This whole system is funded by the money given to the government by the taxpayers. What, exactly, are you doing by having prisons? You are, in fact, paying to support people who have committed crimes. Is this fair? Of course. If you didn't pay for prisons, you would have dangerous murderers, rapists and potheads walking the streets and terrorizing the populace.
The difference is my taxes support a prison system which (theoretically) provides a safer society.
The proposed **AA tax would prop up a business model. Hardly a benefit to civil society.
My cat apparently has similar algorithms programmed in- I can speak in a conversational tone all day, even to a telephone, and the cat won't respond- but the moment I assume my "talking to kitty" voice, it snaps to attention.
My kids are exactly the same, except when I assume my "talking to the kids" voice, they tune me right the heck out.
Once again, we see an example of people doing something that is relatively harmless and given an unusually strict punishment simply because it is labelled as "cyber crime."
Great point. Of course, I'd like to draw your attention to the War on (Americans who use) Drugs...
It was plenty of fun - I had no responsibility in the matter and it was easy for the tech to slosh traffic around. We were playing 'watch the lights go red' on one wireless network at a time.
...or the electrician dropping a wrench inside a power room at one of Bell Canada's largest CO's. The short and resulting fire (and halon response) took out about 25% of their capacity in the entire city of Toronto for hours.
I had lots of fun (was at a wireless carrier at the time) chatting with the switch techs about how they'd distribute our traffic over the remaining circuits.
From the article: "The companies have not practiced the pricing agreement since 2000. At that time, they agreed in settling a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission that they would refrain from MAP pricing for seven years."
So, yeah. Figure they'll be back at it in about seven years. Honestly... some times the US gummit just lays down and dies.
Last I heard, high-performance flywheels were being made of graphite fibre... spin 'em too fast and the fibres separate, dissapating the energy (and turning your very expensive flywheel into a box of cotton candy).
A clock connected to a heart-zapper thingie? Maybe in the 50's, and the lucky recipients had the lifestyle to prove it.
Modern pacemakers are pretty sophisticated. They adjust to the body's needs, fire only when needed at the rate required and collect data on their own performance for periodic checkups.
The concept of a software update is probably a non-starter. The pacemaker I got in 1981 (at 10 years old) was sophisticated enough to allow me a totally normal life... modern ones are even better. Why would you risk the performance of such an effective device by attempting upgrades to (apparently flawless) software?
Frankly, even if a flaw were discovered and an upgrade required, the surgery required to replace the thing is so minor (outpatient, local anasthetic) that software updates are likely not worth the development effort.
Absolutely. But don't forget, a T1 doesn't connect to the Internet, it just connects to a telco CO. You then need a T1 from the CO to an ISP, then you need an account with that ISP to provide you internet connectivity. And a sustained 1.5Mbps connection to that ISP's backbone aint cheap!
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This whole system is funded by the money given to the government by the taxpayers. What, exactly, are you doing by having prisons? You are, in fact, paying to support people who have committed crimes. Is this fair? Of course. If you didn't pay for prisons, you would have dangerous murderers, rapists and potheads walking the streets and terrorizing the populace.
The difference is my taxes support a prison system which (theoretically) provides a safer society.
The proposed **AA tax would prop up a business model. Hardly a benefit to civil society.
It *is* a silly notion.
And I have such a bad back.
And such a good matress.
And such a bad couch.
C'mon... you're not married.
;)
If you are, it hasn't been long and there's much for you to learn, grasshopper.
How's this enforced... sheesh.
Good post!
One addition (climbing up on the ol' soap box)... the political process is further bastardized by a slimy, complicit press corps.
I refer you to The Daily Howler for further information. This really should be mandatory reading for anyone who intends to vote.
...and you'll still see that OS in a lot of banks.
My cat apparently has similar algorithms programmed in- I can speak in a conversational tone all day, even to a telephone, and the cat won't respond- but the moment I assume my "talking to kitty" voice, it snaps to attention.
My kids are exactly the same, except when I assume my "talking to the kids" voice, they tune me right the heck out.
Once again, we see an example of people doing something that is relatively harmless and given an unusually strict punishment simply because it is labelled as "cyber crime."
Great point. Of course, I'd like to draw your attention to the War on (Americans who use) Drugs...
Gentlemen, I give you the NEW face of radiation in America!
Soon the unwashed masses will forget their irrational fears and beg us for nuclear-powered devices... MWAHAHAHA!
Dammit, I wasted all my mod points the other day.
Somebody please reward the parent with a [+1 Funny]...
...sing it with me:
O Canada
Our home and native land
True patriot love
In all thy sons' command
I work with Americans every day. I have a ton of respect for them. But American politics continue to scare the living shit outta me...
Please mod parent [+1: Horrifying]
I remember when my NomadII MG was the cat's ass... *sigh
Take advice from the article: cut any moving parts off her, then wrap her in Dynamat until she's silent.
This isn't rocket science, people.
It was plenty of fun - I had no responsibility in the matter and it was easy for the tech to slosh traffic around. We were playing 'watch the lights go red' on one wireless network at a time.
...or the electrician dropping a wrench inside a power room at one of Bell Canada's largest CO's. The short and resulting fire (and halon response) took out about 25% of their capacity in the entire city of Toronto for hours.
I had lots of fun (was at a wireless carrier at the time) chatting with the switch techs about how they'd distribute our traffic over the remaining circuits.
Of course, that black will show dust very well, don't you think so?
;)
And birdshit, if it's anything like my car
From the article: "The companies have not practiced the pricing agreement since 2000. At that time, they agreed in settling a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission that they would refrain from MAP pricing for seven years."
So, yeah. Figure they'll be back at it in about seven years. Honestly... some times the US gummit just lays down and dies.
Besides, can you really think of any single click that can render the system unusable?
;)
Oh c'mon... happens all the time... drop your coke on the keyboard, hitting the following keys: "rm -rf / [enter]"
Whew, thank god I wasn't running as root!
But by then, I'm going to *want* to go to the record store at every opportunity.
;)
Any excuse to take the flying car for a spin!
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Mod points... someone? The parent deserves 'em!
Last I heard, high-performance flywheels were being made of graphite fibre... spin 'em too fast and the fibres separate, dissapating the energy (and turning your very expensive flywheel into a box of cotton candy).
A clock connected to a heart-zapper thingie? Maybe in the 50's, and the lucky recipients had the lifestyle to prove it.
Modern pacemakers are pretty sophisticated. They adjust to the body's needs, fire only when needed at the rate required and collect data on their own performance for periodic checkups.
The concept of a software update is probably a non-starter. The pacemaker I got in 1981 (at 10 years old) was sophisticated enough to allow me a totally normal life... modern ones are even better. Why would you risk the performance of such an effective device by attempting upgrades to (apparently flawless) software?
Frankly, even if a flaw were discovered and an upgrade required, the surgery required to replace the thing is so minor (outpatient, local anasthetic) that software updates are likely not worth the development effort.
Marge: "It took the kids 40 minutes to find Canada on a map!"
Homer: "Anyone could have trouble finding Canada... all tucked away down there..."
Absolutely. But don't forget, a T1 doesn't connect to the Internet, it just connects to a telco CO. You then need a T1 from the CO to an ISP, then you need an account with that ISP to provide you internet connectivity. And a sustained 1.5Mbps connection to that ISP's backbone aint cheap!
Repeat after me: "Microsoft has been found guilty twice. This is the punishment phase."
Say that to yourself before every article you read about the trial and it'll help keep things straight.