Posts by Ben 19 publicly visible posts • joined 12 May 2008
Sorry Sarah, the original title was "1948". It was science fiction used in its usual manner, to criticise the present. The censors didn't let the original title pass, so he reversed the digits.
Then again, he wasn't very bloody far off about the use of war with the manipulation of language for social control by one's own corrupt govenors, was he?
So, all those underwater nuclear accidents have had no impact? Which studies would you be referring to? Oh, you aren't. You're just saying whatever you like.
The impact of Nuclear is institutionally downplayed. Perhaps it would do a great deal of good to remind yourself what *really* happened at Chernobyl. It is, of course, far simpler to ignore accidents that happen underwater.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5384001427276447319&ei=LJKSSaLrKIrW2wKdjbXRBw&q=The+True+Battle+of+Chernobyl+Uncensored+
Of course, over the last few thousand years we have driven a huge number of species (of comparable size and sophistication) into extinction for a wide variety of reasons. Lets not add another cause, which takes over 250,000 years before it begins to go away.. eh?
The same argument is continually put forward wherever there are "safety" issues... whether it was the first proposals (for hideously expensive) car safety testing, pharmacutical testing, and the list can just go on and on.
This is a mechanism that goverments use to *open up* new markets, by forcing their industrial base to be the first/among the first to enter it. It's also a handy way of locking out nations that are slower on the uptake.
Yes, it's expensive to get started... but to say that it limits innovation to large companies is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. This is a tech. magasine. Ever heard of Venture Capital?!?
We live in a Capitalist society, and these massive regulatory shifts provide precisely the opportunity for technological innovators to enter the market (backed by sufficient capital) because they can overcome the smothering market presence of the larger players.
Oh, they've got money to loose alright.
They've been investing in their infrastructure, saving their money, and developing new industries based around environmentalism, rather than war. I wish we could say the same for Britain, otherwise we'd be in a position just as strong as the Germans.
I'm on their black list - as are many hundreds of thousands of other people - without having committed a crime, or being cautioned/charge or anything else.
It makes me angry everytime I think about it, and was one of the reasons I left the country.
Living the UK had begun to feel oppressive, I hated being treated like a criminal, watched everywhere by CCTV, knowing that all my innocent conversations were nevertheless being monitored up at Blubberfields for the Americans, watching the way the police can get away with impunity with any behaviour they like.
The upshot of all this survellance and police power is not a more peaceful and law abiding country, far from it. It is causing an escalation and confrontation with the state, whilst at the same time alienating people who believe in law for the sake of justice.
Being constantly treated with suspicion and distrust by your own government is a disgusting way to have to live.
Wouldn't an obvious way to make government behave responsibly and support these Charities (which if they didn't exist the government would have to pay for directly) is for mountain rescue and the lifeboat service to publicly state that unless they *are* supported or *given* spectrum, they will suspend their activities and strike?
Governments (not the people we elect as "representatives" but the institutions that govern us) operate over decades.
It's not about "technical feasibility", it's about "do we want it" / "can we allow it to happen?".
The technological problems are far from insurmountable - even if it takes decades - the question is, do we want to go down that road?
Hoards of NINJAs (NoInvestmentsNoJoborAssets) who haven't got a hope in hell of being able to repay massive mortgages, being conned into thinking they can, produces an (initially profitable and *potentially* huge) stream of income on which huge profits can be made.
These contracts are then consolodated and resold to institutions around the world, making the handful of people who promoted and backed them (i.e. dishonestly rated them as AAA+ and bought them on behalf of the institutional investors for commission) *stupendously* rich.
The collapse of the pyramid (as the poor saps at the bottom aren't coming in fast enough to keep the whole game moving) pulls down the insitutions around it and bankrupts the people who fell for the impossible dream while the winners walk away scot free.
It looks entirely criminal from where I'm sitting, and it's hardly a shock given how many commentators have been warning about *exactly* this inevitable consequence over the last ten years. Heads should roll, and in the past (South Sea Bubble etc.) they did.
This is a kind of "grand theft" which really makes a mockery of the law and its inability to act against globalised commercial entities.
The reason Germany works is that they have rules and stick to them. The Nazi's didn't show us that the law itself is evil, they just made evil laws.
In this case, I far prefer it that patent laws are being enforced properly - because it exposes those laws for exactly what they are. Think of how many tyranical laws there are now in the UK. They are lurking just below the surface, away from the public conciousness, because (as yet) they are only being used to target relatively unpopular and little known figures/groups.
With any luck, the result of this will not only be a political backlash, but for the firms involved, some hefty payouts.
Have a look at the link http://www.contourcrafting.org/ Mr Glubb provided. It seems that the gantry is intended to pick up boards (lightweight, aluminimum probably) which look like they're to be layed on the freshly minted walls. From there it's pretty obvious that you just pour concrete over them to produce a floor. If that's done in layers, it become progressively self supporting so you really probably only need a tiny amount of supporting board. For curved shapes I imagine the idea is just to cut off any excess around the building exterior after it's dried?!?
Really is one of those "Doh! That's so obvious, why didn't I think of it" ideas, isn't it! :)
Try taking a look at OpenLaszlo.org . Even if it's been referred to as "going out on a twig" within the hallowed pages of the Reg, you'll find it's a real pleasure to program in - and capable of generating either DHTML/Flash from the same source code. (i.e. for ALL of the web). Basically, it's just better thought out without jumping through unnecessary architectural hoops to impress the management and justify a massive rise. Good stuff.
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