I currently live in Florida (Tampa Bay area). I used to live in Lafayette, LA. Lafayette has all but the largest transmission lines burried. The water table there is much closer to the surface than in Florida. Although it is costly, all of the underground issues mentioned (including long term replacement of aging cables) can be dealt with if proper planning is done UP FRONT. Use the noggin. It's there for a reason.
Also, you don't have to replace everything at once. Start with new development, requireing standards for grade and ROW that account for underground power. Then move to end-points where it makes sense. Replace areas where the cable plant has reached its end of life and where roads are going through major upgrades. Work backwards to the major transmission lines.
I'm all for underground power, for all its many advantages: less visual pollution, lower maintenance, less risk of deliberate disruption and so on.
There are two aspects which haven't been covered, however:
1. The cable itself is more expensive than the stuff that gets strung between posts, and
2. The power companies simply won't get it together. Where I live, there has been something of an effort to get power lines underground, but a few years ago when my street was being resurfaced, there was a nice handy trench available where a gas main was being replaced, but the power company in their wisdom (read idiocy) just went ahead and blithely replaced all the poles at the same time.
Think about what you just said... "gas main"! Have you ever seen one of those go up?...and the fact that proximity to an electrical current, through electrical field transmission (whatever the technical term is...), can be enough to set it off. Sure, you can take precautions, but the two just shouldn't mix!
Browser information is also in the logs. And before you reply saying you can spoof that, I know.
Yup, but a lot of "administrators" won't be smart enough to notice things like that. They won't get past the "how dare they not download our ads. They must be stopped..." part of the thought process.
"$text_browser represents 75% of my $conspiracy_theory blog visitors".
Their arrogance is turning into visible panic. They are being sued right and left. Eventually their double-dealing and shady business practices WILL catch up with them in the courts. Eventually Apple will grow some cahunas and compete directly on a software level. Eventually Linux will have enough maturity to hold a substantial market share. Eventually one or more BSD-based distributions will be a good common alternative. Eventually there will be a public common knowledge that they don't have to use Microsoft software if they don't want. Eventually Microsoft will devolve into a has-been that will be scratching for crumbs just to stay in the game.
Eventually.
My predictions:
2 years, down to 75% of new OS installs on new PCs.
5 years, down to 50% or 60%.
10 years, 10% to 20% at best.
Once they lower to the 75% mark the public will have their clue and Microsoft will lose market share at an astronomical pace. Their mistreatment of the customers will catch up with them sooner or later. Such things always do. Their "innovation through acquisition" will not stop the bleeding. It may not be as fast as some would hope, but it will happen.
Are you implying you don't "buy into" the Greenhouse climate model? Not "believing" in global warming it one thing, but that's just hilarious. What's next, you don't "buy into" gravity?
The model IS the part that is questionable. The best weather prediction models for forcasting are only close within a few days period, and sometimes not even close within those few days. The climate computer models are predictive mathematical models overlayed on a four dimensional map with innumerable variables that the based on best guess scenarios. It is a given that the models are incomplete and innacurate due to the complexity of the problem and the scarcity of data mapped over the same given points. The history of modelling weather is not anywhere near past its infancy.
Is there global warming going on? Yes and no, depending on where you live. Are the changes just a part of an ancient on-going cycle that will repeat itself? Yes, maybe. We only have a few centuries of semi-accurate, but largely incomplete historical readings. Most of the historical data is anecdotal. Is industry effecting climate change? Yes and no, depending on whether the percentage of change is negligable or not.
As it stands, most "rabid greenhousers" have a very "left-wing" social political agenda to push (with very little to do with the environment) while most "rabid naysayers" have a very "right-wing" economic politcal agenda to push (with very little to do with the environment.) Most scientists are firmly in the middle with a slight lean to global warming.
It is also important to note that a major world-wide warming cycle will melt much of the standing ice around the world. Along with over-warming some areas and POSSIBLY sinking some coastal cities, it will both benefit and harm crop yields, depending on location. A major shift upwards will also reduce the saline content of the oceans, which will slow down ocean currents, which will temporarily worsen some of the symptoms. It will also, however, cause a major ice buildup at the poles, bringing regional mini-ice ages. This in turn, will cause an increase in ocean salinity, thus rebuilding the lost current cycle, thus making weather milder all around.
In short, there is more that we don't know about weather pattern changes than we do know. Our current weather models are woefully lacking on needed historical data to give accurate predictable results.
The main reasons to switch to renewable energy are as follows:
Removal of foreign control of our energy! Russia's recent abuse of the Ukrain is a great case in point.
Cleaner air to breath, which means less health problems in general and a much more pleasent environment in which to live.
Clearer skies mean more collectable clean power from the sun reaches solar collectors, further increasing their effectiveness, which, in turn, further reduces our reliance on fossil or nuclear energy.
Better use of renewables on a personal level means more personal freedom from the extortion prices that are generally charged by the energy conglomerates.
The science part is still, as yet, undefined, and, therefore, cannot yet be relied upon for any rational decisions. This doesn't mean that the conclusions of the models are wrong. When all things are considered, they are at least within the range of remotely possible, though not probable. Adding this REMOTE possibility to the known and rational reasons does give a good enough reason to push HARD for a decisive and fast switch to renewable energy. We don't need end-of-the-world scenarios. Common sense is enough... at least for me.
I think that the people need to get a clue that a large portion of our loss of freedoms due to greed are, in large part, a result of a political system that strongly favors that one profession. This is due to the fact that most legislators and almost all judges (I can't think of one who isn't) are lawyers. It is a fact of human nature that if you stack the deck (or congress, for that matter) with people who are of one basic persuasion, they will begin twisting the whole thing in their favor, even without knowing it.
As a people, we need to become, for a good long time, anti-lawyer biased, in the area of government. There are, as always, exceptions to the rule. Yes, lawyers are citizens too and have that right. Yes, there is a need for lawyers (no witch hunt here.) We just need to expose the fact that we put ourselves in this perdicament because we historically put lawyers on a false intellectual pedistal above the rest of us. We need to scream "the emperor has no clothes" and reverse the damage before it is too late. The ability to argue a case or navigate red tape does not ensure wise or trustworthy rulers. It has, typically, meant just the opposite. There are many old men with "common horse sense" that would do better as a judge than a good majority of the law-educated existing judges. Ya know, the kind of guy who can spot a liar a mile away and has the guts to tell him so to his face. In a practical matter, the kind of guy that will say, "Yes, that cop got the evidence in an improper manner AND WILL BE PROSECUTED FOR IT, but that evidence, in and of itself is irrefutable and WILL BE ADMITTED." (BTW: This last part will only work if the punishment for crossing the line is severely harsh.)
It's a stetch, but if we can wake the people up we have a chance of restoring the balance before all of our rights and protections are sold out to the highest bidder.
Patented a non-obvious (at the time) idea (not the software behind it!)
Went out on a limb to develop and market an actual product.
Deserves the protection for which the patent system was originally designed.
NTP:
Patented a very vegue idea (so vague it could apply to many technologies)
Did not attempt to develop anything AT ALL.
Waited for someone to accidentally trip over their vague patent (who was actually making scads of money).
Deserves no protection because they were not innovating (which is what the patent system is supposed to protect), they were trolling for innovators with cash.
This folks is why Tivo is getting a fairly good response from/. on this news whereas NTP got lambasted. Alas, NTP got more that 1/2 a Billion dollars for trolling, even while losing their patents, while Tivo gets a lousy 75 million. The problem is not so much with our patent system (yes there are problems there...) but with the lawyers who pervert the system with NTP-like trolling companies and idiot Judges (lawyers with authority) who don't mete out justice. Laws are put on the books to level out the playing field for the sake of justice. Lawyers tend to pervert the laws and the system for financial or political gain.
Lawyers shouldn't make laws (ie: go to congress), and lawyers shouldn't interperet laws (ie: judicial branch). It is a clear conflict of interests. The clear (written and spoken) intention of the founding fathers of the USA was to have a citizen government ("a government of the people, by the people, and for the people"). They wrote volumes on this. We have been duped by the lawyers and we need to put a decisive stop to this madness in every form! There are many good hearted lawyers, but the very system that trains them teaches them that the current system is right with an egalitarian manner that the students usually miss until they are already indocterinated. This is ery similar to the way that slave-owners' children were taught that "slavery was merciful" or that "slaves were sub-human", by giving examples of "obvious" inteligence differences that were forced on the slaves by the slavery itself!
Meanwhile, having a legit OSX for PC would likely cannibalize Apple's hardware sales, much like the mac-clones did some years back.
If they play their cards right, it won't have too. Here's a scenario:
Apple sells Generic OS/X with a compatibility disclaimer for $200/copy. (~$150 profit)
User gets a basic OS/X experience with some problems with fringe periferals.
Apple offers a $120 discount on a new MAC for 3 months to purchasers of Generic OS/X.
User (or at least a fair % of users) gets the itch and takes the bait.
Summary:
Apple sells 50 million copies of OS/X between Thanksgiving and New Years to people with MAC envy that normally wouldn't spring for a MAC anyway. ($7.5B instant profit)
With upgrade envy, Apple entices 30% of these OS/X newbys to "upgrade" to a MAC. (~$7.5B instant profit + residual sales for add-on/upgrades).
As a result, Apple will have drastically expanded their customer base, installed OS base, and mindshare within a 6 month window. They would have effectively broken the Microsoft OS monopoly while increasing their hardware business (and raising their stock dramatically.)
Will Windows Explorer still be able to function as a web browser once IE7 has been installed separately on XP?
it's a VERY simple programming trick.
if (web-type url typed into location bar) {
CallRegisteredBrowserEngine(typedURL,windowSize,Wi ndowPosition);
}
As long as the registered default browser has the same interface calls published in the registry, it should work fine, and would allow for alternative browsers to cleanly interact with the OS.
On the other hand, this is Microsoft we're talking about. It will probably be more like:
if (web-type url typed into location bar) {
CallMostCurrentMSBrowserEngine(typedURL,windowSize ,WindowPosition);
}
Is Microsoft actually going to add some stability to Windows? The whole ie==explorer thing has been a security and stability plague since it was introduced.
I'm with you on that, but I don't see how they could be abolished without removing the rights of free speech, and free association from the people.
The party system is codified at the state level. Some states, like Florida, require you to declare a party affiliation if you want to vote in a primary. The system EXPECTS candidates to be brought out by a party. There is nothing wrong with a group of people supporting a specific candidate, but we have given a political party credence in that we look to them as official sources for valid candidates, which they are not. The parties work to push a false polished image of a candidate and hide his weaknesses from the public. All this to gain power over our nation. This has caused a situation where it promotes the corruption of lobbies and corporations, due to the parties being the place where power is traded (for more power and influence).
In the past, our presidents and vice-presidents were not elected by the general populace, because it is too much of a burden for every blacksmith and farmer to know a man enough to know his worth as a leader. The executive branch was elected by our representatives in congress. In this way, people who actually knew the candidate could make an informed decision. We had the task of knowing our local representative, which is much easier to grasp for an average citizen.
I would like to take it back to that level and one step farther, not to limit the individual's voice, but to eliminate mob rule that is too easily influenced and manipulated by power brokers. Right now, we have knowledge brokers, the media, who lean far left and try to influence the mob elections with their biased coverage to the left. We also have economic power brokers, who lean to the right, who use money to incluence elections. We can cut out both groups by stripping them of their power. Let the individuals appoint local representatives that they know, without regard to party affiliation. Then, trickle up the appointments from this pool.
Parties were something the framers of the constitution didn't really think through. Their intention was that we should actually know what our candidates stood for individually, and vote according to our convictions.
Their intentions were that it be a representative form of government where the people couldn't appoint a "king" through mob rule as swayed by the power brokers. That's why we didn't vote directly for the executive or judicial branch (just look at that elected Ohio judge who gave the confessed child molester probation). We need to get back to our roots and stop the petty infighting so that we can accomplish something!
What difference would it make having a third, fourth or even fifth party when all of them have to fight over the middle anyway?
I don't want any parties! I strongly support many ideas from all major parties. It has come down to a pissing contest to see who can gain control. It has nothing to do with running the country. When a candidate starts getting serious about running for pres. he/she tends to lean in to the middle from his/her true left or right position.
I would prefer to see a cleaner representative form of government. For instance: a local community get together and appoints a board to handle local issues. These people should be their neighbors, known and trusted to be wise individuals. This local board would appoint two from among themselves to represent at the city level... This pattern would continue all the way up to the national level. In this way, the pool of political "talent" would be known and trusted by their neighbors.
The national body would appoint a president and vice president from among themselves for an 8 year term. Each year, there would be a confidence vote. If the pres. or vice pres. did not retain a simple majority, a new election would be held. After the new election, the new pres. would move up beside the old one for a clean hand-off of power where the old one would trade off any necessary national secrets, etc. The old pres. would simply step back down, without dishonor, and be a part of the congress again until his term is up (unless impeached for crimes).
A method like this would completely rid us of the power hungry party system, all the posturing, and the "throwing the baby out with the bath water" that happens now when the power shifts from one party to the next.
There would, of course, have to be some sort of safeguards put in place for the public to rise up and throw the whole bunch out if there were problems. (that would be fun!)
Personally, I'm not a big fan of MS products, but AD *is* slick, and does its job when configured correctly (just like most things).
You haven't done much programming against AD, have you?
So picking something like AD ensures that the troublesome side of the house stays quite and the flexible side of the house can adapt.
Your AD environment must not be too complex either. AD is a verifiable dog. It is a statistical fact that a MS backend takes much more time and man-power to manage than *Nix, NetWare, mainframe, etc. I've been in the business of managing large complex IT environments (as well as my fair share of programming) since 1984. from my personal experience, it is true that you can use AD to manage a large installation. It is also true that you will spend much more time tweeking AD to keep it stable than almost anything else out there. If you want a STABLE AND SCALEABLE infrastructure, use Novell's products. I don't even recommend MS AD for small shops. It's too much of a hassle. A Linux/SAMBA/LDAP server can be installed and configured quicker and MUCH more securely (see Mepis SOHO server live CD as a good example). In short AD stinks.
Your hesitence against AD is justified. Most of the standards that it implements are broken in some way, even Kerberos. It works decently when all of the dependant hosts are MS products, but there is quite a bit of trouble when tying in outside hosts. 3rd party extensions to AD are dependant on MS to not break their extensions on the next service pack (which often happens.) They typically don't even follow their own specs internally, as I have found out through extensive programming against AD. There are workarounds, but you sometimes don't know that there is an issue until after implementation. I have actually had AD return truncated partial results without a warning or error message that went unnoticed for a while. Basically, you can't trust an AD request to be accurate without double-checking each interface into it for corroborating results. MS knows these issues internally and programs around them. The public documentation of them is enemic at best, which leaves us in the dark. Stay away from AD in a mixed environment, or one that YOU have to program against.
On the other hand, Novell's eDirectory (NDS for all you old codgers) is solid, clean, robust, and consistent. It has Kerberos options and time locking options (and has had them for MANY years.) You could "roll your own" if you you are not faint of heart, but I don't recommend it with such a fine product available. eDirectory also runs native on NetWare, Linux, various Unixes, Windows, and several mainframes. It takes a bit to wrap your brain around their products but it is well worth the effort.
Generally, Arab refers to "coming from the Arabian Penensula". Ethnically, it refers to the non-Jewish descendants of Abraham, though it generally also includes some other close relatives because of the generational mixture.
As for Essah, are there actual Edomites left alive on the Earth? The last ones I'm aware of in recorded history are Herod the Tetrarch and his brother, both of whom died in the first century. I thought they were gone or completely assimilated into other peoples.
As far as I can tell, they were simply assimilated and forgotten. Even Harod the Great was not a full-blooded Edomite. As it was, Essah's wives came from Egyptian and Ishmalite descent (daughter or grand-daughter... can't remember), so it can be argued that the Edomites were, from the beginning part Ishmaelites.
The general growth of Islam usually annihalates local ethnicity and history with a violent subjugation, so not many records, recorded or passed remain. Just ask a Kurd about his Median ancestry or a Iranian about his Pursian ancestry. Almost all that is left of their ethnic history is their sectarian clashes (Shia vs. Sunni, Shia and Sunni vs. Kurd, etc...) One of the very few surviving non-Islamic groups to have survived in Iraq, the Assyrians, are on the brink of annihilation due to democracy coming to that country. Sadam was a wicked tyrant that needed to go, but now a Shia majority is poised to take most of the power which spells doom for the few Christian Assyrians who are left.
Look up the works of Flavius Josephus. He is considered a very solid historian who was a contemporary of Christ. He was not religeous, even though born a Jew. His is the primary account of the Roman sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD. Though not a Christian, he corroberates much of the scriptural claims of the time as historical incidents.
Basic Arabic Lineage 101:
Terah .Abraham son of Terah (Ibrahim for Moslums) ..Ishmael (by Hagar, concubine to Sarah) ..Isaac (by Sarah, Abraham's wife) ...Esah called Edom (by Rebekah, Isaacs wife) ...Jacob called Isreal (by Rebekah, Isaacs wife) ..Zimram (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) ..Jokshan (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) ..Medan (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) ..Midian (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) ..Ishbak (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) ..Shuah (by Keturah, Abraham's wife) .Haran son of Terah ..Lot son of Haran ...Moab father of the Moabites (by Lot's Eldest daughter) ...Ben-Ammi father of the Ammonites (by Lot's second daughter)
Arabs are mostly descended from Ishmael, Esah, Moab, Ben-Ammi, Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Many of the others that much of the world calls Arabs may have some blood from the Abrahamic line due to mixture after being conqured. One example is the modern Egyptians who are descended from Mizraim (the son of Ham, son of Noah). The ancient Egyptians were once called Mizriamites. Another example is Iran, made up mostly of the ancient Pursian blood line. Another are the Kurds, who were the ancient Meads. The Meads were primarily of the Zorostrian religion until conquered and forced on pain of death to convert to Islam, which is the method that was used to convert all current Islamic nations and peoples.
As a side note, one of the most basic and core teachings of Islam (ALL ISLAM) is that there are 2 houses, "the house of allah" and "the house of war". Those nations that are "converted" to Islam are called "the house os allah". The rest of us live in "the house of war", until we are conquered. It is an affront to Islam that any person or land, once "belonging" (ie: conquered) to allah to leave allah. Therefor, Isreal, Spain, or any person who leaves Islam is marked for death by the faithful. So think on that while we try and help Islamic nations achieve democracy while they migrate to our lands and try to establish a majority by immigration and birth.
The corporate TCO Analysis goes something like this.
The peons like coffee. We need more productivity. Coffee is a stimulant. Give them more coffee to increase productivity. Oops, now they spend too much time around the coffee pot! Buy bad coffee, they are addicted anyway. Oh no, now their health is declining and our insurance bills are going up! No problem, just make them pay most of the premiums. They won't be able to afford to quit that way...
C# for serious work (better support out there...). I was mainly a VB programmer, but the support was so poor I switched. C# is just as easy as VB.Net. Neither one will teach you the in and outs of managing your own code (memory issues and such.) They also cripple you a bit in that they teach you to be utterly dependant on Microsoft's way of managing code for you.
Use C# as a starter language to get your feet wet. Then move to (non-Microsoft) C or C++ to learn how to manage more intricate things. Then migrate you knowledge to other platforms (Unix, Mac OSX, Linux, etc..) to see the need for such things.
2003..caugh...caugh...Texas to Florida...caugh...caugh....UHaul....caugh...caugh. ..caugh...2-day delay getting a truck that belched black fumes and traveled 50MPH tops....caugh..caugh...At least our car (following behind) got well oiled....caugh...caugh...
That's a bunk argument. So many states rights issues have been overruled by the federal court system.
You have to remember that at the founding of this nation, State==Nation. Yes, each state is considered a soveriegn nation loosley coupled at the federal level for the common good. The Constitution is very clear that all rights not specified for the federal government in the constitution are strictly reserved for the states (individual nations) to preserve their sovereignty and to keep the federal government in check. Over the years we have forgotten this but, as it stands now, any serious challenge to any law that allows the federal government to overstep these bounds (good or bad) is subject to being overturned. So, if you want good law to stand, it must be based in all (or most) states or be set in as a constitutional ammendment.
Most of this has been ignored since the Civil War because of Lincoln's enforcement of the Union. No one has wanted to reopen that can of worms. His not-quite-legal enforcement matched the not-quite-legal seccession of the various states. (Only CA and TX have treaty codified rights to secceed due to their previous, undeniable soveregnty as independant and recognized nations prior to statehood.)
The states' rights issue is one that does need to be revisited in the future for clarity and some clean-up. I just don't think our nation is mature enough, yet to handle it without some major problems.
Slashdot Mirror
My dogma will catch and EAT your catma!
Also, you don't have to replace everything at once. Start with new development, requireing standards for grade and ROW that account for underground power. Then move to end-points where it makes sense. Replace areas where the cable plant has reached its end of life and where roads are going through major upgrades. Work backwards to the major transmission lines.
Think about what you just said... "gas main"! Have you ever seen one of those go up? ...and the fact that proximity to an electrical current, through electrical field transmission (whatever the technical term is...), can be enough to set it off. Sure, you can take precautions, but the two just shouldn't mix!
Yup, but a lot of "administrators" won't be smart enough to notice things like that. They won't get past the "how dare they not download our ads. They must be stopped..." part of the thought process.
Wait... I thought I was the conspiracy...
Text-only browsers have been around for quite some time. No need to download something that won't be displayed anyway.
I do.
Over time.
Their arrogance is turning into visible panic. They are being sued right and left. Eventually their double-dealing and shady business practices WILL catch up with them in the courts. Eventually Apple will grow some cahunas and compete directly on a software level. Eventually Linux will have enough maturity to hold a substantial market share. Eventually one or more BSD-based distributions will be a good common alternative. Eventually there will be a public common knowledge that they don't have to use Microsoft software if they don't want. Eventually Microsoft will devolve into a has-been that will be scratching for crumbs just to stay in the game.
Eventually.
My predictions:
Once they lower to the 75% mark the public will have their clue and Microsoft will lose market share at an astronomical pace. Their mistreatment of the customers will catch up with them sooner or later. Such things always do. Their "innovation through acquisition" will not stop the bleeding. It may not be as fast as some would hope, but it will happen.
The model IS the part that is questionable. The best weather prediction models for forcasting are only close within a few days period, and sometimes not even close within those few days. The climate computer models are predictive mathematical models overlayed on a four dimensional map with innumerable variables that the based on best guess scenarios. It is a given that the models are incomplete and innacurate due to the complexity of the problem and the scarcity of data mapped over the same given points. The history of modelling weather is not anywhere near past its infancy.
Is there global warming going on? Yes and no, depending on where you live. Are the changes just a part of an ancient on-going cycle that will repeat itself? Yes, maybe. We only have a few centuries of semi-accurate, but largely incomplete historical readings. Most of the historical data is anecdotal. Is industry effecting climate change? Yes and no, depending on whether the percentage of change is negligable or not.
As it stands, most "rabid greenhousers" have a very "left-wing" social political agenda to push (with very little to do with the environment) while most "rabid naysayers" have a very "right-wing" economic politcal agenda to push (with very little to do with the environment.) Most scientists are firmly in the middle with a slight lean to global warming.
It is also important to note that a major world-wide warming cycle will melt much of the standing ice around the world. Along with over-warming some areas and POSSIBLY sinking some coastal cities, it will both benefit and harm crop yields, depending on location. A major shift upwards will also reduce the saline content of the oceans, which will slow down ocean currents, which will temporarily worsen some of the symptoms. It will also, however, cause a major ice buildup at the poles, bringing regional mini-ice ages. This in turn, will cause an increase in ocean salinity, thus rebuilding the lost current cycle, thus making weather milder all around.
In short, there is more that we don't know about weather pattern changes than we do know. Our current weather models are woefully lacking on needed historical data to give accurate predictable results.
The main reasons to switch to renewable energy are as follows:
The science part is still, as yet, undefined, and, therefore, cannot yet be relied upon for any rational decisions. This doesn't mean that the conclusions of the models are wrong. When all things are considered, they are at least within the range of remotely possible, though not probable. Adding this REMOTE possibility to the known and rational reasons does give a good enough reason to push HARD for a decisive and fast switch to renewable energy. We don't need end-of-the-world scenarios. Common sense is enough... at least for me.
As a people, we need to become, for a good long time, anti-lawyer biased, in the area of government. There are, as always, exceptions to the rule. Yes, lawyers are citizens too and have that right. Yes, there is a need for lawyers (no witch hunt here.) We just need to expose the fact that we put ourselves in this perdicament because we historically put lawyers on a false intellectual pedistal above the rest of us. We need to scream "the emperor has no clothes" and reverse the damage before it is too late. The ability to argue a case or navigate red tape does not ensure wise or trustworthy rulers. It has, typically, meant just the opposite. There are many old men with "common horse sense" that would do better as a judge than a good majority of the law-educated existing judges. Ya know, the kind of guy who can spot a liar a mile away and has the guts to tell him so to his face. In a practical matter, the kind of guy that will say, "Yes, that cop got the evidence in an improper manner AND WILL BE PROSECUTED FOR IT, but that evidence, in and of itself is irrefutable and WILL BE ADMITTED." (BTW: This last part will only work if the punishment for crossing the line is severely harsh.)
It's a stetch, but if we can wake the people up we have a chance of restoring the balance before all of our rights and protections are sold out to the highest bidder.
Tivo:
NTP:
This folks is why Tivo is getting a fairly good response from /. on this news whereas NTP got lambasted. Alas, NTP got more that 1/2 a Billion dollars for trolling, even while losing their patents, while Tivo gets a lousy 75 million. The problem is not so much with our patent system (yes there are problems there...) but with the lawyers who pervert the system with NTP-like trolling companies and idiot Judges (lawyers with authority) who don't mete out justice. Laws are put on the books to level out the playing field for the sake of justice. Lawyers tend to pervert the laws and the system for financial or political gain.
Lawyers shouldn't make laws (ie: go to congress), and lawyers shouldn't interperet laws (ie: judicial branch). It is a clear conflict of interests. The clear (written and spoken) intention of the founding fathers of the USA was to have a citizen government ("a government of the people, by the people, and for the people"). They wrote volumes on this. We have been duped by the lawyers and we need to put a decisive stop to this madness in every form! There are many good hearted lawyers, but the very system that trains them teaches them that the current system is right with an egalitarian manner that the students usually miss until they are already indocterinated. This is ery similar to the way that slave-owners' children were taught that "slavery was merciful" or that "slaves were sub-human", by giving examples of "obvious" inteligence differences that were forced on the slaves by the slavery itself!
ok, i'm off my soapbox again....
NEXT....
If they play their cards right, it won't have too. Here's a scenario:
Summary:
As a result, Apple will have drastically expanded their customer base, installed OS base, and mindshare within a 6 month window. They would have effectively broken the Microsoft OS monopoly while increasing their hardware business (and raising their stock dramatically.)
geeez! don't youy know anything?!
it's a VERY simple programming trick.
As long as the registered default browser has the same interface calls published in the registry, it should work fine, and would allow for alternative browsers to cleanly interact with the OS.
On the other hand, this is Microsoft we're talking about. It will probably be more like:
Is Microsoft actually going to add some stability to Windows? The whole ie==explorer thing has been a security and stability plague since it was introduced.
The party system is codified at the state level. Some states, like Florida, require you to declare a party affiliation if you want to vote in a primary. The system EXPECTS candidates to be brought out by a party. There is nothing wrong with a group of people supporting a specific candidate, but we have given a political party credence in that we look to them as official sources for valid candidates, which they are not. The parties work to push a false polished image of a candidate and hide his weaknesses from the public. All this to gain power over our nation. This has caused a situation where it promotes the corruption of lobbies and corporations, due to the parties being the place where power is traded (for more power and influence).
In the past, our presidents and vice-presidents were not elected by the general populace, because it is too much of a burden for every blacksmith and farmer to know a man enough to know his worth as a leader. The executive branch was elected by our representatives in congress. In this way, people who actually knew the candidate could make an informed decision. We had the task of knowing our local representative, which is much easier to grasp for an average citizen.
I would like to take it back to that level and one step farther, not to limit the individual's voice, but to eliminate mob rule that is too easily influenced and manipulated by power brokers. Right now, we have knowledge brokers, the media, who lean far left and try to influence the mob elections with their biased coverage to the left. We also have economic power brokers, who lean to the right, who use money to incluence elections. We can cut out both groups by stripping them of their power. Let the individuals appoint local representatives that they know, without regard to party affiliation. Then, trickle up the appointments from this pool.
Their intentions were that it be a representative form of government where the people couldn't appoint a "king" through mob rule as swayed by the power brokers. That's why we didn't vote directly for the executive or judicial branch (just look at that elected Ohio judge who gave the confessed child molester probation). We need to get back to our roots and stop the petty infighting so that we can accomplish something!
I don't want any parties! I strongly support many ideas from all major parties. It has come down to a pissing contest to see who can gain control. It has nothing to do with running the country. When a candidate starts getting serious about running for pres. he/she tends to lean in to the middle from his/her true left or right position.
I would prefer to see a cleaner representative form of government. For instance: a local community get together and appoints a board to handle local issues. These people should be their neighbors, known and trusted to be wise individuals. This local board would appoint two from among themselves to represent at the city level... This pattern would continue all the way up to the national level. In this way, the pool of political "talent" would be known and trusted by their neighbors.
The national body would appoint a president and vice president from among themselves for an 8 year term. Each year, there would be a confidence vote. If the pres. or vice pres. did not retain a simple majority, a new election would be held. After the new election, the new pres. would move up beside the old one for a clean hand-off of power where the old one would trade off any necessary national secrets, etc. The old pres. would simply step back down, without dishonor, and be a part of the congress again until his term is up (unless impeached for crimes).
A method like this would completely rid us of the power hungry party system, all the posturing, and the "throwing the baby out with the bath water" that happens now when the power shifts from one party to the next.
There would, of course, have to be some sort of safeguards put in place for the public to rise up and throw the whole bunch out if there were problems. (that would be fun!)
You haven't done much programming against AD, have you?
Your AD environment must not be too complex either. AD is a verifiable dog. It is a statistical fact that a MS backend takes much more time and man-power to manage than *Nix, NetWare, mainframe, etc. I've been in the business of managing large complex IT environments (as well as my fair share of programming) since 1984. from my personal experience, it is true that you can use AD to manage a large installation. It is also true that you will spend much more time tweeking AD to keep it stable than almost anything else out there. If you want a STABLE AND SCALEABLE infrastructure, use Novell's products. I don't even recommend MS AD for small shops. It's too much of a hassle. A Linux/SAMBA/LDAP server can be installed and configured quicker and MUCH more securely (see Mepis SOHO server live CD as a good example). In short AD stinks.
On the other hand, Novell's eDirectory (NDS for all you old codgers) is solid, clean, robust, and consistent. It has Kerberos options and time locking options (and has had them for MANY years.) You could "roll your own" if you you are not faint of heart, but I don't recommend it with such a fine product available. eDirectory also runs native on NetWare, Linux, various Unixes, Windows, and several mainframes. It takes a bit to wrap your brain around their products but it is well worth the effort.
good luck!
The general growth of Islam usually annihalates local ethnicity and history with a violent subjugation, so not many records, recorded or passed remain. Just ask a Kurd about his Median ancestry or a Iranian about his Pursian ancestry. Almost all that is left of their ethnic history is their sectarian clashes (Shia vs. Sunni, Shia and Sunni vs. Kurd, etc...) One of the very few surviving non-Islamic groups to have survived in Iraq, the Assyrians, are on the brink of annihilation due to democracy coming to that country. Sadam was a wicked tyrant that needed to go, but now a Shia majority is poised to take most of the power which spells doom for the few Christian Assyrians who are left.
Look up Elohim, the plural descriptive name for God. (B'nai elohim - sons of God).
Look up the works of Flavius Josephus. He is considered a very solid historian who was a contemporary of Christ. He was not religeous, even though born a Jew. His is the primary account of the Roman sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD. Though not a Christian, he corroberates much of the scriptural claims of the time as historical incidents.
Arabs are mostly descended from Ishmael, Esah, Moab, Ben-Ammi, Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Many of the others that much of the world calls Arabs may have some blood from the Abrahamic line due to mixture after being conqured. One example is the modern Egyptians who are descended from Mizraim (the son of Ham, son of Noah). The ancient Egyptians were once called Mizriamites. Another example is Iran, made up mostly of the ancient Pursian blood line. Another are the Kurds, who were the ancient Meads. The Meads were primarily of the Zorostrian religion until conquered and forced on pain of death to convert to Islam, which is the method that was used to convert all current Islamic nations and peoples.
As a side note, one of the most basic and core teachings of Islam (ALL ISLAM) is that there are 2 houses, "the house of allah" and "the house of war". Those nations that are "converted" to Islam are called "the house os allah". The rest of us live in "the house of war", until we are conquered. It is an affront to Islam that any person or land, once "belonging" (ie: conquered) to allah to leave allah. Therefor, Isreal, Spain, or any person who leaves Islam is marked for death by the faithful. So think on that while we try and help Islamic nations achieve democracy while they migrate to our lands and try to establish a majority by immigration and birth.
The peons like coffee. We need more productivity. Coffee is a stimulant. Give them more coffee to increase productivity. Oops, now they spend too much time around the coffee pot! Buy bad coffee, they are addicted anyway. Oh no, now their health is declining and our insurance bills are going up! No problem, just make them pay most of the premiums. They won't be able to afford to quit that way...
Use C# as a starter language to get your feet wet. Then move to (non-Microsoft) C or C++ to learn how to manage more intricate things. Then migrate you knowledge to other platforms (Unix, Mac OSX, Linux, etc..) to see the need for such things.
2003..caugh...caugh...Texas to Florida...caugh...caugh....UHaul....caugh...caugh. ..caugh...2-day delay getting a truck that belched black fumes and traveled 50MPH tops....caugh..caugh...At least our car (following behind) got well oiled....caugh...caugh...
You have to remember that at the founding of this nation, State==Nation. Yes, each state is considered a soveriegn nation loosley coupled at the federal level for the common good. The Constitution is very clear that all rights not specified for the federal government in the constitution are strictly reserved for the states (individual nations) to preserve their sovereignty and to keep the federal government in check. Over the years we have forgotten this but, as it stands now, any serious challenge to any law that allows the federal government to overstep these bounds (good or bad) is subject to being overturned. So, if you want good law to stand, it must be based in all (or most) states or be set in as a constitutional ammendment.
Most of this has been ignored since the Civil War because of Lincoln's enforcement of the Union. No one has wanted to reopen that can of worms. His not-quite-legal enforcement matched the not-quite-legal seccession of the various states. (Only CA and TX have treaty codified rights to secceed due to their previous, undeniable soveregnty as independant and recognized nations prior to statehood.)
The states' rights issue is one that does need to be revisited in the future for clarity and some clean-up. I just don't think our nation is mature enough, yet to handle it without some major problems.