Every time I hear these shows, I keep wondering "So, when do you guys get your TV show"?? It reminds me a lot of the feeling of listening to a good radio comedy show (Goons, "I'm sorry I'll read that again" and other such stuff).. Except there's loads of entertaining news too..:) Well worth the weekly wait for the next installment...:)
The FIN is a non-partisan, grassroots network of citizens and businesses who have a stake in the success Microsoft
For this, please read "shareholders". Non-partisan shareholders at that, apparently. And this leaves me wondering whether MS will now start looking to slap the patent on "Grassroots networking technology for Citizens", as it certainly looks as though they've "Embraced and Extended" the meaning ever so slightly.
Anyway, they've thoughtfully provided a link to congress reps. How nice of them. And apprently they want to hear the views of "real consumers".
Heh..
Ok, Slashdot, what are you waiting for? I feel we have a nice collection of "real consumers" right here, so, please be nice to poor Microsoft, and let your congress rep. hear what you think. But PLEASE be pleasant and polite about it. The kind of message you'd let your mum read. If someone has a little more time than I have right now, maybe they'd be kind enough to provide a letter template to base the response on.
Anyhow, that's enough from me, back to work I guess.
Wow... I'm impressed... It's been a while since I saw a monumental cockup like that (well, since the hotmail affair anyway). I'm sure that a couple of minutes adding a check with cracklib wouldn't have gone amiss, or just adding in a random password generator.. I wonder.. Do these people have a QC department, to make sure that the code they release is robust? Or is a building of PHBs with a lone coder stuck in a cabinet somewhere and let out to be fed and watered every now and then.. For a large company with huge resources at their disposal, there's no excuse for not checking their functionality a hundred times before release... Especially as this is supposed to be their core business!!! I'd love to see their PR dept. right now..:)
Looking through the posts, I'd hazard a guess that the people who wrote the request for interviewees didn't really look through Slashdot. I honestly don't think they'd understand half of what it really meant, the same as I wouldn't recognise most of what is being said in a broadcasting journal. I've known the newspapers twist stories for a quick kick, and a few ratings (Fell foul of that when I ran rag at University one year, and told the local paper of the proceedings.. Wow, from a well intentioned event like Rag, the paper made is seem we were a bunch of barbarians set to trash the town and murder the people in their beds!!).. I honestly don't think the beeb wants that kind of slant.. It's shown an interest in showing technology in a good light. It is, however a chance to put a few spokespeople on the spot, and show that just 'cos you're a geek, doesn't mean you're a porn addict with no life, and a dedication to a life as a script kiddie. Personally, I've always (subjective thinking, and just my opinion) thought of Slashdot as a community.. It's a gathering of minds with wildly varying views, but similar interests.. The same as you have debating clubs, or the gatherings of the intellectuals in cafe society, or, sometimes, in the same way you have a bunch of lads that just saunter down to the pub for a bit of a laugh, and to see what's around, and discuss "News for Lads, and Things That Matter".. Berate the Beeb for being uninformed if you feel like it, but, there's one good way to make sure you give someone the right message, and that's to be patient with them, and explain carefully, and nurture their understanding in ways that they understand. Just keep your fingers crossed we get a good set of ambassadors..:) Heh, I may go for it..:) But then I fear I'd have to hide forever and a day round here..:)
Valid points.. Sorry, I was a little too rushed to be very clear, 'cos of being at work... For the modem side, and taking care of the phone number in the logs, I was thinking more along the lines of cloned mobile.. Those aren't exactly hard to obtain.. That takes care of the phone log (well, using the mobile routing logs, they know where abouts the call came from, as in the general area, but not exactly who you are)... A couple of sends of innocuous data using a normal line, and a few more important ones via some clone or similar. for the MAC, I know it isn't used on a dialup, but it helps confuse the issue if you're using a static machine connected to a net. Although, I'd have to agree, that that'd not be easy to hide, as they can simply tap into the wire itself, or use all kinds of other methods. I was simply trying to point out that if you tried, it wouldn't be that hard with a day or so's thought (or paying someone well versed in these methods a few hundred) to come up with a system to obfuscate your origin.
Strangely enough, most of the people that are seriously going to use the net as a medium for transmitting "Illicit" data are pretty much exactly the people who will make the enquiries to find out exactly how to mask the data. There are probably less than 1% of the population that are smart enough to work it out for themselves, and probably about 30% (including a heft portion of the criminal element) who are smart enough to know that if they don't pay a little to the right people, they'll get caught. So they pay.
How on earth are they supposed to be able to track who you are on a network? Using a few little tools, you change the MAC address of your card. You can use those freebie introductory access CDs from the front of any magazine to contact almost anywhere.. The IP address will never be the same, especially if you use different ISP's to connect all the time. The encryption factor takes care of them not being able to actually READ the contents... What's the point of this new power?? It's like legislating that you now have the power to breath. It doesn't achieve much, because you could do it all along.. It doesn't get you anything extra useful. Unless, of course, you've got one of those nice PIII chips, and forget to alter the serial..
I've been a contractor for about 9 years now, and I'd pretty much agree with the views that have been forwarded saying it's a myth that when you hire a contractor, you hire the best. There are certain considerations to take into account:
1) Almost anyone can be a contractor. Having the status of contractor does not necessarily indicate any level of expertise in a field at all. I've known many contractors state experience in a field when they have little real experience/aptitude at all.. They find their feet on the job, and pick up a very expensive skillset, which they can take elsewhere. Be very certain that anyone you hire knows the ropes, or you could end up paying for the 'training' without reaping the benefits.
2) Contractors are best used in tactical deployment, rather than strategic. In other words, there are times that something needs to be done NOW, you you have neither the skills or the manpower to achieve it. You hire a contractor or so to raise your productivity to the level required. Very useful for a little used skills that are only required now and then. For long term, employees are always superior. They come to know the internal workings of a company as well as their own job. A lot of contractor time is often taken up with learning the new communications structure in a company. This can offset the savings made by superior skills.
3) Skills transfer is often one of the jobs that contractors are hired for. When you acquire a contractor, put them in a team with two or three permanent employees, with the brief to aid these people and support them. Your permanent people will pick up part of that skillset (the necessary part) rather quickly. A good contractor will always try and work themselves out of a job (it gives a good reputation to leave a string of very satisfied customers, who know how to support the work done).
4) Reliability. Remember that the contracting world is very mercenary. These contractors you hire can quite easily be hired into another job for better pay, at very little notice. They are far more fluid, and have less loyalty than a permanent member of staff. With the average throughput of contractors, you will be likely to lose some, and then replace them, with someone who again has to learn the company. This will bring in an equilibrium of skills where the ambient skill level reaches a maximum, due largely to the fact that you will likely lose some of those experienced with the system you have, and then lose time due to training new contractors.
To advance a company on solid foundations, the bet bet is to give good pay and conditions to permanent staff, and hire in contractors to transfer skills that are, or will be needed as required. Make sure these skills are transferred to your permanent staff, and over time, you will have a team far more competent for the tasks in hand than a group of hired contractors. That is pretty much the long term aim. In the short term, for aggressive action and rapid aquisition of skills, contractors work well.. But, always make sure that the core of your company is held by permanent employees, otherwise, you could easily lose your most valued skillsets almost overnight.
We have here a widely known security agency, which, I get the strong impression, could pull on the skills of some very competent crackers should it be required to... And a notoriously insecure OS. Why on earth would they need a back door?? If these guys want in, they'll get in, and work out a tool to do it to any machine they care to name... Just doesn't make sense.. I'd assume the key refers to something else with the same acronym. Malk
Ok, maybe this is just a draft. But still, with the whole document starting with "The Mathematica Reality...", one would expect to see a few equations in there.. Proof that the concept could be reduced to a hard definition. I'll agree wholeheartedly with the majority voice so far, that this is a pretty unreadable document. It's grammatical structure is pretty bad. I saw no easily accessible algorithm that I could apply a little thought to, and actually examine what he was trying to say. All the rationale is buried within long, overly complex text, with very little structure conveying the real thought behind the words. It provides a tantalising view that there may well be a good idea lurking somewhere, but at no point did I see a sign saying "This is the Idea". Somewhat the same as driving round the center of Birmingham (Or New York City, take yer pick) for the first time, without any street signs or maps, and being told to go and find a particular building. Maybe you'll get there in the end, but when you do, you're in no frame of mind to appreciate it's architecture... I'd like to know what's going on behind that obfuscation... Maybe there is something so simple and obvious that it currently escapes us... Maybe not.. But, without having some fast overview, and a few pieces of mathematical proof and equations, and derivations, I'd point this author back to the drawing board, and request a re-write.. It's no good solving the problems of world peace and harmony for everyone, if you can never explain to anyone how to achieve it... Please, re-write this in a form that is readily understandable, even if it means asking someone else to proof read, and aid in paraphrasing...
I find this strange that they can apply this kind of law to the net... It's the same as being able to drag someone into court from another state simply because they sent a letter there... Will they also be trying to sue people in China, or Europe or anywhere else in the world for that same use of that server? It seems to me, that this law cannot be consistently applied, and is quite simply another case of the people that make the laws deciding on things that they don't understand (c.f. the troubles experienced by Demon internet, and a particularly litigious, and highly annoying person, who's determined to make a name for himself by ruining a good thing for everyone else)... If there's one thing I've noted in Law over the past several years, it's a complete lack of common sense... I hope they wake up before they try to tie th ings down so badly that simply connecting up to the net, and viewing the wrong banner ad, yoiu get sued halfway across the world.
After reading the Demon response, and the article it was linked to, I'd be inclined to agree with the action they're taking. Demon aren't the menace in this case. The real fault lies with the British legal system. It strikes me as one of the greatst problems with the legal system, especially in the environment today. A judge is someone who spends years in a University, studying cases in Law from recent years to hundreds of years ago. They then become cloistered away from society, really, by necessity, as they have to deal with the day to day running of ordinary Law. Then, the problems arise when a single Judge, who knows almost (if not absolutely) nothing about a subject is given the brief to make a legally binding decision about said subject. The internet at large is a nightmare of Ethical conundrums, the debate on spammers, who many (including me) would like to see curbed, and then the defamatory postings, which, to tell the truth, are entirely subjective, and _anyone_ can take offense at _anything_ should they feel so inclined to do so... The technical people who run the internet are forever trying to keep up with the pace that technology is moving, and they _specialise_ in that area. If there is anything that this particular fiasco is beginning to show, it is that the current Legal system is too far out of touch with the world today. They very seriously need to take a long hard look at what is happening, and try and at least come to understand what is at stake. Should this decision fail to be overturned at appeal, then it will spell the death knell for many ISPs in the UK. It simply isn't possible to filter that much. And as has been pointed out, it's much like suing a restaurant owner for a conversation that you overhear on the premises. By this argument, if you own 'territory', as space on the net can be thought of (virtual space), then by rights, the Queen and Government are responsible for every defamatory comment that occurs in the UK. They should be sued for everything. But that is an endless, and ridiculous way to go. The responisility, as always, is with the individual. Nobody can be responsible for someone else's actions (unless they incite them, or otherwise deliberately manipulate them)... The USA split from the UK a few hundred years ago, and for the main reason, because the powers that be in the UK were arrogant, innefective, out of touch with the world, and made largely stupid decisions.. We (the UK) are, in the large, pretty much over that.. It's just every now and again, someone creeps out of the woodwork to remind us of just how completely blind and unreasonable the system can be. If this goes through, it will be a dark day indeed for the UK and the Net. Just my tuppence worth...
As far as I can see, this is a perfectly sensible move on the part of MS, and Active State, and one they should be commended on. The idea of PERL from the beginning, has been to make the job you have in mind easier to achieve. And faster. It's a damn good tool, and I love it dearly. Due to the market, I have to use Windows products, as well as my preferred Linux, because, well.. That's what's out there. One of the things that's always made me sit back and sigh about using Active State PERL is the lack of a fork(). And now, with a little financial aid from MS, it's getting put in. There are many other functions in PERL that rely on *NIX platforms, and you can find these by reading the PERL docs on functions unsupported by Win32. I would rate some of these among *NIX platform specific options. But is that a problem? Not really. If I want to know how to do something specific on a particular platform, I RTFM. And there it is. I currently use PERL on both *NIX and Win32, and am heartily glad I _can_ use PERL on Windows, as it cuts the hassle of having to learn VB (Use PERL/TK for most GUI functions), works across platform with few mods, and gives Windows a useable script language without having to worry too much about paying huge licence fees to a company selling a new and totally incompatible other language. By introducing people to PERL, you're introducing them also to the ethic of Open Source (to a good degree), and the wider world of the Perl Mongers, and in general a very nice bunch of people who are altruistic in nature... Maybe this will push home to even more companies that Open Source works for everyone, be it MS users, Linux, BSD or whatever... And having a better port only lets me do my job even better, which is no bad thing. PERL is a well engineered, well thought out language that's stood the test of time.. I say "hurrah!" that windows users now can slowly catch up on where the rest of us have been for years.
Hello?? Clue??? It's usually yhe ones that are having a hard time that DON'T complain that much... They bear it stoically.. It's left to the 'Political cause celebre's' to voice how much they're opressed without that really being true... By your very statements, then the race relation bill is the biggest excuse to complain ever, and the biggest _excuse_ to claim victimhood. Note to all future teenager: You don't have to be bullied.. There are people out there who give a damn, even when things are darkest. And maybe kids in Kosovo would kill to have such problems rather than their own.. But you know what?? The prevous article seems to be along the lines of the whole problem behind Kosovo.. "Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews.. So we'll only do something more minor, and exterminate a smaller group."... Just because there's a big problem somewhere doesn't mean that you don't address the smaller more persistant ones too..
Maybe it's just me... But the whole article reeks of the prose of one of the hardcore Politically Correct. From the title alone, "Suffer the (white, middle-class) Children", you get a taste of the real issue the author is addressing. The fact the kids are white and middle class. There's no real addressing of the 'Geek Profiling', no attempt to address the fact that the most sensitive of the kids are being picked on, for the sheer fact that they are sensitive, and show the most reaction to being hurt. Oh yes, that article is penned in eloquent English, with the verbal flourishes and pomp that accompany the arrogant and self obsessed. There was one mention of ethics. And one of compassion. The rest was about politics. 'Progressive' politics. 'Identity' politics. And the sum up paragraph drove home what the author really seemed to be directing all this flamboutance at (and don't be fooled, it is almost entirely flambouyant waffle.. There is very little not no real meat in this article...)... The impression in her mind that the white middle class males are trying to steal the 'identity' of the 'opressed' (read 'black', 'from the slave origin', Politically Correct garbage). Is that all it comes down to in the minds of some, that all the pain and suffering is merely political vying to see who can be the biggest victim?? I'm white, was brought up middle class, and had a rather nasty breakdown at 11 due to bullying. All the PC administration would do is tell me 'I ought to get to know them better, they're nice really... You should invite them round for dinner'... Every excuse under the sun, and many that weren't... I wasn't interested in being a victim, and I'm not now... Faecal matter occurs.. Deal with it. This isn't about politics, or something that happened generations ago.. People have grown up a little since then.. They understand a lot more... This is about something that's happening now.. It's about ethics. It's about opening your eyes and seeing that the people who change the course of the world are those that think differently... And if you kick that person all their life, when they change the world, will they not kick back? At school, is the place where attitudes are formed... And, I know very well that it's a nightmare for the teachers to cut the fine balance between overprotecting the children (as seems to be the rage in the US), and offering them no protection at all.. Or maybe protecting them from the wrong things... Every child needs a challenge.. They need the ability to prosper and grow... The physically inclined require physical challenges (so, install a few adventure playgrounds... The few bruises and grazes they garner are proud badges to a child, to show wht they've achieved... But, oh, I forgot, in the US, the parents would sue the school for 'damaging their child'...), the bookish need the company of the bookish, so they can exercise their minds and feelings in peace... I'm sorry, but I feel nothing but contempt for the author's offhand dismissal of the problem as being politics... It's not.. It's about the people... It's about the future. Only when people stop shouting about politics and the 'use' of the 'victim culture', and deal with the people who hurt, but refuse to identify themselves as victims.. Just as people who hurt, will things start to become clearer... Just my tuppence worth,
Good to see that Slackware is still pulling their weight..:) I've got many fond memories back in my Uni days of slaving over an old 386 in my flat, shoehorning the floppies into the drive, drooling over the fact that I could now code all my coursework at home, and dammit, I had _UNIX_ at home..:) I cut my teeth on Linux using Slackware, and look forward to seeing what they've got coming out now..:) *Blush* But I must have to admit to using Red Hat, 'cos it seems to be the easiest way to get new people into it, and I tend to use it a lot in places I go out on contract to (whenever I can persuade 'em to drop an NT box in it's favour, which is becoming increasingly easier..:) ).. I think it's time to go back to my roots for a while tho, and see what gives with this release..:) Whatever else gets said about the distribution competition, It's still Linux, and at core, it beats the pants off just about everything else..:)
The session seems to time out if you spend a lot of time answering the form. I'd assume this is done so that they can keep replies relatively short, so they don't have to answer to huge volumes of incoming comments. The answer is to write the actual response to them in an Xterm, or notepad or whatever, and copy/paste it into the browser when you go to the Toshiba site. That should cure those ills. Maybe we should point out this shortcoming of their site, and offer to exchange further support information of this nature to them in exchange for chip data on their IrDA devices..:)
Well said that man!!! An excellent piece of debating. Skillful demolition of the spurious bluff from the original author. In the true spirit of debate, I'd love to have the original author come back for a 'summing up', and a chance to re-state his point of view in light of the researched figures, then allow one more posting in rebuttal.. That, I think, would be entertainment..:)
Sooo.. What is it that you'd be doing on the street that would make someone _notice_ you.. As it stands, in the street, you're constantly being seen by countless people each day. Just very few of them actually notice. It'll be just the same with cameras. Now, please, come up with a reasonable counterpoint in this little debate. Don't just sit there and say 'are you nuts'. It doesn't really help make your point..
Well, yeah..:) Most of my views are in other postings scattered around this area..:) And there's an unusual proliferation of them too... I'm a Brit.. I've trawled (maybe for the first time) a whole thread of stuff, which, no doubt will have grown lots by the time I finish replying here.. I've seen a lot of people clinging tenaciously to their privacy, and saying "You don't understand.. It can't be any other way... They'll get us if we try..". I've also seen a lot of people who've sat, and thought a little, and concluded it would be awful nice if the world were that way... I think the one thing those people differ on is the timescale involved in the readjustment of the mindset of the populace to accept this as 'usual'.. My own opinion is that this is the way we should be going... I'm afraid the "I just know they won't play ball even if I do" attitude doesn't cut it with me.. I lead a pretty open life.. People often ask me pretty 'private' and personal questions. I'm awfully blunt and honest with them. Sometimes mildly embarassed, but honest. I've got pretty tired of the people ranting about cameras in their homes, which wasn't tabled, as far as I can remember (memory being mildly fuzzy at gone 2am). With a lot of changes that are inevitable in the near (100 years) future, such as nanotech changing the entire way of industrialisation, increasing population densities, so on, so forth, there are going to be a lot of changes that have to be accepted by humanity at large.. The coming century, I think, could be the psychological equivalent of the industrial revolution, where, maybe for the first time in our history, we no longer have to worry about mere survival. We start to learn who we are... I've grown up in an area where crime was high. I went to the schools that were the breeding ground for that mindset.. They really don't want to lose their anonymity to cameras or surveillance. They really do fear being seen. It means that they have to pay for the actions they commit. In other words they become responsible. The refuge of anonymity, to a large degree, absolves you of responsibility... There is no longer a cost attached to your actions. You can be irresponsible and destructive, and then deny all knowledge.. Taking up the gauntlet of that responsibility, both to yourself, and the world at large, is a task I think worthy of the species that mankind has become. Irrespective of how many people tell me it'll never work, and it can't be that way, I'll still live my life by those principles... So far, I lead a happy life.. It's not all easy, but then life's a challenge.. you make of it what you will.. And it's alway nice to be amongst friends who know you.. The more the merrier I say.. Why let selfishness and hiding get in the way of having a pleasant life?? Ya know.. My folks live by pretty much the values of openness tabled... And they're getting on a bit.. And ya know what?? It worked for them.. It works for me... It works for other people I know.. It's no overnight change.. No bloody revolution.. No overthrowing of the established way.. It'll just quietly happen in the background.. With the nature of humanity, and the scale of society today, I really don't see the 'Bad Village' as an evolutionary stable endpoint. People _will_ rebel against it's misuse.. The 'Good Village' is the evolutionary optimum, where all benefits of trust are at a maximum. I don't think it's just a possibility, I think a variation on this theme is an inevitability..
It's reminiscent of quite a few Utopian societies. Despite a lot of people talking to the contrary, yes, I do believe it's possible. A mere few hundred years ago, the thought of a democracy where all the people put a vote in to see who was going to rule them was unthinkable. The people were there to be told what to do, and work the farm. It's come a long way since then. for anyone to say 'This can never happen' is merely them showing that they lack the vision to say 'This is a possibility.. Something that maybe oneday will come around.. Something that's worthwhile working towards'... What you see now is a very very small part of all that was, and all that will be. Us humans think far too much of ourselves.. We're far too selfish, as that's how we're taught to be. One day, we may open our eyes, and realise jsut how obnoxiously stupid we're being, like little children squabbling in a playground. When that happens, a transparent society will seem quite normal, and the inhabitants of that time will look back on our current model of society in much the same way we do to the societies of the tenth century... Maybe with the beginnings of a decent structure, but completely barbaric and cruel.
So, it's a resort to name calling. The classic last resort of the underinformed mind. This is the kind of thing I've come to expect of a serious sociopath with little learning, no social skills and a bad lack of any real interest in the goings on of the world who, from time to time feels the urge (A la Lorenz' psycho-hydraulic method) to spout some inane crap that's supposed to enlighten someone. Oh, and technology's dangerous.. Hmm.. Didn't I hear that was what the luddites said so long ago?? And if they'd won the day, odds on you'd be slaving away in a field with no education to speak of, probably no medical equipment available with no voice to speak of, and probably chanting your virtues when out of your mind on the local brew. Grow up. Get a life.. There's a world outside your head you know.. Maybe you should actually take a look at it sometime..
Let's just take a little trip back to the text we're supposed to be posting about shall we?? If you're pro-life.. Cool.. I appreciate life to the full, and think everyone should try it sometime..;) I still think that people should have a choice. Hey, let's agree to disagree, and get back on with the job of having reasonably good lives without treading on each other's toes shall we?? It's only going to be painful pounding out that argument, and we're only likely to say things already said... You're Jewish.. Good for you... I'm.. I don't rightly know.. Partially Christian (by upbringing), partially buddhist, partially Taoist, and a whole host of other things in there that seem to have sides of a sense of being that feels right. I probably believe a lot of the ethics that your Jewish faith has led you to believe in.. Whatever you believe in, you are still you.. And I think we'd find more to agree on on the subjects of religion and philosophy than to disagree on.. I think the point that was being made was that it's fine to be pro-life.. But, if you are an advocate of "let's post these people's names up in public view as targets", then you should at least be courteous enough to add your own details, such as address, number, spouses name and details etc.. It's an example of that oft forgotten concept "fair play".. I'm not judging you by anything other than what you put down in your words.. And you seem like a pretty decent chap to me.. Where's the problem?? And rather than sending the previoius poster off to 'bad village', he's obviously made a bit of an effort, so why not invite him in for a cup of tea, and show the benefits of the nice place... You never know, you may just have accedentally picked up a friend that you never knew about until then!!
1> This isn't about guns. It has nothing to do with the ethic of guns. It's about people. If you really think guns and cameras are that closely related, please, choose very very carefully when picking a wedding photographer. Argument spurious. Next.
2> Only evil people are interested in information... Hmmm.. You obviously read Slashdot, which posts many many misdeeds of organisations and people (Gates et. al.). This, of course, means you're truly evil, and damned to roast in whatever hell you believe in. Do not drink holy water, as you may spontaneously combust. Now, the classic (and not so classic) evil prospers because people do not know it's nature. The nature of evil in a society is like a cancer. It destroys the goodwill around it, and lurks, and really knows the laws of privacy much better than I ever will, because, to tell the truth, I can't be arsed to learn them, 'cos I don't really do anything that would warrant hiding. Not to say I don't do things that are embarassing, because I do.. And I'm embarassed when I do it in public.. Welcome to being human... Now, I do also like to know pretty much what people I care about (read people I know, talk to, etc.) are up to.. Partly out of genuine interest in their lives, and partly so that I understand them more. Understanding them more, I can effectively lend a hand much more efficiently if they find themselves in times of need. Now, do you wish to call a priest and have an exorcism performed on me for that??
3> How, praytell, would you care to set up a gargantuan task such as legislating the privacy of information on that level?? I can guarantee you that it'll be open to abuse just like all the older legislations, ensuring that, again, the people who are bothered to learn about it are either people who it's of great academic interest, or people who have something to hide.. Again, I don't really care who has what information on me.. I know lots of people do.. And I know certain agencies do... They probably know I know, and they're almost certainly aware that I don't really care about that.. If I were bleeding to death after a freak accident, I'll tell you.. I'd be happy if everyone around knew everything about me.. Blood group, family numbers to call, the works... And if I went, then people who knew me well enough to remember me and who I was... I think my security is in my lack of privacy. People know who I am.. I'm not a target... I'm just a regular kinda guy who's trying to work out the best way to spend the time between the greatly extended periods of not breathing and not breathing again for the second time. Truth, I'm actually quite flattered if someone thinks that I'm worthy their time to study..
4> Rights: Blah blah blah.. That tired old workhorse.. If you run out of things to complain about, quote rights.. Bah.. When, oh when will people start thinking about responsibilities??? The 'Transparent' society, if people are willing to play with it, rather than cripple it, allows a lot of personal responsibility... People are more likley to meet their obligations to other people rather than sit hidden away mewling piteously about why the world has to pander to them because "They have Rights!", usually irrespective of what rights other people have. The best way to ensure that everybody's 'rights' are maintained is for everyone to meet their responsibilities to everyone else. And when the majority of people agree with that mindset, then, I think humanity will be one good step on the road to growing up at last.. Or at least making the next, very necessary step.
5> Property is NOT a fundamental right. It's an object. In most cases of property (land etc.), it was here way way way before you were, and it'll be there when you've long gone... We are merely custodians for what is there. and we're responsible for what we do with it, for good or ill.. It's our choice. Same with intellectual property. In most cases (computers, physics, etc.) the laws were already there.. Someone comprehended those, and now they choose what to do with it... In those cases that people attempt to 'block' those advances, as sometimes happens when companies feel they 'own' the ideas of their employees, even in non-paid time, this is an ethically 'evil' thing. And the more people that put these entities under scrutiny, the better, until all the greedy secrets are out, and they're shown for the grabbing charlatans they are.. Just think.. In a transparent society, they couldn't lock up all those juicy transcripts of the real story on grounds of privacy.
6> I know society doesn't owe me a fig. And I owe it the same.. Still.. I like to put things into it.. And you know what?? I get pretty much what I put into it, except it comes back from lots and lots of sources.. I guess you can call me a pretty contented and happy kinda guy most of the time, apart from the usual little ups and down that come with being human. Maybe you do feel vindicated in what you write.. It's a very personal thing... But, just try and look beyond it at the bigger picture.. Why look at a stone when you've got a wonderful panorama of mountainsides before you..
Well, as we see once again.. Someone who hasn't bothered to put the slightest thought before bursting out into a tirade.. I sure hope it was a joke.. Sure looked like one.. And.. May I be the first to say 'Happy seventh Birthday'?? It's part of the fun of life.. Looking at something like this idea, and seeing how you could make it actually work out well.. Try it sometime... Who knows, you may even like it..
Slashdot Mirror
Every time I hear these shows, I keep wondering "So, when do you guys get your TV show"?? :) :)
It reminds me a lot of the feeling of listening to a good radio comedy show (Goons, "I'm sorry I'll read that again" and other such stuff).. Except there's loads of entertaining news too..
Well worth the weekly wait for the next installment...
The FIN is a non-partisan, grassroots network of citizens and businesses who have a stake in the success Microsoft
For this, please read "shareholders". Non-partisan shareholders at that, apparently.
And this leaves me wondering whether MS will now start looking to slap the patent on "Grassroots networking technology for Citizens", as it certainly looks as though they've "Embraced and Extended" the meaning ever so slightly.
Anyway, they've thoughtfully provided a link to congress reps. How nice of them. And apprently they want to hear the views of "real consumers".
Heh..
Ok, Slashdot, what are you waiting for? I feel we have a nice collection of "real consumers" right here, so, please be nice to poor Microsoft, and let your congress rep. hear what you think. But PLEASE be pleasant and polite about it. The kind of message you'd let your mum read. If someone has a little more time than I have right now, maybe they'd be kind enough to provide a letter template to base the response on.
Anyhow, that's enough from me, back to work I guess.
Malk.
Wow... :)
I'm impressed... It's been a while since I saw a monumental cockup like that (well, since the hotmail affair anyway).
I'm sure that a couple of minutes adding a check with cracklib wouldn't have gone amiss, or just adding in a random password generator..
I wonder.. Do these people have a QC department, to make sure that the code they release is robust?
Or is a building of PHBs with a lone coder stuck in a cabinet somewhere and let out to be fed and watered every now and then..
For a large company with huge resources at their disposal, there's no excuse for not checking their functionality a hundred times before release... Especially as this is supposed to be their core business!!!
I'd love to see their PR dept. right now..
Looking through the posts, I'd hazard a guess that the people who wrote the request for interviewees didn't really look through Slashdot. :) :) But then I fear I'd have to hide forever and a day round here.. :)
I honestly don't think they'd understand half of what it really meant, the same as I wouldn't recognise most of what is being said in a broadcasting journal.
I've known the newspapers twist stories for a quick kick, and a few ratings (Fell foul of that when I ran rag at University one year, and told the local paper of the proceedings.. Wow, from a well intentioned event like Rag, the paper made is seem we were a bunch of barbarians set to trash the town and murder the people in their beds!!)..
I honestly don't think the beeb wants that kind of slant.. It's shown an interest in showing technology in a good light.
It is, however a chance to put a few spokespeople on the spot, and show that just 'cos you're a geek, doesn't mean you're a porn addict with no life, and a dedication to a life as a script kiddie.
Personally, I've always (subjective thinking, and just my opinion) thought of Slashdot as a community.. It's a gathering of minds with wildly varying views, but similar interests.. The same as you have debating clubs, or the gatherings of the intellectuals in cafe society, or, sometimes, in the same way you have a bunch of lads that just saunter down to the pub for a bit of a laugh, and to see what's around, and discuss "News for Lads, and Things That Matter"..
Berate the Beeb for being uninformed if you feel like it, but, there's one good way to make sure you give someone the right message, and that's to be patient with them, and explain carefully, and nurture their understanding in ways that they understand.
Just keep your fingers crossed we get a good set of ambassadors..
Heh, I may go for it..
Malk
Valid points..
Sorry, I was a little too rushed to be very clear, 'cos of being at work...
For the modem side, and taking care of the phone number in the logs, I was thinking more along the lines of cloned mobile..
Those aren't exactly hard to obtain.. That takes care of the phone log (well, using the mobile routing logs, they know where abouts the call came from, as in the general area, but not exactly who you are)...
A couple of sends of innocuous data using a normal line, and a few more important ones via some clone or similar.
for the MAC, I know it isn't used on a dialup, but it helps confuse the issue if you're using a static machine connected to a net. Although, I'd have to agree, that that'd not be easy to hide, as they can simply tap into the wire itself, or use all kinds of other methods.
I was simply trying to point out that if you tried, it wouldn't be that hard with a day or so's thought (or paying someone well versed in these methods a few hundred) to come up with a system to obfuscate your origin.
Malk
Strangely enough, most of the people that are seriously going to use the net as a medium for transmitting "Illicit" data are pretty much exactly the people who will make the enquiries to find out exactly how to mask the data.
There are probably less than 1% of the population that are smart enough to work it out for themselves, and probably about 30% (including a heft portion of the criminal element) who are smart enough to know that if they don't pay a little to the right people, they'll get caught.
So they pay.
Malk
How on earth are they supposed to be able to track who you are on a network?
Using a few little tools, you change the MAC address of your card.
You can use those freebie introductory access CDs from the front of any magazine to contact almost anywhere..
The IP address will never be the same, especially if you use different ISP's to connect all the time.
The encryption factor takes care of them not being able to actually READ the contents...
What's the point of this new power??
It's like legislating that you now have the power to breath. It doesn't achieve much, because you could do it all along.. It doesn't get you anything extra useful.
Unless, of course, you've got one of those nice PIII chips, and forget to alter the serial..
Malk.
I've been a contractor for about 9 years now, and I'd pretty much agree with the views that have been forwarded saying it's a myth that when you hire a contractor, you hire the best.
There are certain considerations to take into account:
1) Almost anyone can be a contractor. Having the status of contractor does not necessarily indicate any level of expertise in a field at all.
I've known many contractors state experience in a field when they have little real experience/aptitude at all.. They find their feet on the job, and pick up a very expensive skillset, which they can take elsewhere. Be very certain that anyone you hire knows the ropes, or you could end up paying for the 'training' without reaping the benefits.
2) Contractors are best used in tactical deployment, rather than strategic. In other words, there are times that something needs to be done NOW, you you have neither the skills or the manpower to achieve it. You hire a contractor or so to raise your productivity to the level required. Very useful for a little used skills that are only required now and then.
For long term, employees are always superior. They come to know the internal workings of a company as well as their own job.
A lot of contractor time is often taken up with learning the new communications structure in a company. This can offset the savings made by superior skills.
3) Skills transfer is often one of the jobs that contractors are hired for. When you acquire a contractor, put them in a team with two or three permanent employees, with the brief to aid these people and support them. Your permanent people will pick up part of that skillset (the necessary part) rather quickly.
A good contractor will always try and work themselves out of a job (it gives a good reputation to leave a string of very satisfied customers, who know how to support the work done).
4) Reliability. Remember that the contracting world is very mercenary. These contractors you hire can quite easily be hired into another job for better pay, at very little notice. They are far more fluid, and have less loyalty than a permanent member of staff.
With the average throughput of contractors, you will be likely to lose some, and then replace them, with someone who again has to learn the company. This will bring in an equilibrium of skills where the ambient skill level reaches a maximum, due largely to the fact that you will likely lose some of those experienced with the system you have, and then lose time due to training new contractors.
To advance a company on solid foundations, the bet bet is to give good pay and conditions to permanent staff, and hire in contractors to transfer skills that are, or will be needed as required. Make sure these skills are transferred to your permanent staff, and over time, you will have a team far more competent for the tasks in hand than a group of hired contractors.
That is pretty much the long term aim. In the short term, for aggressive action and rapid aquisition of skills, contractors work well.. But, always make sure that the core of your company is held by permanent employees, otherwise, you could easily lose your most valued skillsets almost overnight.
Just my tuppence worth,
Malk
We have here a widely known security agency, which, I get the strong impression, could pull on the skills of some very competent crackers should it be required to... And a notoriously insecure OS. Why on earth would they need a back door?? If these guys want in, they'll get in, and work out a tool to do it to any machine they care to name... Just doesn't make sense.. I'd assume the key refers to something else with the same acronym. Malk
Ok, maybe this is just a draft.
But still, with the whole document starting with "The Mathematica Reality...", one would expect to see a few equations in there.. Proof that the concept could be reduced to a hard definition.
I'll agree wholeheartedly with the majority voice so far, that this is a pretty unreadable document.
It's grammatical structure is pretty bad.
I saw no easily accessible algorithm that I could apply a little thought to, and actually examine what he was trying to say.
All the rationale is buried within long, overly complex text, with very little structure conveying the real thought behind the words.
It provides a tantalising view that there may well be a good idea lurking somewhere, but at no point did I see a sign saying "This is the Idea".
Somewhat the same as driving round the center of Birmingham (Or New York City, take yer pick) for the first time, without any street signs or maps, and being told to go and find a particular building.
Maybe you'll get there in the end, but when you do, you're in no frame of mind to appreciate it's architecture...
I'd like to know what's going on behind that obfuscation... Maybe there is something so simple and obvious that it currently escapes us...
Maybe not..
But, without having some fast overview, and a few pieces of mathematical proof and equations, and derivations, I'd point this author back to the drawing board, and request a re-write..
It's no good solving the problems of world peace and harmony for everyone, if you can never explain to anyone how to achieve it...
Please, re-write this in a form that is readily understandable, even if it means asking someone else to proof read, and aid in paraphrasing...
Malk
I find this strange that they can apply this kind of law to the net...
It's the same as being able to drag someone into court from another state simply because they sent a letter there...
Will they also be trying to sue people in China, or Europe or anywhere else in the world for that same use of that server?
It seems to me, that this law cannot be consistently applied, and is quite simply another case of the people that make the laws deciding on things that they don't understand (c.f. the troubles experienced by Demon internet, and a particularly litigious, and highly annoying person, who's determined to make a name for himself by ruining a good thing for everyone else)...
If there's one thing I've noted in Law over the past several years, it's a complete lack of common sense...
I hope they wake up before they try to tie th ings down so badly that simply connecting up to the net, and viewing the wrong banner ad, yoiu get sued halfway across the world.
Malk.
After reading the Demon response, and the article it was linked to, I'd be inclined to agree with the action they're taking.
Demon aren't the menace in this case. The real fault lies with the British legal system.
It strikes me as one of the greatst problems with the legal system, especially in the environment today.
A judge is someone who spends years in a University, studying cases in Law from recent years to hundreds of years ago.
They then become cloistered away from society, really, by necessity, as they have to deal with the day to day running of ordinary Law.
Then, the problems arise when a single Judge, who knows almost (if not absolutely) nothing about a subject is given the brief to make a legally binding decision about said subject.
The internet at large is a nightmare of Ethical conundrums, the debate on spammers, who many (including me) would like to see curbed, and then the defamatory postings, which, to tell the truth, are entirely subjective, and _anyone_ can take offense at _anything_ should they feel so inclined to do so...
The technical people who run the internet are forever trying to keep up with the pace that technology is moving, and they _specialise_ in that area.
If there is anything that this particular fiasco is beginning to show, it is that the current Legal system is too far out of touch with the world today. They very seriously need to take a long hard look at what is happening, and try and at least come to understand what is at stake.
Should this decision fail to be overturned at appeal, then it will spell the death knell for many ISPs in the UK.
It simply isn't possible to filter that much.
And as has been pointed out, it's much like suing a restaurant owner for a conversation that you overhear on the premises.
By this argument, if you own 'territory', as space on the net can be thought of (virtual space), then by rights, the Queen and Government are responsible for every defamatory comment that occurs in the UK. They should be sued for everything.
But that is an endless, and ridiculous way to go.
The responisility, as always, is with the individual.
Nobody can be responsible for someone else's actions (unless they incite them, or otherwise deliberately manipulate them)...
The USA split from the UK a few hundred years ago, and for the main reason, because the powers that be in the UK were arrogant, innefective, out of touch with the world, and made largely stupid decisions..
We (the UK) are, in the large, pretty much over that.. It's just every now and again, someone creeps out of the woodwork to remind us of just how completely blind and unreasonable the system can be.
If this goes through, it will be a dark day indeed for the UK and the Net.
Just my tuppence worth...
Malk
As far as I can see, this is a perfectly sensible move on the part of MS, and Active State, and one they should be commended on.
The idea of PERL from the beginning, has been to make the job you have in mind easier to achieve.
And faster. It's a damn good tool, and I love it dearly.
Due to the market, I have to use Windows products, as well as my preferred Linux, because, well.. That's what's out there.
One of the things that's always made me sit back and sigh about using Active State PERL is the lack of a fork(). And now, with a little financial aid from MS, it's getting put in.
There are many other functions in PERL that rely on *NIX platforms, and you can find these by reading the PERL docs on functions unsupported by Win32.
I would rate some of these among *NIX platform specific options.
But is that a problem? Not really. If I want to know how to do something specific on a particular platform, I RTFM. And there it is.
I currently use PERL on both *NIX and Win32, and am heartily glad I _can_ use PERL on Windows, as it cuts the hassle of having to learn VB (Use PERL/TK for most GUI functions), works across platform with few mods, and gives Windows a useable script language without having to worry too much about paying huge licence fees to a company selling a new and totally incompatible other language.
By introducing people to PERL, you're introducing them also to the ethic of Open Source (to a good degree), and the wider world of the Perl Mongers, and in general a very nice bunch of people who are altruistic in nature...
Maybe this will push home to even more companies that Open Source works for everyone, be it MS users, Linux, BSD or whatever...
And having a better port only lets me do my job even better, which is no bad thing.
PERL is a well engineered, well thought out language that's stood the test of time..
I say "hurrah!" that windows users now can slowly catch up on where the rest of us have been for years.
Just my tuppence worth,
Malk
Hello?? Clue???
It's usually yhe ones that are having a hard time that DON'T complain that much... They bear it stoically..
It's left to the 'Political cause celebre's' to voice how much they're opressed without that really being true...
By your very statements, then the race relation bill is the biggest excuse to complain ever, and the biggest _excuse_ to claim victimhood.
Note to all future teenager: You don't have to be bullied.. There are people out there who give a damn, even when things are darkest.
And maybe kids in Kosovo would kill to have such problems rather than their own.. But you know what??
The prevous article seems to be along the lines of the whole problem behind Kosovo.. "Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews.. So we'll only do something more minor, and exterminate a smaller group."...
Just because there's a big problem somewhere doesn't mean that you don't address the smaller more persistant ones too..
Malk
Maybe it's just me... But the whole article reeks of the prose of one of the hardcore Politically Correct.
From the title alone, "Suffer the (white, middle-class) Children", you get a taste of the real issue the author is addressing.
The fact the kids are white and middle class.
There's no real addressing of the 'Geek Profiling', no attempt to address the fact that the most sensitive of the kids are being picked on, for the sheer fact that they are sensitive, and show the most reaction to being hurt.
Oh yes, that article is penned in eloquent English, with the verbal flourishes and pomp that accompany the arrogant and self obsessed.
There was one mention of ethics. And one of compassion.
The rest was about politics. 'Progressive' politics. 'Identity' politics.
And the sum up paragraph drove home what the author really seemed to be directing all this flamboutance at (and don't be fooled, it is almost entirely flambouyant waffle.. There is very little not no real meat in this article...)...
The impression in her mind that the white middle class males are trying to steal the 'identity' of the 'opressed' (read 'black', 'from the slave origin', Politically Correct garbage).
Is that all it comes down to in the minds of some, that all the pain and suffering is merely political vying to see who can be the biggest victim??
I'm white, was brought up middle class, and had a rather nasty breakdown at 11 due to bullying.
All the PC administration would do is tell me 'I ought to get to know them better, they're nice really... You should invite them round for dinner'... Every excuse under the sun, and many that weren't...
I wasn't interested in being a victim, and I'm not now...
Faecal matter occurs.. Deal with it.
This isn't about politics, or something that happened generations ago.. People have grown up a little since then.. They understand a lot more...
This is about something that's happening now..
It's about ethics. It's about opening your eyes and seeing that the people who change the course of the world are those that think differently...
And if you kick that person all their life, when they change the world, will they not kick back?
At school, is the place where attitudes are formed... And, I know very well that it's a nightmare for the teachers to cut the fine balance between overprotecting the children (as seems to be the rage in the US), and offering them no protection at all.. Or maybe protecting them from the wrong things...
Every child needs a challenge.. They need the ability to prosper and grow...
The physically inclined require physical challenges (so, install a few adventure playgrounds... The few bruises and grazes they garner are proud badges to a child, to show wht they've achieved... But, oh, I forgot, in the US, the parents would sue the school for 'damaging their child'...), the bookish need the company of the bookish, so they can exercise their minds and feelings in peace...
I'm sorry, but I feel nothing but contempt for the author's offhand dismissal of the problem as being politics...
It's not.. It's about the people... It's about the future.
Only when people stop shouting about politics and the 'use' of the 'victim culture', and deal with the people who hurt, but refuse to identify themselves as victims.. Just as people who hurt, will things start to become clearer...
Just my tuppence worth,
Malk
Good to see that Slackware is still pulling their weight.. :) :) :) :) ).. :) :)
I've got many fond memories back in my Uni days of slaving over an old 386 in my flat, shoehorning the floppies into the drive, drooling over the fact that I could now code all my coursework at home, and dammit, I had _UNIX_ at home..
I cut my teeth on Linux using Slackware, and look forward to seeing what they've got coming out now..
*Blush* But I must have to admit to using Red Hat, 'cos it seems to be the easiest way to get new people into it, and I tend to use it a lot in places I go out on contract to (whenever I can persuade 'em to drop an NT box in it's favour, which is becoming increasingly easier..
I think it's time to go back to my roots for a while tho, and see what gives with this release..
Whatever else gets said about the distribution competition, It's still Linux, and at core, it beats the pants off just about everything else..
Malk..
The session seems to time out if you spend a lot of time answering the form. :)
I'd assume this is done so that they can keep replies relatively short, so they don't have to answer to huge volumes of incoming comments.
The answer is to write the actual response to them in an Xterm, or notepad or whatever, and copy/paste it into the browser when you go to the Toshiba site.
That should cure those ills.
Maybe we should point out this shortcoming of their site, and offer to exchange further support information of this nature to them in exchange for chip data on their IrDA devices..
Malk
Well said that man!!! :)
An excellent piece of debating.
Skillful demolition of the spurious bluff from the original author.
In the true spirit of debate, I'd love to have the original author come back for a 'summing up', and a chance to re-state his point of view in light of the researched figures, then allow one more posting in rebuttal..
That, I think, would be entertainment..
Malk.
Sooo.. What is it that you'd be doing on the street that would make someone _notice_ you..
As it stands, in the street, you're constantly being seen by countless people each day.
Just very few of them actually notice.
It'll be just the same with cameras.
Now, please, come up with a reasonable counterpoint in this little debate. Don't just sit there and say 'are you nuts'. It doesn't really help make your point..
Well, yeah.. :) :) And there's an unusual proliferation of them too...
Most of my views are in other postings scattered around this area..
I'm a Brit..
I've trawled (maybe for the first time) a whole thread of stuff, which, no doubt will have grown lots by the time I finish replying here..
I've seen a lot of people clinging tenaciously to their privacy, and saying "You don't understand.. It can't be any other way... They'll get us if we try..".
I've also seen a lot of people who've sat, and thought a little, and concluded it would be awful nice if the world were that way... I think the one thing those people differ on is the timescale involved in the readjustment of the mindset of the populace to accept this as 'usual'..
My own opinion is that this is the way we should be going...
I'm afraid the "I just know they won't play ball even if I do" attitude doesn't cut it with me..
I lead a pretty open life.. People often ask me pretty 'private' and personal questions.
I'm awfully blunt and honest with them. Sometimes mildly embarassed, but honest.
I've got pretty tired of the people ranting about cameras in their homes, which wasn't tabled, as far as I can remember (memory being mildly fuzzy at gone 2am).
With a lot of changes that are inevitable in the near (100 years) future, such as nanotech changing the entire way of industrialisation, increasing population densities, so on, so forth, there are going to be a lot of changes that have to be accepted by humanity at large..
The coming century, I think, could be the psychological equivalent of the industrial revolution, where, maybe for the first time in our history, we no longer have to worry about mere survival.
We start to learn who we are...
I've grown up in an area where crime was high. I went to the schools that were the breeding ground for that mindset..
They really don't want to lose their anonymity to cameras or surveillance. They really do fear being seen. It means that they have to pay for the actions they commit. In other words they become responsible.
The refuge of anonymity, to a large degree, absolves you of responsibility... There is no longer a cost attached to your actions.
You can be irresponsible and destructive, and then deny all knowledge..
Taking up the gauntlet of that responsibility, both to yourself, and the world at large, is a task I think worthy of the species that mankind has become.
Irrespective of how many people tell me it'll never work, and it can't be that way, I'll still live my life by those principles...
So far, I lead a happy life..
It's not all easy, but then life's a challenge.. you make of it what you will..
And it's alway nice to be amongst friends who know you.. The more the merrier I say..
Why let selfishness and hiding get in the way of having a pleasant life??
Ya know.. My folks live by pretty much the values of openness tabled... And they're getting on a bit..
And ya know what?? It worked for them.. It works for me...
It works for other people I know..
It's no overnight change.. No bloody revolution.. No overthrowing of the established way..
It'll just quietly happen in the background..
With the nature of humanity, and the scale of society today, I really don't see the 'Bad Village' as an evolutionary stable endpoint. People _will_ rebel against it's misuse..
The 'Good Village' is the evolutionary optimum, where all benefits of trust are at a maximum.
I don't think it's just a possibility, I think a variation on this theme is an inevitability..
Malk.
It's reminiscent of quite a few Utopian societies.
Despite a lot of people talking to the contrary, yes, I do believe it's possible.
A mere few hundred years ago, the thought of a democracy where all the people put a vote in to see who was going to rule them was unthinkable.
The people were there to be told what to do, and work the farm.
It's come a long way since then.
for anyone to say 'This can never happen' is merely them showing that they lack the vision to say 'This is a possibility.. Something that maybe oneday will come around.. Something that's worthwhile working towards'...
What you see now is a very very small part of all that was, and all that will be.
Us humans think far too much of ourselves.. We're far too selfish, as that's how we're taught to be.
One day, we may open our eyes, and realise jsut how obnoxiously stupid we're being, like little children squabbling in a playground.
When that happens, a transparent society will seem quite normal, and the inhabitants of that time will look back on our current model of society in much the same way we do to the societies of the tenth century...
Maybe with the beginnings of a decent structure, but completely barbaric and cruel.
So, it's a resort to name calling.
The classic last resort of the underinformed mind.
This is the kind of thing I've come to expect of a serious sociopath with little learning, no social skills and a bad lack of any real interest in the goings on of the world who, from time to time feels the urge (A la Lorenz' psycho-hydraulic method) to spout some inane crap that's supposed to enlighten someone.
Oh, and technology's dangerous.. Hmm.. Didn't I hear that was what the luddites said so long ago?? And if they'd won the day, odds on you'd be slaving away in a field with no education to speak of, probably no medical equipment available with no voice to speak of, and probably chanting your virtues when out of your mind on the local brew.
Grow up. Get a life..
There's a world outside your head you know..
Maybe you should actually take a look at it sometime..
Let's just take a little trip back to the text we're supposed to be posting about shall we?? ;)
If you're pro-life.. Cool.. I appreciate life to the full, and think everyone should try it sometime..
I still think that people should have a choice.
Hey, let's agree to disagree, and get back on with the job of having reasonably good lives without treading on each other's toes shall we?? It's only going to be painful pounding out that argument, and we're only likely to say things already said...
You're Jewish.. Good for you...
I'm.. I don't rightly know.. Partially Christian (by upbringing), partially buddhist, partially Taoist, and a whole host of other things in there that seem to have sides of a sense of being that feels right. I probably believe a lot of the ethics that your Jewish faith has led you to believe in..
Whatever you believe in, you are still you.. And I think we'd find more to agree on on the subjects of religion and philosophy than to disagree on..
I think the point that was being made was that it's fine to be pro-life.. But, if you are an advocate of "let's post these people's names up in public view as targets", then you should at least be courteous enough to add your own details, such as address, number, spouses name and details etc..
It's an example of that oft forgotten concept "fair play"..
I'm not judging you by anything other than what you put down in your words.. And you seem like a pretty decent chap to me..
Where's the problem?? And rather than sending the previoius poster off to 'bad village', he's obviously made a bit of an effort, so why not invite him in for a cup of tea, and show the benefits of the nice place...
You never know, you may just have accedentally picked up a friend that you never knew about until then!!
A few points of interest..
1> This isn't about guns. It has nothing to do with the ethic of guns. It's about people. If you really think guns and cameras are that closely related, please, choose very very carefully when picking a wedding photographer. Argument spurious. Next.
2> Only evil people are interested in information... Hmmm.. You obviously read Slashdot, which posts many many misdeeds of organisations and people (Gates et. al.).
This, of course, means you're truly evil, and damned to roast in whatever hell you believe in.
Do not drink holy water, as you may spontaneously combust.
Now, the classic (and not so classic) evil prospers because people do not know it's nature. The nature of evil in a society is like a cancer. It destroys the goodwill around it, and lurks, and really knows the laws of privacy much better than I ever will, because, to tell the truth, I can't be arsed to learn them, 'cos I don't really do anything that would warrant hiding.
Not to say I don't do things that are embarassing, because I do.. And I'm embarassed when I do it in public.. Welcome to being human...
Now, I do also like to know pretty much what people I care about (read people I know, talk to, etc.) are up to.. Partly out of genuine interest in their lives, and partly so that I understand them more. Understanding them more, I can effectively lend a hand much more efficiently if they find themselves in times of need.
Now, do you wish to call a priest and have an exorcism performed on me for that??
3> How, praytell, would you care to set up a gargantuan task such as legislating the privacy of information on that level?? I can guarantee you that it'll be open to abuse just like all the older legislations, ensuring that, again, the people who are bothered to learn about it are either people who it's of great academic interest, or people who have something to hide.. Again, I don't really care who has what information on me.. I know lots of people do.. And I know certain agencies do... They probably know I know, and they're almost certainly aware that I don't really care about that..
If I were bleeding to death after a freak accident, I'll tell you.. I'd be happy if everyone around knew everything about me.. Blood group, family numbers to call, the works... And if I went, then people who knew me well enough to remember me and who I was...
I think my security is in my lack of privacy. People know who I am.. I'm not a target...
I'm just a regular kinda guy who's trying to work out the best way to spend the time between the greatly extended periods of not breathing and not breathing again for the second time.
Truth, I'm actually quite flattered if someone thinks that I'm worthy their time to study..
4> Rights: Blah blah blah.. That tired old workhorse.. If you run out of things to complain about, quote rights..
Bah.. When, oh when will people start thinking about responsibilities???
The 'Transparent' society, if people are willing to play with it, rather than cripple it, allows a lot of personal responsibility... People are more likley to meet their obligations to other people rather than sit hidden away mewling piteously about why the world has to pander to them because "They have Rights!", usually irrespective of what rights other people have.
The best way to ensure that everybody's 'rights' are maintained is for everyone to meet their responsibilities to everyone else. And when the majority of people agree with that mindset, then, I think humanity will be one good step on the road to growing up at last.. Or at least making the next, very necessary step.
5> Property is NOT a fundamental right. It's an object. In most cases of property (land etc.), it was here way way way before you were, and it'll be there when you've long gone...
We are merely custodians for what is there. and we're responsible for what we do with it, for good or ill.. It's our choice.
Same with intellectual property. In most cases (computers, physics, etc.) the laws were already there.. Someone comprehended those, and now they choose what to do with it... In those cases that people attempt to 'block' those advances, as sometimes happens when companies feel they 'own' the ideas of their employees, even in non-paid time, this is an ethically 'evil' thing. And the more people that put these entities under scrutiny, the better, until all the greedy secrets are out, and they're shown for the grabbing charlatans they are.. Just think.. In a transparent society, they couldn't lock up all those juicy transcripts of the real story on grounds of privacy.
6> I know society doesn't owe me a fig. And I owe it the same.. Still.. I like to put things into it.. And you know what?? I get pretty much what I put into it, except it comes back from lots and lots of sources..
I guess you can call me a pretty contented and happy kinda guy most of the time, apart from the usual little ups and down that come with being human.
Maybe you do feel vindicated in what you write.. It's a very personal thing...
But, just try and look beyond it at the bigger picture..
Why look at a stone when you've got a wonderful panorama of mountainsides before you..
Well, as we see once again..
Someone who hasn't bothered to put the slightest thought before bursting out into a tirade..
I sure hope it was a joke.. Sure looked like one..
And.. May I be the first to say 'Happy seventh Birthday'??
It's part of the fun of life.. Looking at something like this idea, and seeing how you could make it actually work out well..
Try it sometime... Who knows, you may even like it..