If the government imposes standards for chargers (or anything else), buyers and sellers are not free to engage in transactions without government interference; that makes the market a regulated market, not a free market.
Can you give us an example of an unregulated "free market"? I mean one that actually exists, or has existed. Who decided that the voltage coming out of the wall socket should be 120v at 60hz? Where does the silly notion that there are a certain number of ounces to the pound come from? Why shouldn't I be able to sell 14oz "pounds" of coffee? And what do you think the word "government" means?
Your statement may be true but still standards are not the basis of a free market.
They are in a very important way. For example, legal standards are an absolute necessity for what you call a "free market" (which isn't really free, but that's a different discussion). If there were no standard for what happens to people who don't perform on contracts, created by government and enforced by government courts, then there could be no market at all, much less a "free" one.
Also, standards as to what constitutes fraud.
Yeah, standards are essential for markets of any kind. Remember, markets do not exist in nature. And there is no such thing as a "free market". None has every existed, none can possibly exist. Free market is like "free energy".
You know you're in for a bumpy ride when a sentence starts out like that. And in case anyone doesn't know who Richard Dawkin is, he's mainly famous for getting BOFA'd from space on twitter. Here is the exchange that made him so well-known (the dank memes that follow the actual event are worth the trip):
Actually, this whole asset forfeiture thing was an invention of George H.W. Bush's War On Drugs, but don't let facts get in your way. Reply to This
I was actually thanking the Obama administration for ending the program. Since "Thanks a lot, Obama" is a right-wing meme used to blame the President for everything from the 2008 financial crisis to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I was using it sarcastically (but not really, because this story points out one of the good things the Obama Justice Department has in fact done).
I wouldn't want anyone to mistake me for the right-wing jackoffs. I'm not a total fan of Obama, because he's a corporatist tool (as is Hillary), but he got this one right.
Seattle's taxpayers have to be the most stupid motherfuckers on Earth.
Seattle consistently ranks in the top three US cities on a whole host of criteria, and has the second-highest percentage of the population with graduate degrees (after San Francisco), so probably not exactly the stupidest motherfuckers on Earth.
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
North Dakota is fucking North Dakota! It gets dark too early in the Winter. It always has the worst snow storms in the country.
Plus, there's only like 14 people in the entire state. And apparently 8 of them are building drones and waiting for Spring so they can go outside and fly them.
Something like a shoulder mounted PRG. Projectile - a casing of 00 buck steel balls linked with 1m steel cable (aka bolas). Maybe powered by a existing casing charge. Done. $1k each. Military testing $100k each.
Works best if you point it at the drone operators.
To be fair, I'm a nerd whose been reading Slashdot since 2000, and I have no idea who Forrest Mimms is either.
Maybe that's because his name is Forrest MIMS, not "Mimms". Apparently, timothy couldn't be bothered to do the most basic job of an editor, which is to make sure a proper name in a headline is spelt write.
And thank god Forrest Mims III is a white man, because if he was hispanic, black or muslim going through an airport with a bag "half-full" of electronics, he's be under the jail.
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a peaceful night as we prepare to celebrate the birth of baby Santa.
Trademark is civil law - the police rarely get involved
All intellectual property is civil law. And the money government spends enforcing intellectual property is not generally on police, but on the civil legal system.
I am much more interested in incidents where the drone crashes straight into the operator's own penis and scrotum. Has this sort of an event ever happened before?
Knowing several drone owners, I doubt a drone could hit that small of a target.
Do you think it's right that the government should be forced to spend millions of tax payer dollars to enforce someone's exclusive use of an offensive term?
Are you certain that the government should be forced to spend millions of tax payer dollars enforcing anybody's trademark? Or anybody's rounded corners? Or anybody's song that was written 80 years ago? Or anybody's patent on a button that you click to buy something?
Slashdot Mirror
Don't you dare. It's the holidays, and I've promised to be nice.
Can you give us an example of an unregulated "free market"? I mean one that actually exists, or has existed. Who decided that the voltage coming out of the wall socket should be 120v at 60hz? Where does the silly notion that there are a certain number of ounces to the pound come from? Why shouldn't I be able to sell 14oz "pounds" of coffee? And what do you think the word "government" means?
They are in a very important way. For example, legal standards are an absolute necessity for what you call a "free market" (which isn't really free, but that's a different discussion). If there were no standard for what happens to people who don't perform on contracts, created by government and enforced by government courts, then there could be no market at all, much less a "free" one.
Also, standards as to what constitutes fraud.
Yeah, standards are essential for markets of any kind. Remember, markets do not exist in nature. And there is no such thing as a "free market". None has every existed, none can possibly exist. Free market is like "free energy".
I prefer to think of myself as an ancient alien.
I love origin stories.
You know you're in for a bumpy ride when a sentence starts out like that. And in case anyone doesn't know who Richard Dawkin is, he's mainly famous for getting BOFA'd from space on twitter. Here is the exchange that made him so well-known (the dank memes that follow the actual event are worth the trip):
https://twitter.com/richarddaw...
How do you feel about people criticizing anyone who starts a sentence, "I for one..."?
I was being sarcastic.
I was actually thanking the Obama administration for ending the program. Since "Thanks a lot, Obama" is a right-wing meme used to blame the President for everything from the 2008 financial crisis to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I was using it sarcastically (but not really, because this story points out one of the good things the Obama Justice Department has in fact done).
I wouldn't want anyone to mistake me for the right-wing jackoffs. I'm not a total fan of Obama, because he's a corporatist tool (as is Hillary), but he got this one right.
Thanks a lot, Obama.
There were fewer before you got there.
Seattle consistently ranks in the top three US cities on a whole host of criteria, and has the second-highest percentage of the population with graduate degrees (after San Francisco), so probably not exactly the stupidest motherfuckers on Earth.
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
That's not the biggest problem.
If you have elections online, you're going to have Undertale elected president.
I'm curious as to your definition of "ironically".
Someone has to plow the roads so the drone operators can get to their dronefields.
Plus, there's only like 14 people in the entire state. And apparently 8 of them are building drones and waiting for Spring so they can go outside and fly them.
Am I the only one who's dying to know what the author's father is doing with those hundreds of blank cassettes every year?
Works best if you point it at the drone operators.
And you can carry a bank while robbing your phone.
I think that covers all the possibilities.
Maybe that's because his name is Forrest MIMS, not "Mimms". Apparently, timothy couldn't be bothered to do the most basic job of an editor, which is to make sure a proper name in a headline is spelt write.
And thank god Forrest Mims III is a white man, because if he was hispanic, black or muslim going through an airport with a bag "half-full" of electronics, he's be under the jail.
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a peaceful night as we prepare to celebrate the birth of baby Santa.
All intellectual property is civil law. And the money government spends enforcing intellectual property is not generally on police, but on the civil legal system.
That includes the USPTO.
The only way to stop a bad guy with skis and spandex pants is a good guy with a drone.
Knowing several drone owners, I doubt a drone could hit that small of a target.
Are you certain that the government should be forced to spend millions of tax payer dollars enforcing anybody's trademark? Or anybody's rounded corners? Or anybody's song that was written 80 years ago? Or anybody's patent on a button that you click to buy something?
Wake me up when they can grow bacon on Mars.
Son, you spend too much time with computers.