Actually, thats an even more disturbing thought that robotroops. Medical companies financing a war so they get lots of maimed soldiers to experiment on.
The reason it occured to me, is that the US currently has a bit of a shortage of troops in Iraq, and certainly faces one going into Iran. Getting an arm or leg blown off is currently a permanant ticket home. I'm sure they would love to be able to strap on a replacement limb and send the poor buggar back out there to get blown up some more.
The war in Iraq has created a 'market' for prostetic limbs. Given that the latest and most advanced of these are being tested on such veterans, do you think anyone is considering fielding combat cyborgs any time in the future? Go to Iraq, get an arm blown off, go back 6 months later with a submachine gun for a hand...
I saw on TV news 2-3 years ago a prostetic arm used by a Scottish hotellier, which claimed to be thought-driven and gave him enough dexterity and strength to pull a pint.
Government paranoia denying private citizens access to scientific tools will lead to a decline the rate of technological advancement. I'm reminded of how ridiculous 19th-century British laws regarding solid-fuel rockets have hampered amateur rocketry here.
In a more extreme case, secrecy and paranoia about nuclear technology has led to a decline in the use of nuclear power at a time when we need it the most, and has prevented us exploring nuclear propulsion for space travel.
Like the shuttle, the problem isn't the project itself, its the lack of imagination in using it.
The ISS could be a launchpad for manned missions to the planets. If you want to assemble a interplanetary craft in space, a long-term human habitat could house your construction crew whilst the bits are being sent up. This eliminates the need to rush them all up over a week or so.
That reminds me. Send a thankyou note to the religious fundamentalists in your country.
Their hostility to any form of reason has destroyed the decision cycle in your government, because when ideology and populism trumps evidence you can't possibly react correctly to changing circumstances. This can only be good news for the rest of the world, which currently must either cooperate with that government or have bombs dropped on their children in the name of peacekeeping or spreading democracy.
Oh please, spare me your Ayn Rand thought macros. Poor, poor entrepreneurs huddling together for wealth whilst big nasty government oppresses their 'rights'
What you and your little objectivist buddies don't take into account is the extent to which governments protect your precious entrepreneurs, often at the expense of people who actually work for a living. Every inch of physical and intellectual property claimed is a promise by the government to stamp on anyone who violates it. The government that you and your corporate allies what 'off their backs' enforces medical patents that actually kill people. They enforce a system of third-world debt that kills people. And they have the nerve to claim they are hard done by because they have to pay a little tax. Boo fucking hoo
You so-called neoliberals and libertarians have no interest in human liberty, only corporate liberty. The freedom of corporations to do as they will and craft laws that further their aims. Don't try and play the martyr.
One thing has just struck me on re-reading the article - the police raided the site and arrested the guy. That is the level of force they use when going after Islamic extremists. Apparantly, the corporate elite that controls, well, the entire fucking planet, thinks that people who provide links to copyrighted content (without hosting it themselves) need to be dealt with in the same way as those who commute with C4.
This is the world we live in. Profit is valued at least as much, if not more, than human life.
Worse than the shut down of this excellent site, is the Grauniads zombie-like reproduction of the copyright-nazis statements. There is no suggestion that there might be two sides to this debate. There is nothing beyond 'this man is a criminal and the authorities have now arrested him. Lets hear from the authorities'
Despite this infuriating self censorship, I know this is a very popular site amongst non-technical types, so its closure might help raise awareness of this kind of injustice.
I think the problem might be that some Wikipedians have become to settled into bad editing habits, that drive casual and new users away.
Pages on contentious issues tend to have regulars who have been editing the article for some time, generally because they have an opinion on the subject and are consciously or unconsciously introducing it, and they feel the need to 'defend' the article
The result is a factionalised community that is resistant to change. Such a community cannot realistically be expected to keep a large and evolving encyclopaedia together. Having participated in the creation of pages for both the 2006 Lebanon war and the Darfur conflict, I've seen a decline in both quality and quantity of efforts. This may be a result of western bias, but its not like Darfur is obscure; it is mentioned regularly in the western media.
Its all well and good complaining that our government/corporate masters are tightening their control over their lives - but they couldn't do that without the cooperation of the masses.
There is no point directing your anger at opportunistic invasions of privacy. Direct your anger at the sheeple happily gambolling into the slaughterhouse. They are the ones that provide said opportunities.
Human physiology is fairly dependent on the laws of physics remaining the same. For example; Our cells consist of fluid, constrained by a cell membrane that prevents it escaping in any of the three spacial dimensions. The introduction of a fourth spacial dimension means instant, messy death.
Unless you are running an internet server where the access speed is going to be dwarfed by the latency, and the extra cost of the more energy efficient drive is going to pay for itself in a couple of weeks of heavy use.
If the record companies had changed their business model when the business actually changed, they might have survived. As it is, they spent years alienating their consumers, crushing innocent people in extremely vindictive lawsuits, and generally establishing themselves in the minds of young people as the worst thing since the Third Reich.
Changing direction might have worked before you all made yourselves into the embodiment of corporate greed, contempt for humanity and disregard for civil liberties.
You may recall that a few micrograms of PO-210 were used to kill that guy in London about a year ago, and this company has proposed putting.75 kg in a rifle that would be subject to damage, destruction and dispersal on the battlefield.
Indeed. Mr Litvenenko was killed by only 10 micrograms (and that was a considerable overdose). His coffin is tightly sealed and cannot be safely opened for another 22 years. 750g represents 75 million such doses.
Just one of these rifles would contain enough of this nasty shit to do that to an entire European country, or several US states, and given how badly the US military keeps tracks of its hydrogen bombs we can assume some of these infantry weapons would go missing days after their being issued.
And you will be happy to know it readily turns into an aerosol, so someone wanting to build the mother of all dirty bombs wouldn't need to weaponise it in any way - just strap a couple of sticks of dynamite to it and you'ld have the most lethal terrorist attack in history.
Why must work be economic work? Why can't one subsist on the bare minimum whilst writing code/poetry/music/novels. Give yourself a lot of free time, and then use that time to do voluntary work that you enjoy.
Don't be an asshat. I'm not judging Iran for supporting the insurgency in Iraq (as with the nukes issue - they'd be crazy not to) - I'm just saying its a fact, and that China amongst others are supporting Iran in this enterprise because it suits their interests. Tricking China into militarily propping up the Burmese regime would be a tactically sound move by the US, although it isn't terribly likely to work - the Chinese government are simply too cautious and not as inclined as the US government is to believe their own bullshit.
I see China and the US as two sides of the same coin, both countries converging on the same optimal solution to the problem of how to get rich dicking the working man. If I had to be pressed to take a side, I would root for China simply because that country has less interest in manipulating mine (the UK) so a sino-centric world would probably mean more freedom for me than a US-centric one, in the short term at least.
I'm almost certainly further left than you, and I don't support killing of peaceful protesters and reporters trying to tell people about peaceful protesters.
China is already bleeding the US in Iraq (via its proxy Iran) so Bush is unlikely to give them another arena in which to do that. What he might do, however, is try to repay the favour by goading the Chinese into going in to Burma themselves.
Not really, no. Cooperatives have shown themselves to be stable, fair minded, and able to survive in a market environment.
In any case - consider corporations to be a microcosm of governments. Regardless of how bad an elected leadership might be - its generally a hell of a lot better than an unelected one.
I don't think your average autocratic police state is that tech-savvy - Burma is run by peope whose expertise lies more in the area of killing and torture.
It may simply have not occurred to them to do this
There's no reason why a conventional ISP couldn't be cooperatively owned, and that would solve many of these problems. In light of these corporate abuses it seems like a logical step, although I can't see it going down too well in the US. You guys probably think such institutions are a too 'red'.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, thats an even more disturbing thought that robotroops. Medical companies financing a war so they get lots of maimed soldiers to experiment on.
The reason it occured to me, is that the US currently has a bit of a shortage of troops in Iraq, and certainly faces one going into Iran. Getting an arm or leg blown off is currently a permanant ticket home. I'm sure they would love to be able to strap on a replacement limb and send the poor buggar back out there to get blown up some more.
The war in Iraq has created a 'market' for prostetic limbs. Given that the latest and most advanced of these are being tested on such veterans, do you think anyone is considering fielding combat cyborgs any time in the future? Go to Iraq, get an arm blown off, go back 6 months later with a submachine gun for a hand...
I saw on TV news 2-3 years ago a prostetic arm used by a Scottish hotellier, which claimed to be thought-driven and gave him enough dexterity and strength to pull a pint.
A simple yet functional OS and applications on a chip! Why didn't someone think of doing this before!?
OH WAIT, THEY DID AND MICROSOFT PUSHED THEM OUT OF THEIR MARKET AND SENT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS
Such risks are already well known:
Look at the picture halfway down this article.Government paranoia denying private citizens access to scientific tools will lead to a decline the rate of technological advancement. I'm reminded of how ridiculous 19th-century British laws regarding solid-fuel rockets have hampered amateur rocketry here.
In a more extreme case, secrecy and paranoia about nuclear technology has led to a decline in the use of nuclear power at a time when we need it the most, and has prevented us exploring nuclear propulsion for space travel.
Like the shuttle, the problem isn't the project itself, its the lack of imagination in using it. The ISS could be a launchpad for manned missions to the planets. If you want to assemble a interplanetary craft in space, a long-term human habitat could house your construction crew whilst the bits are being sent up. This eliminates the need to rush them all up over a week or so.
That reminds me. Send a thankyou note to the religious fundamentalists in your country.
Their hostility to any form of reason has destroyed the decision cycle in your government, because when ideology and populism trumps evidence you can't possibly react correctly to changing circumstances. This can only be good news for the rest of the world, which currently must either cooperate with that government or have bombs dropped on their children in the name of peacekeeping or spreading democracy.
Oh please, spare me your Ayn Rand thought macros. Poor, poor entrepreneurs huddling together for wealth whilst big nasty government oppresses their 'rights'
What you and your little objectivist buddies don't take into account is the extent to which governments protect your precious entrepreneurs, often at the expense of people who actually work for a living. Every inch of physical and intellectual property claimed is a promise by the government to stamp on anyone who violates it. The government that you and your corporate allies what 'off their backs' enforces medical patents that actually kill people. They enforce a system of third-world debt that kills people. And they have the nerve to claim they are hard done by because they have to pay a little tax. Boo fucking hoo
You so-called neoliberals and libertarians have no interest in human liberty, only corporate liberty. The freedom of corporations to do as they will and craft laws that further their aims. Don't try and play the martyr.
One thing has just struck me on re-reading the article - the police raided the site and arrested the guy. That is the level of force they use when going after Islamic extremists. Apparantly, the corporate elite that controls, well, the entire fucking planet, thinks that people who provide links to copyrighted content (without hosting it themselves) need to be dealt with in the same way as those who commute with C4.
This is the world we live in. Profit is valued at least as much, if not more, than human life.
Worse than the shut down of this excellent site, is the Grauniads zombie-like reproduction of the copyright-nazis statements. There is no suggestion that there might be two sides to this debate. There is nothing beyond 'this man is a criminal and the authorities have now arrested him. Lets hear from the authorities'
Despite this infuriating self censorship, I know this is a very popular site amongst non-technical types, so its closure might help raise awareness of this kind of injustice.
1. Alienate your customers by refusing to alter your business model
...
2. Once they all hate you, alter your business model
3. Profit
I think the problem might be that some Wikipedians have become to settled into bad editing habits, that drive casual and new users away.
Pages on contentious issues tend to have regulars who have been editing the article for some time, generally because they have an opinion on the subject and are consciously or unconsciously introducing it, and they feel the need to 'defend' the article
The result is a factionalised community that is resistant to change. Such a community cannot realistically be expected to keep a large and evolving encyclopaedia together. Having participated in the creation of pages for both the 2006 Lebanon war and the Darfur conflict, I've seen a decline in both quality and quantity of efforts. This may be a result of western bias, but its not like Darfur is obscure; it is mentioned regularly in the western media.
Its all well and good complaining that our government/corporate masters are tightening their control over their lives - but they couldn't do that without the cooperation of the masses.
There is no point directing your anger at opportunistic invasions of privacy. Direct your anger at the sheeple happily gambolling into the slaughterhouse. They are the ones that provide said opportunities.
Human physiology is fairly dependent on the laws of physics remaining the same. For example; Our cells consist of fluid, constrained by a cell membrane that prevents it escaping in any of the three spacial dimensions. The introduction of a fourth spacial dimension means instant, messy death.
Unless you are running an internet server where the access speed is going to be dwarfed by the latency, and the extra cost of the more energy efficient drive is going to pay for itself in a couple of weeks of heavy use.
If the record companies had changed their business model when the business actually changed, they might have survived. As it is, they spent years alienating their consumers, crushing innocent people in extremely vindictive lawsuits, and generally establishing themselves in the minds of young people as the worst thing since the Third Reich.
Changing direction might have worked before you all made yourselves into the embodiment of corporate greed, contempt for humanity and disregard for civil liberties.
Indeed. Mr Litvenenko was killed by only 10 micrograms (and that was a considerable overdose). His coffin is tightly sealed and cannot be safely opened for another 22 years. 750g represents 75 million such doses.
Just one of these rifles would contain enough of this nasty shit to do that to an entire European country, or several US states, and given how badly the US military keeps tracks of its hydrogen bombs we can assume some of these infantry weapons would go missing days after their being issued.
And you will be happy to know it readily turns into an aerosol, so someone wanting to build the mother of all dirty bombs wouldn't need to weaponise it in any way - just strap a couple of sticks of dynamite to it and you'ld have the most lethal terrorist attack in history.Why must work be economic work? Why can't one subsist on the bare minimum whilst writing code/poetry/music/novels. Give yourself a lot of free time, and then use that time to do voluntary work that you enjoy.
*Passes bong on to the next poster*
I'm almost certainly further left than you, and I don't support killing of peaceful protesters and reporters trying to tell people about peaceful protesters.
China is already bleeding the US in Iraq (via its proxy Iran) so Bush is unlikely to give them another arena in which to do that. What he might do, however, is try to repay the favour by goading the Chinese into going in to Burma themselves.
Not really, no. Cooperatives have shown themselves to be stable, fair minded, and able to survive in a market environment.
In any case - consider corporations to be a microcosm of governments. Regardless of how bad an elected leadership might be - its generally a hell of a lot better than an unelected one.
I don't think your average autocratic police state is that tech-savvy - Burma is run by peope whose expertise lies more in the area of killing and torture.
It may simply have not occurred to them to do this
There's no reason why a conventional ISP couldn't be cooperatively owned, and that would solve many of these problems. In light of these corporate abuses it seems like a logical step, although I can't see it going down too well in the US. You guys probably think such institutions are a too 'red'.