Its time to privatize the TSA. If it were up to the airlines to contract with security firms, you'd have logical risk management made through the lens of monetary cost. Make the airlines assume the risk for liability if their security is crap, and they will find a good happy medium between the extremes. I'm not normally a small-government guy, but in this area, it simply makes sense.
I currently get food stamps and they provide the entirety of my food budget. I am well educated and know my way around a kitchen so I can keep myself fit and healthy for well under the $187/month I get.
But if I wanted, I could buy candy, coke, and chips and try and live off of that. If you are on food stamps you can NOT simply rely on prepackaged heat and serve meals - you'll either run out of money or not get the nutrition you need. You need to focus on the basics: beans, rice, lentils, fresh fruits and veggies, and only occasionally some raw chicken (forget your love affair with beef, its too expensive).
In my view, the problem is with education rather than money. Teach people how to cook and what to cook and they'll be healthy. Barrage them with ads for canned raviolis and Doritos and you'll get people who think that cooking simply involves heating things up. The food stamp program needs to be revised so that you are prohibited from purchasing junk foods just like alcohol or cigarettes can't be bought. In addition to restricting crap foods, allow people to purchase things like vitamins, toothpaste, and toilet paper with their food stamps. Being on food stamps is not fun, but for many people it is not a choice (the elderly or disabled) so lets make the program actually work for the benefit of those who receive the money.
If a drone crashes on my property due to malfunction/jammer/shotgun blast, does the package become my property? Its a fedral crime to tamper with found or misdelivered USPS mail, but Amazon, FedEx, DHL have no similar protections AFAIK. If through no (provable) actions of my own materials arrive on my property, can I salvage them?
I'm really curious how a bra will stop me (a man) from over eating. Maybe the title (lol, tit) should be "Microsoft's New Smart Bra Could Stop Women From Overeating".
I'm going to use my 3D printer to print out my OWN artifacts and have my OWN Smithsonian and collect all that delicious entrance fee money...
What?
What do you mean its free to get in to their museums!?
I think its entirely appropriate for government to determine safety standards and inform the citizenry when something doesn't comply. With the manufacturing of/everything/ by 3D printers, the vast majority of the populace has no way to determine which designs are safe and stable and which are junk because most of them are not engineers or materials scientists. I think that testing and rating designs for potentially dangerous items, not just firearms, that could cause grievous harm due to catastrophic failure is good role for government to act in the common good.
Keep the designs free for all, but provide a central database where I can reference a rating performed by experts. I wouldn't mind my tax dollars going for that.
Remember when that was the Google mantra? Are they still trying or have they been worn down by the system?
Is lobbying inherently evil as some posters state, or is there a good way to do it?
If you think lobbying is without a high ground, then consider the case of one of the oldest continuously existing lobbying groups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCNL
Aleksandr Kerensky didn't commission the construction of the AS7 series of battlemechs until 2755!
Did someone discover a lost data core that contradicts this?
I should never talk on the phone while driving. Heck, my driving ability decreases even with a in-depth conversation with a passenger in the car. Since I can freely admit that using a cell phone while driving makes me a worse driver, I have a hard time believing that there aren't enough others with the same problem to warrant even a statistical blip.
Sure, it may work, despite the dubious methodology, but who is actually going to pay to have their workers go through this? Since the bubble days of the 90's, training is an area that has been eliminated from virtually all budgets in favor of hiring only 'experienced' workers. No organization wants to pay for training anymore even when there is a shortage of experienced labor.
I worked for a chip manufacturer that in the early-mid 90's put new production staff through a MONTH of 8-hour-a-day classroom training before they even got into the fabrication facility. After a couple years, it was down to 3 weeks, then 2, then 1, then layoffs. The modern management culture says that there is a limitless pool of cheap, experienced labor, so why train?
Why do legislators need special license plates? What sets them apart from us plebs in the rank and file? I'm sure that they don't have problems parking at the statehouse, so other than notifying law enforcement that they're 'special' why different plates?
Ok, I skimmed through both articles in search of one answer. What happens to the balloons when they inevitably drift out of the intended coverage area and then crash? This technology is useful for a short-term disaster relief solution, but over the long term you're going to end up with a lot of balloons and electronic packages coming down all over the world.
Once you understand that this is being done by the City of London then it should be clear that this is not the actions of a municipal authority based on a desire to protect citizens, but rather a government of a tiny yet separate legal entity within what we usually call London. This tiny legal appendix (the City of London) is home to only about 10,000 people, but is actually a state within a state owned and operated by large multinational corporations and so its governance reflects what is good for business. Not good for the public, not good for England or Britain, but good for keeping money rolling in. watch this and you'll understand why this is nothing more than monied interests trying to protect their own. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrObZ_HZZUc
Replying to my own comment because I thought of another good point.
Non-profit does not mean you can't make money. In fact, as long as you follow the rules for organization, reporting, etc. you can make money hand over fist. Think about how every private school in the US is able to function and some grow quite fat off of those tuition dollars. If you have a tech-based non-profit that (for example) provides computer programming education to disadvantaged youth, or provides systems and education for the elderly, there's nothing to stop you from doing consulting, selling spare parts, or charging for other services as long as those proceeds are plowed right back into the organization to feed your key mission.
Too many people think that non-profit means you aren't a normal business. You are! You simply have convinced the government that it is in the public's best interest to let you exist free of the burden of taxes.
I have worked for a variety of non-profits and written grants for them. I'm surprised that there ever was money for operating expenses available for tech-based non-profits since every foundation I've petitioned for grant money has specifically said that they do not provide operating costs. Instead, I write grants with a specific project in mind. This could be "build a new wing to the university library", "Fund staff to inventory the museum collection in storage," or "run a week-long day camp for inner-city youth that teaches non-violent conflict resolution methods." Unless you have some kind of revenue stream, you are going to be relying on donations and volunteers just like a community clothes closet for the homeless. Sounds like now that the gravy train of easy money is drying up these tech non-profits are being forced to demonstrate how they benefit the public good. I'm sure that there are many worthy causes, but now their in the wild competing for the same dollars and mind-share as food pantries, elder advocacy groups, and animal shelters.
All they had to do was get a warrant. If they had enough evidence to pick this guy up, I'm sure any judge would gladly sign off on a warrant to 'search' his phone and then follow the proper procedures for the ensuing sting operation. This is sloppy police work, nothing more, and now the public is being forced to pay the price for it by being forced to pay for court challenges because no one has the guts to admit they were sloppy.
Newspapers, magazines, book-of-the-month, all these are products that are delivered at regularly scheduled intervals. But these are old media, so it makes sense that Amazon doesn't know about them.
This is a classic issue of where your customer base has broadened to the point where your users are not coming from a point of high education/information about your product and free software models of business.
As difficult as it seems, you need to be patient and spend some time educating this new segment of your customer base. If people are downloading the software from a website or source you control, make sure to have a big, bright, and happy notification that explains how your product is supported. I'm suspecting that your software is available from many sites you CAN'T control, so it might behoove you to have a big, bright, happy notice as part of a splash screen during install or startup. In your case it would be completely inadequate to expect people to read any "click to agree" dialogs, and you might simply need to put what amounts to a banner ad for your phone support in any help menu or dialog.
As much as we hate the ubiquitous advertising in our products, you have not simply an interest, but practically a duty to inform your users the specific details of how you perform support. Make sure that anywhere your support number is mentioned, you also mention your fee-for-service or contract support model so you can weed out all but the most stubborn non-readers.
If you have a media person, or a team member who generally responds to postings on message boards, make sure that they are sending a consistent, measured response that avoids emotional flags and simply states your company's position and your business model.
My kneejerk reaction was to think "Oil companies want an 'R' to win so they make prices high while a 'D' is in office." But then I realized that this was baseless without some facts. What I would like to see is a map of the US showing average gas price by state, overlaid by a map of which states tend to vote R or D, overlaid with refinery locations, overlaid with oil producing states. Then, I would have a lot of data, and still nothing to go on but correlation.
I was bitten by a radioactive rainbow trout when I was a student. Now I have the proportionate strength and agility of a rainbow trout, so yeah... not much of a change.
At least I get rainbow trout sense! I always know which stream is home.
Slashdot Mirror
Its time to privatize the TSA. If it were up to the airlines to contract with security firms, you'd have logical risk management made through the lens of monetary cost. Make the airlines assume the risk for liability if their security is crap, and they will find a good happy medium between the extremes. I'm not normally a small-government guy, but in this area, it simply makes sense.
I currently get food stamps and they provide the entirety of my food budget. I am well educated and know my way around a kitchen so I can keep myself fit and healthy for well under the $187/month I get. But if I wanted, I could buy candy, coke, and chips and try and live off of that. If you are on food stamps you can NOT simply rely on prepackaged heat and serve meals - you'll either run out of money or not get the nutrition you need. You need to focus on the basics: beans, rice, lentils, fresh fruits and veggies, and only occasionally some raw chicken (forget your love affair with beef, its too expensive). In my view, the problem is with education rather than money. Teach people how to cook and what to cook and they'll be healthy. Barrage them with ads for canned raviolis and Doritos and you'll get people who think that cooking simply involves heating things up. The food stamp program needs to be revised so that you are prohibited from purchasing junk foods just like alcohol or cigarettes can't be bought. In addition to restricting crap foods, allow people to purchase things like vitamins, toothpaste, and toilet paper with their food stamps. Being on food stamps is not fun, but for many people it is not a choice (the elderly or disabled) so lets make the program actually work for the benefit of those who receive the money.
If a drone crashes on my property due to malfunction/jammer/shotgun blast, does the package become my property? Its a fedral crime to tamper with found or misdelivered USPS mail, but Amazon, FedEx, DHL have no similar protections AFAIK. If through no (provable) actions of my own materials arrive on my property, can I salvage them?
I'm really curious how a bra will stop me (a man) from over eating. Maybe the title (lol, tit) should be "Microsoft's New Smart Bra Could Stop Women From Overeating".
I'm going to use my 3D printer to print out my OWN artifacts and have my OWN Smithsonian and collect all that delicious entrance fee money...
What?
What do you mean its free to get in to their museums!?
I think its entirely appropriate for government to determine safety standards and inform the citizenry when something doesn't comply. With the manufacturing of /everything/ by 3D printers, the vast majority of the populace has no way to determine which designs are safe and stable and which are junk because most of them are not engineers or materials scientists. I think that testing and rating designs for potentially dangerous items, not just firearms, that could cause grievous harm due to catastrophic failure is good role for government to act in the common good.
Keep the designs free for all, but provide a central database where I can reference a rating performed by experts. I wouldn't mind my tax dollars going for that.
Remember when that was the Google mantra? Are they still trying or have they been worn down by the system? Is lobbying inherently evil as some posters state, or is there a good way to do it? If you think lobbying is without a high ground, then consider the case of one of the oldest continuously existing lobbying groups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCNL
One for each of my multiple personalities.
(sorry)
Aleksandr Kerensky didn't commission the construction of the AS7 series of battlemechs until 2755! Did someone discover a lost data core that contradicts this?
(Only real geeks will understand this reference.)
I should never talk on the phone while driving. Heck, my driving ability decreases even with a in-depth conversation with a passenger in the car. Since I can freely admit that using a cell phone while driving makes me a worse driver, I have a hard time believing that there aren't enough others with the same problem to warrant even a statistical blip.
I wonder if people come up with these research projects by going to a party and then asking for a) the name of an animal, b) a noun, and c) a liquid.
Sure, it may work, despite the dubious methodology, but who is actually going to pay to have their workers go through this? Since the bubble days of the 90's, training is an area that has been eliminated from virtually all budgets in favor of hiring only 'experienced' workers. No organization wants to pay for training anymore even when there is a shortage of experienced labor. I worked for a chip manufacturer that in the early-mid 90's put new production staff through a MONTH of 8-hour-a-day classroom training before they even got into the fabrication facility. After a couple years, it was down to 3 weeks, then 2, then 1, then layoffs. The modern management culture says that there is a limitless pool of cheap, experienced labor, so why train?
Why do legislators need special license plates? What sets them apart from us plebs in the rank and file? I'm sure that they don't have problems parking at the statehouse, so other than notifying law enforcement that they're 'special' why different plates?
Ok, I skimmed through both articles in search of one answer.
What happens to the balloons when they inevitably drift out of the intended coverage area and then crash? This technology is useful for a short-term disaster relief solution, but over the long term you're going to end up with a lot of balloons and electronic packages coming down all over the world.
Once you understand that this is being done by the City of London then it should be clear that this is not the actions of a municipal authority based on a desire to protect citizens, but rather a government of a tiny yet separate legal entity within what we usually call London. This tiny legal appendix (the City of London) is home to only about 10,000 people, but is actually a state within a state owned and operated by large multinational corporations and so its governance reflects what is good for business. Not good for the public, not good for England or Britain, but good for keeping money rolling in.
watch this and you'll understand why this is nothing more than monied interests trying to protect their own. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrObZ_HZZUc
Replying to my own comment because I thought of another good point.
Non-profit does not mean you can't make money. In fact, as long as you follow the rules for organization, reporting, etc. you can make money hand over fist. Think about how every private school in the US is able to function and some grow quite fat off of those tuition dollars. If you have a tech-based non-profit that (for example) provides computer programming education to disadvantaged youth, or provides systems and education for the elderly, there's nothing to stop you from doing consulting, selling spare parts, or charging for other services as long as those proceeds are plowed right back into the organization to feed your key mission.
Too many people think that non-profit means you aren't a normal business. You are! You simply have convinced the government that it is in the public's best interest to let you exist free of the burden of taxes.
I have worked for a variety of non-profits and written grants for them. I'm surprised that there ever was money for operating expenses available for tech-based non-profits since every foundation I've petitioned for grant money has specifically said that they do not provide operating costs. Instead, I write grants with a specific project in mind. This could be "build a new wing to the university library", "Fund staff to inventory the museum collection in storage," or "run a week-long day camp for inner-city youth that teaches non-violent conflict resolution methods."
Unless you have some kind of revenue stream, you are going to be relying on donations and volunteers just like a community clothes closet for the homeless. Sounds like now that the gravy train of easy money is drying up these tech non-profits are being forced to demonstrate how they benefit the public good. I'm sure that there are many worthy causes, but now their in the wild competing for the same dollars and mind-share as food pantries, elder advocacy groups, and animal shelters.
All they had to do was get a warrant. If they had enough evidence to pick this guy up, I'm sure any judge would gladly sign off on a warrant to 'search' his phone and then follow the proper procedures for the ensuing sting operation. This is sloppy police work, nothing more, and now the public is being forced to pay the price for it by being forced to pay for court challenges because no one has the guts to admit they were sloppy.
Newspapers, magazines, book-of-the-month, all these are products that are delivered at regularly scheduled intervals. But these are old media, so it makes sense that Amazon doesn't know about them.
This is a classic issue of where your customer base has broadened to the point where your users are not coming from a point of high education/information about your product and free software models of business.
As difficult as it seems, you need to be patient and spend some time educating this new segment of your customer base. If people are downloading the software from a website or source you control, make sure to have a big, bright, and happy notification that explains how your product is supported. I'm suspecting that your software is available from many sites you CAN'T control, so it might behoove you to have a big, bright, happy notice as part of a splash screen during install or startup. In your case it would be completely inadequate to expect people to read any "click to agree" dialogs, and you might simply need to put what amounts to a banner ad for your phone support in any help menu or dialog.
As much as we hate the ubiquitous advertising in our products, you have not simply an interest, but practically a duty to inform your users the specific details of how you perform support. Make sure that anywhere your support number is mentioned, you also mention your fee-for-service or contract support model so you can weed out all but the most stubborn non-readers.
If you have a media person, or a team member who generally responds to postings on message boards, make sure that they are sending a consistent, measured response that avoids emotional flags and simply states your company's position and your business model.
GIF is a word I use in writing, but never in speech. To this day, I honestly don't know if I should say "ghiff" or "jiff".
My kneejerk reaction was to think "Oil companies want an 'R' to win so they make prices high while a 'D' is in office." But then I realized that this was baseless without some facts. What I would like to see is a map of the US showing average gas price by state, overlaid by a map of which states tend to vote R or D, overlaid with refinery locations, overlaid with oil producing states. Then, I would have a lot of data, and still nothing to go on but correlation.
sigh
I,for one, welcome our new robo-chameleon overlords.
I was bitten by a radioactive rainbow trout when I was a student. Now I have the proportionate strength and agility of a rainbow trout, so yeah... not much of a change.
At least I get rainbow trout sense! I always know which stream is home.