be strongly encouraged, and the social security age should be slowly raised. To pay for all of this we are going to need more cash going into the common government funds, and I don't fancy paying a 50% tax/S.S. rate to cover a bunch of Baby Boomers who retired at 60. As the infirmities of age are pushed back so should the accepted retirement age be pushed back. We already spend the first 20 years of our lives not contributing materially to society, I don't think we should also spend the last 20 years on an open ended vacation unless it can be paid for 100% out of pocket. While I think this is a wonderful medical advancement (there is a history of Alzheimer's in my family), it does in a way add to the impending problems the western world faces in it's growing elderly population.
If you want suddenly start holding government officials responsible for their actions, I can think of a lot better places to start than the patent office. But hey, at this point any start is a good start.
The real definition of sovereignty could very well be "has the ability to successfully defend from outside powers". Superman would be a sovereign individual, not bound to the laws of any country, because no country could enforce those laws upon him. Darfur is not sovereign because they cannot secure the land they claim as there own. So yes you are quite right that the world is divided into two groups, the sovereign countries and the countries who do as they are told. In that light, how could you blame Iran for wanting to have nukes?
Key to that is what does the company expect from you and what is the managerial style of your would-be-boss? If you are going to be in charge of people who's jobs you know how to do well, and your would-be-boss is more team leader than dictator in their approach they you will probably be fine. Just delegate all the work, then facilitate the work being done in your department. The best managers I've ever worked with (I'm freelance, I've worked with alot of different types) have done little to no "work" but did everything they could to make it easy for me to do my work. Basically they were making sure that I had all the parts and information I needed, and that the parts and information for the next step would be there in time. Shielding me and my coworkers from the majority of upper management silliness was the other big thing, and the part I would guess you would like the least, which is why I wondered about your would-be-boss. A manager that knows the work from the bottom up can be a great boon to a department, and make for a very enjoyable and productive work environment for those under them.
You mention about $975 worth of expenses, and you were being admirably frugal. Working a 35 hour week (part time imposed by Wal-Mart) over four weeks you get $980, before taxes. So yes it is technically possible, and doable especially if you have a foreseeable way out aka graduating. But as you know, even something like getting sick for one day can be enough to not quite make the bills and you're screwed. You are also screwed if your rent goes up $10 a month, or you don't have a spouse and need to arrange for trading babysitting services with another single-teenage-mom, but she has to bail for a day, or anything else in life happens that isn't accounted for in your very tight budget. That is what I meant by the marginalization of people. If Wal-Mart simply allowed single-teenage-mom to work full time and gave here full time benefits, that would give her and extra $575 a month, enough for her to save up some for unforeseen surprises in life, and possibly enough to pay for a babysitter some nights so she could go to night school. Simply surviving is enough for even a few years, but a lifetime of it is a far cry from the promised American Dream. Wal-mart's cost management practices have cut a few of the bottom rungs off the ladder, and stratified societies are rarely happy places.
all the cars coming out of Japan can do it so much cheaper.
They can do it so much cheaper because the first $1500 of each car goes to cover medical insurance costs, not so in Japan. 69% of that health care cost is going to cover retired employees.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901385.html Labor Unions are largely responsible for health insurance and retirement benefits for full time employees being the standard. Walmart skirts this by having the majority of their employees work part time. They can enroll for health insurance only if they enroll their dependents as well, which is a problem because on their part time salary they can't afford the enrollment premiums. As for people lining up for the jobs and products, they lined up for Standard Oil as well. Walmart employees aren't usually in a position to be picky about their jobs, but just because they have to settle for "better than nothing" work doesn't mean that society should advocate their marginalization.
It's not clear from the article that South Africa's government gained anything from this
Good point. I'm sure no money changed hands between government officials and SBC. I'm sure they gained and maintained their state backed monopoly through a really clever sales pitch and a snappy powerpoint presentation.
All in all, the performance hit is obviously expected behaviour.
Well of course they are expecting a performance hit, after all they aren't "just trying to play an MP3" they have to do 7 different DRM related processes while playing an MP3, on top of Sony's hack of your webcam doing a biometrics check to verify that you are the original purchaser. Seriously though, does the drop still happen if you play a DRM free MP3 on a non-MS player?
Contrary to your point, things like Columbine and VA Tech didn't happen 50 years ago when middle class school yards were a lot tougher than they are today. If everyone "plays nice" until high school and then suddenly you face being ostracized for the first time when you are 15 or 16 you will not have the skills to handle it well, but you will have the size and knowledge to let you rage do far more damage. I was picked on a lot in elementary school, and I used to get in a lot of fights (that were as vicious as I could make them at the time) If I reacted with the same level of anger when I got to high school I would have literally killed someone. That didn't happen because I learned to control my temper while I was still young. I learned self control and how to "get over it" when I was still small enough to be dragged away by the smallest of teachers, and before I understood that there are more effective ways of hurting people than punching them. Social rejection and mockery are a part of life. Just because there are rude people in the world does not excuse others from acting like ticking time-bombs.
he's also the one that eventually loads up on high-caliber firearms or high explosive. Generally speaking, taunting mentally unstable people is a bad idea.
Which is why the newspapers are afraid to run a comic strip that might offend Radical Muslims. Never trust any person or people that can't laugh at themselves.
Pay alimony for awhile and I'm sure you'll understand it much better. Most of the bitterness arises because you didn't get a good return on your investment of time/love/money/etc. You expected lifelong compatibility, but got a partner that has a significant personality change in the first few years of you relationship. I take more of a "high price of a lesson learned" view of relationships that ended badly, but then I just toss the photos and old cutesy stuff out, no need to try to edit it.
There is already so much "spin" in modern journalism that you have to learn about any event of importance from sources that you know are biased in opposite directions, just to be able have a good guess at the actual facts. This is why you get more truth from The Daily Show than you do from Fox News or Air America, The Daily Show's spin is obvious because it's funny and/or ridiculous.
Finally an economic reason for Brazil to keep it's rain forests. If you think the oil countries are rich, wait 'til the oxygen countries start charging.
none of that means that it will not be used to invade drivers' privacy.
How is it invading a cabbie's privacy to know where he is when he's at work? My boss knows where I am when I'm at work. I would hope that the city buses have GPSs that report speed and location to a Transit Authority dispatch. I would also hope that NYPD cruisers have (encoded) GPSs reporting to police dispatch. I imagine that the real problem with this is that GPS will also disclose things like speeding and off the record fares. Cabs work for the TLC and the passenger, and both deserve to know where their driver is going. When you are at work you (usually) are part of a hierarchical system and part of that involves your work superiors knowing where you are and what you are doing. This complaint takes real nerve when most cabs and car services in NYC have a system that automatically takes a passengers picture for the protection of the driver.
Normally I wouldn't want to feed a troll, but you have replied with the exact same answer I would expect from the Pentagon. Part of standard terrorism tactics is turning everyday things like airplanes or remote control cars or little old ladies, into weapons. The denial of technologies to the whole culture will only fuel terrorist sympathies. What needs to be confronted is the source of the tension, fanaticism combined with polygamy. Large portions of your terrorist producing cultures are young men that have no hope of ever having a wife because they are not rich/powerful/status enough, and so cannot negotiate with the bride's parents. Combine this with religious leaders who promise an afterlife with a whole harem if you manage to martyr yourself and you get people who will do any and everything to achieve the task assigned to you by the fanatical religious leader. Technology isn't going to change the problem, culture is. If through international projects/interaction/communication we can take the edge off a culture with some dangerous imbalances then we are helping to solve the problem.
"Small animals like vervet monkeys are often highly sensitive to predator urine and feces,"
Small animals like vervet monkeys are also often highly sensitive to high velocity lead. They are probably sensitive to baseball bats and most good farming tools. They are 16" tall and weigh 10 pounds, why the fuck are the going to run you off your land? The first two that die will scare the rest off, problem solved.
"There's already nobody under 30 who remembers a pre-Reagan world "
So in another 50 years no one will ever remember having faith and pride in the US government? I'm 32 and I have never had any faith or positive feelings towards Congress. I faintly remember liking Reagan, but at the time I knew nothing of politics or policies, just that Regan gave good speeches. Outside of that I have never felt proud of our government, or had an elected leader that I actually wanted to follow. I have often felt pride in being American, when traveling overseas or helping with my small part of some charitable work, but that is pride in our culture not our leaders. It seems to me that the USSR collapsed not too long after the last generation to actually believe in it died. I fear if things continue the way they have been, the same will happen here.
Photocells are easy to adjust though, so if you wanted more light or less light, it would be a fairly simple thing to adjust the photocell and say, "hey, I need more light than that!"
...or you could turn on a lamp. That's what I do when I'm reading a book and it's too dark. The passive aspect of this tech is the most appealing part, backlit displays are about as classy and relaxing as neon signs. The era of sitting in the dark looking into a glowing box maybe passing.
So now god is your uncaused cause. What's that you say? Your god exists outside space and time so that question is meaningless?
I too believe in both God and Science. Here's my slightly different take on the whole thing. God (a all encompassing consciousness) is the medium for the universe. Physical reality is primarily a framework for smaller consciousnesses to interact. Thought is not beholden to the "uncaused cause" problem.
This whole issue of lack of transparency is becoming a larger and larger problem with the government
As I understand it, Freedom of the Press is supposed to be the source of that government transparency. I regret that I am almost as disillusioned with our press organizations as I am with our government. Both of these institutions have replaced their intended functions with "appease the voter/viewer". Of course it is our (the people's) fault as well, for accepting this continually degrading service from both the press and our government. I fear we must lose much more of our security and comforts before the masses will be roused from their stupor and begin doing the job of being responsible citizens: being purposefully well informed and acting/voting on the careful consideration of that knowledge.
Slashdot Mirror
Information on the internet with disseminate. Everyone here who cries "information wants to be free" when the topic of the RIAA comes up needs to recognize that the same goes with your information when it gets on the internet. "Online" and "secure information" are oil and water.
Abrams is simply doing a retread and once the dust settles people will go back to being tired of Roddenberry's creation.
This is a complete retread, why bother? There is so much left unexplored in the Trek Universe, now if he was giving me the story of Kirk's younger brother, who rebelled and became a smuggler, then we might have something. Tell me the story of the people who aren't military officers, much loved by their quadrant spanning government.
There was a slight caustic edge to it but I think that's understandable in this case...
Slightly caustic isn't going to do much about this problem of DMCA notices put up by non-copyright holders, but wouldn't the act of insisting on a improper takedown legally infringe on Doctorow's property? As in he is entitled to damages. Umbrella groups that represent artists are businesses, and the only was to effect the way a business acts is by hitting it in the profit margin. I would love to see Doctorow go after severe punitive damages and then use the money to promote Creative Commons.
One should wonder if people will demand longer careers (past their 70s) to pay for this extension of life too.
As socialized medicine seems just around the corner and the social security system is already in danger, I would go so far as to say longer careers should be strongly encouraged, and the social security age should be slowly raised. To pay for all of this we are going to need more cash going into the common government funds, and I don't fancy paying a 50% tax/S.S. rate to cover a bunch of Baby Boomers who retired at 60. As the infirmities of age are pushed back so should the accepted retirement age be pushed back. We already spend the first 20 years of our lives not contributing materially to society, I don't think we should also spend the last 20 years on an open ended vacation unless it can be paid for 100% out of pocket. While I think this is a wonderful medical advancement (there is a history of Alzheimer's in my family), it does in a way add to the impending problems the western world faces in it's growing elderly population.
3. nobody fires you for that!
If you want suddenly start holding government officials responsible for their actions, I can think of a lot better places to start than the patent office. But hey, at this point any start is a good start.
Or maybe use "Ask Slashdot" ?
The real definition of sovereignty could very well be "has the ability to successfully defend from outside powers". Superman would be a sovereign individual, not bound to the laws of any country, because no country could enforce those laws upon him. Darfur is not sovereign because they cannot secure the land they claim as there own. So yes you are quite right that the world is divided into two groups, the sovereign countries and the countries who do as they are told. In that light, how could you blame Iran for wanting to have nukes?
"do I REALLY want to do this?"
Key to that is what does the company expect from you and what is the managerial style of your would-be-boss? If you are going to be in charge of people who's jobs you know how to do well, and your would-be-boss is more team leader than dictator in their approach they you will probably be fine. Just delegate all the work, then facilitate the work being done in your department. The best managers I've ever worked with (I'm freelance, I've worked with alot of different types) have done little to no "work" but did everything they could to make it easy for me to do my work. Basically they were making sure that I had all the parts and information I needed, and that the parts and information for the next step would be there in time. Shielding me and my coworkers from the majority of upper management silliness was the other big thing, and the part I would guess you would like the least, which is why I wondered about your would-be-boss. A manager that knows the work from the bottom up can be a great boon to a department, and make for a very enjoyable and productive work environment for those under them.
You mention about $975 worth of expenses, and you were being admirably frugal. Working a 35 hour week (part time imposed by Wal-Mart) over four weeks you get $980, before taxes. So yes it is technically possible, and doable especially if you have a foreseeable way out aka graduating. But as you know, even something like getting sick for one day can be enough to not quite make the bills and you're screwed. You are also screwed if your rent goes up $10 a month, or you don't have a spouse and need to arrange for trading babysitting services with another single-teenage-mom, but she has to bail for a day, or anything else in life happens that isn't accounted for in your very tight budget. That is what I meant by the marginalization of people. If Wal-Mart simply allowed single-teenage-mom to work full time and gave here full time benefits, that would give her and extra $575 a month, enough for her to save up some for unforeseen surprises in life, and possibly enough to pay for a babysitter some nights so she could go to night school. Simply surviving is enough for even a few years, but a lifetime of it is a far cry from the promised American Dream. Wal-mart's cost management practices have cut a few of the bottom rungs off the ladder, and stratified societies are rarely happy places.
all the cars coming out of Japan can do it so much cheaper.
n tent/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042901385.html Labor Unions are largely responsible for health insurance and retirement benefits for full time employees being the standard. Walmart skirts this by having the majority of their employees work part time. They can enroll for health insurance only if they enroll their dependents as well, which is a problem because on their part time salary they can't afford the enrollment premiums. As for people lining up for the jobs and products, they lined up for Standard Oil as well. Walmart employees aren't usually in a position to be picky about their jobs, but just because they have to settle for "better than nothing" work doesn't mean that society should advocate their marginalization.
They can do it so much cheaper because the first $1500 of each car goes to cover medical insurance costs, not so in Japan. 69% of that health care cost is going to cover retired employees.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co
It's not clear from the article that South Africa's government gained anything from this
Good point. I'm sure no money changed hands between government officials and SBC. I'm sure they gained and maintained their state backed monopoly through a really clever sales pitch and a snappy powerpoint presentation.
All in all, the performance hit is obviously expected behaviour.
Well of course they are expecting a performance hit, after all they aren't "just trying to play an MP3" they have to do 7 different DRM related processes while playing an MP3, on top of Sony's hack of your webcam doing a biometrics check to verify that you are the original purchaser. Seriously though, does the drop still happen if you play a DRM free MP3 on a non-MS player?
Contrary to your point, things like Columbine and VA Tech didn't happen 50 years ago when middle class school yards were a lot tougher than they are today. If everyone "plays nice" until high school and then suddenly you face being ostracized for the first time when you are 15 or 16 you will not have the skills to handle it well, but you will have the size and knowledge to let you rage do far more damage. I was picked on a lot in elementary school, and I used to get in a lot of fights (that were as vicious as I could make them at the time) If I reacted with the same level of anger when I got to high school I would have literally killed someone. That didn't happen because I learned to control my temper while I was still young. I learned self control and how to "get over it" when I was still small enough to be dragged away by the smallest of teachers, and before I understood that there are more effective ways of hurting people than punching them. Social rejection and mockery are a part of life. Just because there are rude people in the world does not excuse others from acting like ticking time-bombs.
he's also the one that eventually loads up on high-caliber firearms or high explosive. Generally speaking, taunting mentally unstable people is a bad idea.
Which is why the newspapers are afraid to run a comic strip that might offend Radical Muslims. Never trust any person or people that can't laugh at themselves.
I'd never understod this hate-your-ex-thing?
Pay alimony for awhile and I'm sure you'll understand it much better.
Most of the bitterness arises because you didn't get a good return on your investment of time/love/money/etc. You expected lifelong compatibility, but got a partner that has a significant personality change in the first few years of you relationship. I take more of a "high price of a lesson learned" view of relationships that ended badly, but then I just toss the photos and old cutesy stuff out, no need to try to edit it.
There is already so much "spin" in modern journalism that you have to learn about any event of importance from sources that you know are biased in opposite directions, just to be able have a good guess at the actual facts. This is why you get more truth from The Daily Show than you do from Fox News or Air America, The Daily Show's spin is obvious because it's funny and/or ridiculous.
Finally an economic reason for Brazil to keep it's rain forests. If you think the oil countries are rich, wait 'til the oxygen countries start charging.
Actually "hours without productivity lost to problems" could be a great metric in this case.
none of that means that it will not be used to invade drivers' privacy.
How is it invading a cabbie's privacy to know where he is when he's at work? My boss knows where I am when I'm at work. I would hope that the city buses have GPSs that report speed and location to a Transit Authority dispatch. I would also hope that NYPD cruisers have (encoded) GPSs reporting to police dispatch. I imagine that the real problem with this is that GPS will also disclose things like speeding and off the record fares. Cabs work for the TLC and the passenger, and both deserve to know where their driver is going. When you are at work you (usually) are part of a hierarchical system and part of that involves your work superiors knowing where you are and what you are doing. This complaint takes real nerve when most cabs and car services in NYC have a system that automatically takes a passengers picture for the protection of the driver.
Normally I wouldn't want to feed a troll, but you have replied with the exact same answer I would expect from the Pentagon. Part of standard terrorism tactics is turning everyday things like airplanes or remote control cars or little old ladies, into weapons. The denial of technologies to the whole culture will only fuel terrorist sympathies. What needs to be confronted is the source of the tension, fanaticism combined with polygamy. Large portions of your terrorist producing cultures are young men that have no hope of ever having a wife because they are not rich/powerful/status enough, and so cannot negotiate with the bride's parents. Combine this with religious leaders who promise an afterlife with a whole harem if you manage to martyr yourself and you get people who will do any and everything to achieve the task assigned to you by the fanatical religious leader.
Technology isn't going to change the problem, culture is. If through international projects/interaction/communication we can take the edge off a culture with some dangerous imbalances then we are helping to solve the problem.
"Small animals like vervet monkeys are often highly sensitive to predator urine and feces,"
Small animals like vervet monkeys are also often highly sensitive to high velocity lead. They are probably sensitive to baseball bats and most good farming tools. They are 16" tall and weigh 10 pounds, why the fuck are the going to run you off your land? The first two that die will scare the rest off, problem solved.
"There's already nobody under 30 who remembers a pre-Reagan world "
So in another 50 years no one will ever remember having faith and pride in the US government? I'm 32 and I have never had any faith or positive feelings towards Congress. I faintly remember liking Reagan, but at the time I knew nothing of politics or policies, just that Regan gave good speeches. Outside of that I have never felt proud of our government, or had an elected leader that I actually wanted to follow. I have often felt pride in being American, when traveling overseas or helping with my small part of some charitable work, but that is pride in our culture not our leaders. It seems to me that the USSR collapsed not too long after the last generation to actually believe in it died. I fear if things continue the way they have been, the same will happen here.
Photocells are easy to adjust though, so if you wanted more light or less light, it would be a fairly simple thing to adjust the photocell and say, "hey, I need more light than that!"
...or you could turn on a lamp. That's what I do when I'm reading a book and it's too dark. The passive aspect of this tech is the most appealing part, backlit displays are about as classy and relaxing as neon signs. The era of sitting in the dark looking into a glowing box maybe passing.
So now god is your uncaused cause. What's that you say? Your god exists outside space and time so that question is meaningless?
I too believe in both God and Science. Here's my slightly different take on the whole thing. God (a all encompassing consciousness) is the medium for the universe. Physical reality is primarily a framework for smaller consciousnesses to interact. Thought is not beholden to the "uncaused cause" problem.
This whole issue of lack of transparency is becoming a larger and larger problem with the government
As I understand it, Freedom of the Press is supposed to be the source of that government transparency. I regret that I am almost as disillusioned with our press organizations as I am with our government. Both of these institutions have replaced their intended functions with "appease the voter/viewer". Of course it is our (the people's) fault as well, for accepting this continually degrading service from both the press and our government. I fear we must lose much more of our security and comforts before the masses will be roused from their stupor and begin doing the job of being responsible citizens: being purposefully well informed and acting/voting on the careful consideration of that knowledge.