"Characters going into the public domain is repayment to society for society enforcing your exclusive rights over the characters for a number of years. If you don't like them going into public domain, tough luck - without them eventually going public domain there's no good reason for society to enforce copyright."
Aww, you're cute, you actually believe this stuff will be accepted by the major companies... Can you honestly believe that in 2023 or thereabouts the management of Disney are going to say "yup, it's tough luck but we're going to have to let Mickey Mouse and all the related imagery go for free, it's going to cost the company tens or hundreds or millions a year but there you go, that's life, let's see if there are some other jobs going down the road in another company?".
I'd like to think so too but I can't see it somehow. I can believe the European Union will stand up to US companies and say "no, this is what you agreed years ago, you have to stick to it" but the US authorities? I think US companies have too much power and the government and the people will do what the companies tell them to. They'll make some argument about it being unpatriotic to let copyright slip and that jobs will be lost to China / India / other forn parts and people will fall into line I reckon. Sad but I think it's the case.
"An H2 commands plenty of respect on the road (and off the road)"
Over here in the UK you're more likely to get laughed at if you drive one of them round the streets and have people shout "tosser" at you.
Anybody who feels the need to drive an oversized military-style vehicle half a mile down (sub)urban roads to buy a pint of milk or a new pair of socks is looked on with a degree of suspicion and pity. People are a bit wary that the driver isn't too concerned about the well being of other road users and pedestrians.
"So if you a serious about long-term commitment and you find a good spot for your own spaceport, a 99year lease would have made more sense."
He's a businessman. 20 years seems like a long enough commitment, who knows what the economic world will look like in 2030? Might be better to move his operations out to somewhere else in the USA, off to India, China, etc. What's so special about the current site that somewhere else couldn't match in a few years time and give him a better price?
Croydon Airport only lasted as the main international London airport for less than 30 years, would a space port stay in the lead for longer than that? (Croydon Airport started operations in 1920 but was overtaken in the 40s by a small military airport in the west of London built over a hamlet called Heath Row).
I *think* you're calling us British folks who don't like the monarchy's powers a bunch of idiots... your right to do so I suppose (back to this in a minute) but I think the US 2nd amendment is rather different from the UK's monarchical power structure.
2nd amendment - created by the people and can be used by the people within the law.
Monarchy - bunch of unelected hereditary rulers from outside who have the final say. Cue Monty Python music - I didn't vote for them to be in charge, did you? Changing or getting rid of them definitely doesn't happen within the law, it's called treason. Death penalty for that was only abolished in 1998.
In the USA they had a revolution 200 years or so back because they didn't like unelected hereditary leaders from outside telling them what to do.
Personally I think we'd be better having the monarchy as figureheads for the tourists and to impress visiting presidents but removing them from the legal processes. Unelected monarchs (even those who don't claim the divine right of kings) seem a bit archaic these days. Having somebody that you have to bow down to and obey simply on the grounds that his mum or dad was in charge - no thank you.
Streetcars work in certain areas. I think the key is to think of different transportation means as complementary and not necessarily competitive.
Several major cities in Europe have streetcar systems and are indeed expanding them as auto congestion builds up (e.g. Manchester, UK, and Nice, France).
As for your argument about 'hardwired' transport links not working because demographics change in cities, I think a look at the world's major cities and their metro systems is a refutation of that argument. Few people would suggest that London's economic model is the same as it was 100 years ago yet the Underground still grows and gets busier. Try ripping out New York's subway system and see how that affects morning commutes.
Different transport systems work for differing (but sometimes complementary) environments. In London there's a mix of public buses, underground metro, urban light railways, private taxis, and private vehicles. It would be foolish to try to run the city using just one of these.
Here in the UK, I've not heard of those Japanese SUVs. I think they build them for the US market. Americans like driving tanks with laughable fuel consumption, the car makers build to respond to that demand (and bring out new models to encourage demand in the profitable sectors).
In the UK Japanese manufacturers tend to make a wide range of saloon and mini cars, with a few utility vehicles. I think they manufacture for the market they are in. Alas here people are also buying into the whole American SUV love, though I don't think it will grow to the size of the US market because of the price of gas (approx 9 dollars a US gallon) and the road system is different here - you just can't park so easily in more traditional places with something that big, automobiles have to work in towns that were built sometime between 100 and 1000 years ago and were designed for horse and cart traffic.
"It's also worth noting that some people don't like the light spectrum output on white LED's. Personally, I prefer the pink tint from high pressure sodium lamps"
We're moving into a global financial credit crisis. Alas I think the aesthetics of which colour street lights we prefer will take second place to which will be cheaper to run in the long term.
in the UK we've been officially metric since oooh about 1970 I think but people still use a mix and seem to move between each fluidly. I am 42 and got taught metric-only in schools from when I started in 1971, so anybody my age and younger was definitely taught metric only at school. Like with you, the early adopters were engineers and scientists, my 75 year old dad generally 'thinks' in imperial measures (inches) but is very comfortable working in mm - I think he learnt his trade in Imperial but as an engineer took on metric as a necessary skill.
Funny thing is that a lot of younger people who clearly were only taught in metric can still move between the two systems - I can ask my 25 year old mates to cut a piece of timber 3 inches or a foot long and they'll do it no problem. We still use miles for roadsigns and distances on highway signs even though we officially measure in metres and kilometres. But I think this is familiarity through their relatives and elder peers, if I asked them how many feet were in a yard or how many yards are in a mile I think they'd be really stuck and not have a clue.
You still get the odd "metric martyr" market trader who gets hauled up before the courts for selling their fruit and veg in Imperial units only (pounds and ounces) but the way that they make national media suggests they are pretty rare. Most people shift between the two systems and I think it just takes 40 years or so for the older system to disappear. Certainly my old dad could tell you how many yards are in a chain or a furlong but I'd have to look it up and my 25 year old mates would probably think you're making up some of the Imperial measures.... (perches, hundredweights, gills, etc).
Common sense, but a lot of the posters on this thread seem to have forgotten "children are not adults". Also "students are not employees".
Children have not developed biologically or emotionally as far as adults, they don't have the life experience. This is one of the main reasons society treats them differently in criminal cases. This is why teachers and other support staff in schools have a responsibility towards students, are expected by parents to be looking out for them and guiding them, and cannot treat them like adults.
Children are students at school not adult employees as work. You choose to look at something dodgy at work on the internet, your employer would expect you to take a different level of personal responsibility. They wouldn't expect your dad to come in and shout at the boss and ask them what they are doing exposing you to all these terrible websites when they should be helping you develop your career....
So this Axis-of-non-metric, Liberia, Myanmar (Burma) and USA, do they all use the same systems? Burma used to be part of the British Empire so I could guess they might have legacy Imperial units from that time, but Liberia? legacy from USA?
I like the fact that the USA has gone as far as using a *simplified* version of Imperial units that used to be the measures in the UK. Not only is the USA sticking with an outmoded system, but they've even evolved it to make it easier to learn, clearly they see a future in it:-)
Ok teasing aside, can anybody from the USA pin when the simplified version came in, did the more exotic parts of Imperial measures just get gently put aside as they weren't so frequently used or was there some law passed? I heard that technically the USA uses the metric system but just hasn't got round to moving over to it in the last 37 years or so.
Well, probably "space tourists" til the first couple of hundred go up and down successfully and the astronauts wings given out go from being solid steel with gold plating down to plastic clip on models made in taiwan in toy factories... then I think the media will just call them "tourists".
Last time I went to the USA people called me a "tourist" not an "airplane tourist" or a "USA tourist".
Good on you buddy. Where I live a small terraced house (red brick, neighbours on both sides) costs GBP 160,000 (approx $300K?). Not many folk have the kind of job that lets them save that up in cash. Most of us have to take on credit (a mortgage) to buy a house.
I'd agree houses are overpriced but there's nothing you can do as the man in the street to change that. You either don't buy a house or you take on credit. Best you can hope for is to work hard and save enough of a deposit that you get a decent mortgage.
As long as its more profitable and accessible than the other job / social security alternatives then I reckon people will keep doing it.
Building sites with lots of copper + access to a vehicle = easy money. How long does it take to lift 100lb of copper into a vehicle? Less than an hour I'd say. So even at 1 dollar / lb it's looking attractive. For some folk, 100 dollars for an hour's work is nice money...
Surely it should be praised? In the Land of the Free, The Invisible Hand of the Market combined with little peskie commie social security is driving people to use their own initiative and make money out of valuable resources. Don't tell me you want interfering government legislation to slow down this market invention?
...somewhere I can hear a Native American Indian muttering "buddy, what's a few kilometres of copper? These guys stole a whole country not so long ago":-)
5 day test matches last up to five days of play, though can be shorter if one side wins faster. On each day there are usually three two-hour sessions with a forty minute break for lunch and a twenty minute break for tea. Weather conditions might affect how long players are in the field for (you don't play in the rain or poor light).
What a lovely game. What other sports games have an official break for afternoon tea written into the Laws of the Game?
Early major international games were "timeless" - they would go on until a result was achieved. However this format was abandoned due to the uncertainty of when the match would finish and outside pressures.
The last ever timeless cricket Test (the most prestigious form of the game) was the 5th Test between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939, which was abandoned as a draw after 9 days of play spread over 11 days because otherwise the England team would have missed the boat for home.
So, the current 5 day Test, that's a short version...:-)
Good point, some clarification needed on my behalf. In the UK (where I live) there's a set of guidelines that the road agencies have to adhere to with their signage anywhere in the country on public roads. So if you're moving from 70mph roads to a town boundary, there should be a clear sign at a fiar distance indicating the town is coming up, and a clear sign indicating that the speed limit is changing. See this doc: apparently it's the "Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB)" which includes instructions for local authorities and construction contractors on where to place road signs.
If you take your driving test, you get tested on The Highway Code which explains from a driver's point of view where you will find signs and what sort of warning you'll get of changing road conditions.
I am assuming that in your country (the USA?) there's a similar set of documents. Mind you it sounds like you're implying it's not as well thought out, or local authorities don't adhere to sensible standards?
Well I guess the head of Nasa doesn't get docked for each satellite thats blow up on the launch pad/ disappears into space on the wrong trajectory etc so I don't think the crew will get docked for dropping a tool bag...... and let's not get into what bankers and politicians should be docked from their salaries for all the money that's disappeared out of the national economies right now!
How terrible that you're not allowed to drive at 70 in small towns where people cross roads, old people and kids walk to the shops, etc.
Fair call there should be some warning - but isn't approaching a town a warning that a speed reduction might be coming up? Or do you have towns where the speed limit is 70 so potentially there could be confusion to drivers what the speed limit should be?
...As opposed to hauling in a crap load of gasoline and petrol generators and trailers for the generators to generate the 600W per device to suck water out of the air (at the BM festival)? Seems like just hauling in the water might be more energy efficient overall surely?
It's not just about getting equipment into schools. Be aware that the equipment needs to be supported - for all its working life, not just this holiday, or the next.
Think about how the 30, 100, 200 machines will be technically supported over the next 5 years. It's one thing tinkering around maintaining your own and your significant other's machine but supporting a school's resources is a different scale. Do you have a plan for what to do when you get a phone call/email from the school 3 years from now asking you to come in and sort out a software problem that's affecting a number of their machines?
If the school is going to believe in the machines as a central educational resource then they'll need to be convinced that they will be supported.
Ah well that's because football pitches (in USian, "soccer field" I think...) can vary in size. FIFA's Laws of the Game note minimum and maximum sizes for width and length of pitch: Page 7, Dimensions. Teams are entitled to lay pitches anywhere within these dimensions which leads to learned followers on the terrace mulling about "narrow" and "wide" pitches favouring differing teams or players styles...
Just to confuse things further I believe these are approximate metric measures which have been translated from the original Imperial measures used in England, home of Association Football's Laws of the Game....
Slashdot Mirror
"Characters going into the public domain is repayment to society for society enforcing your exclusive rights over the characters for a number of years. If you don't like them going into public domain, tough luck - without them eventually going public domain there's no good reason for society to enforce copyright."
Aww, you're cute, you actually believe this stuff will be accepted by the major companies... Can you honestly believe that in 2023 or thereabouts the management of Disney are going to say "yup, it's tough luck but we're going to have to let Mickey Mouse and all the related imagery go for free, it's going to cost the company tens or hundreds or millions a year but there you go, that's life, let's see if there are some other jobs going down the road in another company?".
I'd like to think so too but I can't see it somehow. I can believe the European Union will stand up to US companies and say "no, this is what you agreed years ago, you have to stick to it" but the US authorities? I think US companies have too much power and the government and the people will do what the companies tell them to. They'll make some argument about it being unpatriotic to let copyright slip and that jobs will be lost to China / India / other forn parts and people will fall into line I reckon. Sad but I think it's the case.
"H2 isn't a military vehicle"
Indeed - you'll note I wrote "military-style".
I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what your response is about.
"An H2 commands plenty of respect on the road (and off the road)"
Over here in the UK you're more likely to get laughed at if you drive one of them round the streets and have people shout "tosser" at you.
Anybody who feels the need to drive an oversized military-style vehicle half a mile down (sub)urban roads to buy a pint of milk or a new pair of socks is looked on with a degree of suspicion and pity. People are a bit wary that the driver isn't too concerned about the well being of other road users and pedestrians.
"So if you a serious about long-term commitment and you find a good spot for your own spaceport, a 99year lease would have made more sense."
He's a businessman. 20 years seems like a long enough commitment, who knows what the economic world will look like in 2030? Might be better to move his operations out to somewhere else in the USA, off to India, China, etc. What's so special about the current site that somewhere else couldn't match in a few years time and give him a better price?
Croydon Airport only lasted as the main international London airport for less than 30 years, would a space port stay in the lead for longer than that? (Croydon Airport started operations in 1920 but was overtaken in the 40s by a small military airport in the west of London built over a hamlet called Heath Row).
I *think* you're calling us British folks who don't like the monarchy's powers a bunch of idiots... your right to do so I suppose (back to this in a minute) but I think the US 2nd amendment is rather different from the UK's monarchical power structure.
2nd amendment - created by the people and can be used by the people within the law.
Monarchy - bunch of unelected hereditary rulers from outside who have the final say. Cue Monty Python music - I didn't vote for them to be in charge, did you? Changing or getting rid of them definitely doesn't happen within the law, it's called treason. Death penalty for that was only abolished in 1998.
In the USA they had a revolution 200 years or so back because they didn't like unelected hereditary leaders from outside telling them what to do.
Personally I think we'd be better having the monarchy as figureheads for the tourists and to impress visiting presidents but removing them from the legal processes. Unelected monarchs (even those who don't claim the divine right of kings) seem a bit archaic these days. Having somebody that you have to bow down to and obey simply on the grounds that his mum or dad was in charge - no thank you.
Streetcars work in certain areas. I think the key is to think of different transportation means as complementary and not necessarily competitive.
Several major cities in Europe have streetcar systems and are indeed expanding them as auto congestion builds up (e.g. Manchester, UK, and Nice, France).
As for your argument about 'hardwired' transport links not working because demographics change in cities, I think a look at the world's major cities and their metro systems is a refutation of that argument. Few people would suggest that London's economic model is the same as it was 100 years ago yet the Underground still grows and gets busier. Try ripping out New York's subway system and see how that affects morning commutes.
Different transport systems work for differing (but sometimes complementary) environments. In London there's a mix of public buses, underground metro, urban light railways, private taxis, and private vehicles. It would be foolish to try to run the city using just one of these.
Here in the UK, I've not heard of those Japanese SUVs. I think they build them for the US market. Americans like driving tanks with laughable fuel consumption, the car makers build to respond to that demand (and bring out new models to encourage demand in the profitable sectors).
In the UK Japanese manufacturers tend to make a wide range of saloon and mini cars, with a few utility vehicles. I think they manufacture for the market they are in. Alas here people are also buying into the whole American SUV love, though I don't think it will grow to the size of the US market because of the price of gas (approx 9 dollars a US gallon) and the road system is different here - you just can't park so easily in more traditional places with something that big, automobiles have to work in towns that were built sometime between 100 and 1000 years ago and were designed for horse and cart traffic.
I'd heard teaching birth control in countries with strong Christian cultures like the USA is tough is as well...
"It's also worth noting that some people don't like the light spectrum output on white LED's. Personally, I prefer the pink tint from high pressure sodium lamps"
We're moving into a global financial credit crisis. Alas I think the aesthetics of which colour street lights we prefer will take second place to which will be cheaper to run in the long term.
cheers!
in the UK we've been officially metric since oooh about 1970 I think but people still use a mix and seem to move between each fluidly. I am 42 and got taught metric-only in schools from when I started in 1971, so anybody my age and younger was definitely taught metric only at school. Like with you, the early adopters were engineers and scientists, my 75 year old dad generally 'thinks' in imperial measures (inches) but is very comfortable working in mm - I think he learnt his trade in Imperial but as an engineer took on metric as a necessary skill.
Funny thing is that a lot of younger people who clearly were only taught in metric can still move between the two systems - I can ask my 25 year old mates to cut a piece of timber 3 inches or a foot long and they'll do it no problem. We still use miles for roadsigns and distances on highway signs even though we officially measure in metres and kilometres. But I think this is familiarity through their relatives and elder peers, if I asked them how many feet were in a yard or how many yards are in a mile I think they'd be really stuck and not have a clue.
You still get the odd "metric martyr" market trader who gets hauled up before the courts for selling their fruit and veg in Imperial units only (pounds and ounces) but the way that they make national media suggests they are pretty rare. Most people shift between the two systems and I think it just takes 40 years or so for the older system to disappear. Certainly my old dad could tell you how many yards are in a chain or a furlong but I'd have to look it up and my 25 year old mates would probably think you're making up some of the Imperial measures.... (perches, hundredweights, gills, etc).
Common sense, but a lot of the posters on this thread seem to have forgotten "children are not adults". Also "students are not employees".
Children have not developed biologically or emotionally as far as adults, they don't have the life experience. This is one of the main reasons society treats them differently in criminal cases. This is why teachers and other support staff in schools have a responsibility towards students, are expected by parents to be looking out for them and guiding them, and cannot treat them like adults.
Children are students at school not adult employees as work. You choose to look at something dodgy at work on the internet, your employer would expect you to take a different level of personal responsibility. They wouldn't expect your dad to come in and shout at the boss and ask them what they are doing exposing you to all these terrible websites when they should be helping you develop your career....
So this Axis-of-non-metric, Liberia, Myanmar (Burma) and USA, do they all use the same systems? Burma used to be part of the British Empire so I could guess they might have legacy Imperial units from that time, but Liberia? legacy from USA?
I like the fact that the USA has gone as far as using a *simplified* version of Imperial units that used to be the measures in the UK. Not only is the USA sticking with an outmoded system, but they've even evolved it to make it easier to learn, clearly they see a future in it :-)
Ok teasing aside, can anybody from the USA pin when the simplified version came in, did the more exotic parts of Imperial measures just get gently put aside as they weren't so frequently used or was there some law passed? I heard that technically the USA uses the metric system but just hasn't got round to moving over to it in the last 37 years or so.
Well, probably "space tourists" til the first couple of hundred go up and down successfully and the astronauts wings given out go from being solid steel with gold plating down to plastic clip on models made in taiwan in toy factories... then I think the media will just call them "tourists".
Last time I went to the USA people called me a "tourist" not an "airplane tourist" or a "USA tourist".
Good on you buddy. Where I live a small terraced house (red brick, neighbours on both sides) costs GBP 160,000 (approx $300K?). Not many folk have the kind of job that lets them save that up in cash. Most of us have to take on credit (a mortgage) to buy a house.
I'd agree houses are overpriced but there's nothing you can do as the man in the street to change that. You either don't buy a house or you take on credit. Best you can hope for is to work hard and save enough of a deposit that you get a decent mortgage.
As long as its more profitable and accessible than the other job / social security alternatives then I reckon people will keep doing it.
Building sites with lots of copper + access to a vehicle = easy money. How long does it take to lift 100lb of copper into a vehicle? Less than an hour I'd say. So even at 1 dollar / lb it's looking attractive. For some folk, 100 dollars for an hour's work is nice money...
Surely it should be praised? In the Land of the Free, The Invisible Hand of the Market combined with little peskie commie social security is driving people to use their own initiative and make money out of valuable resources. Don't tell me you want interfering government legislation to slow down this market invention?
5 day test matches last up to five days of play, though can be shorter if one side wins faster. On each day there are usually three two-hour sessions with a forty minute break for lunch and a twenty minute break for tea. Weather conditions might affect how long players are in the field for (you don't play in the rain or poor light).
What a lovely game. What other sports games have an official break for afternoon tea written into the Laws of the Game?
Early major international games were "timeless" - they would go on until a result was achieved. However this format was abandoned due to the uncertainty of when the match would finish and outside pressures.
The last ever timeless cricket Test (the most prestigious form of the game) was the 5th Test between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939, which was abandoned as a draw after 9 days of play spread over 11 days because otherwise the England team would have missed the boat for home.
So, the current 5 day Test, that's a short version... :-)
Don't give me your new fangled lbs of force! Damned commie!
How much is that in real units, say the thrust value of unladen non-migratory African swallows?
Good point, some clarification needed on my behalf. In the UK (where I live) there's a set of guidelines that the road agencies have to adhere to with their signage anywhere in the country on public roads. So if you're moving from 70mph roads to a town boundary, there should be a clear sign at a fiar distance indicating the town is coming up, and a clear sign indicating that the speed limit is changing. See this doc: apparently it's the "Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB)" which includes instructions for local authorities and construction contractors on where to place road signs.
If you take your driving test, you get tested on The Highway Code which explains from a driver's point of view where you will find signs and what sort of warning you'll get of changing road conditions.
I am assuming that in your country (the USA?) there's a similar set of documents. Mind you it sounds like you're implying it's not as well thought out, or local authorities don't adhere to sensible standards?
Well I guess the head of Nasa doesn't get docked for each satellite thats blow up on the launch pad/ disappears into space on the wrong trajectory etc so I don't think the crew will get docked for dropping a tool bag... ... and let's not get into what bankers and politicians should be docked from their salaries for all the money that's disappeared out of the national economies right now!
How terrible that you're not allowed to drive at 70 in small towns where people cross roads, old people and kids walk to the shops, etc.
Fair call there should be some warning - but isn't approaching a town a warning that a speed reduction might be coming up? Or do you have towns where the speed limit is 70 so potentially there could be confusion to drivers what the speed limit should be?
...As opposed to hauling in a crap load of gasoline and petrol generators and trailers for the generators to generate the 600W per device to suck water out of the air (at the BM festival)? Seems like just hauling in the water might be more energy efficient overall surely?
It's not just about getting equipment into schools. Be aware that the equipment needs to be supported - for all its working life, not just this holiday, or the next.
Think about how the 30, 100, 200 machines will be technically supported over the next 5 years. It's one thing tinkering around maintaining your own and your significant other's machine but supporting a school's resources is a different scale. Do you have a plan for what to do when you get a phone call/email from the school 3 years from now asking you to come in and sort out a software problem that's affecting a number of their machines?
If the school is going to believe in the machines as a central educational resource then they'll need to be convinced that they will be supported.
Ah well that's because football pitches (in USian, "soccer field" I think...) can vary in size. FIFA's Laws of the Game note minimum and maximum sizes for width and length of pitch: Page 7, Dimensions. Teams are entitled to lay pitches anywhere within these dimensions which leads to learned followers on the terrace mulling about "narrow" and "wide" pitches favouring differing teams or players styles...
Just to confuse things further I believe these are approximate metric measures which have been translated from the original Imperial measures used in England, home of Association Football's Laws of the Game....