Posts by johnwerneken 234 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Jun 2011
There are plenty of people richly deserving whatever epithet comes to mind whether or not including references to such things as skin tone, gender, language, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual preference, dis- or special-ability, or any of the categories we ALL recognize as valid but that the more rational of us refrain from using as if they were valid for OTHER things be they skills or morals or behavior.
I have an absolute right to offend insult and enrage however many folks I please.
Part of political economy is who is in charge and/or well off and who is not. There is no good reason to much care about those.
The guts of it are three simple things: (1) Does the system often intentionally do horrid stuff to people and there is no remedy? Any State-centered regime tends in that direction...(2) Is the system internationally secure and competitive? (3) Do all sorts of folks and the majority of families see (a) opportunity and (b) on the whole increasing prosperity - more ability to choose and obtain desired goods, services, and circumstances?
When the answers are "NO", "YES", and "YES", one has found an exemplary system. Constitutional republican capitalism IS such a system, and so far anyway, the ONLY such system.
Wealth can not concentrate indefinitely...from whom would profits be obtained? Also, for the most part, unusual fortunes may proliferate but they do not tend to stay intact over time. Firms and family fortunes go up and down the relative ladder. Indeed, that is the key to why the constitutional republican capitalist regime is relatively fee, secure, competitive, and prosperous: what currently is valued tends to attract attention and investment, displacing that which has been surpassed in utility.
I suppose I shall burn an Alternate DVD and restore grub on the Linux partition, redo the multiboot stuff after if needed.
Snazzy mass market distro should not do such things. With dual boot in mbr and not with grup but with windows, none of the easier ways of addressing this type of thing apply. Takes too much fussing rebooting each time to verify which of Linux, grub, windows mbr bootloader, or that bootloader's multi-boot bcd entries or the config snippet from the Linux partition is a fault; to fix the offending component; and to verify everything works, not just the same or a different selection of some things.
Escapes me how there IS any such thing as protection of anyone as regards information. Information wants to be free. Who cares who knows what...if everyone could know anything anyone knew, the world would be far more peaceful and far more prosperous. Humans evolved where ALL community members directly or at most second had observed ALL activities.
Privacy is just a Mickey Mouse attempt to deny totalitarian power to an organized community, be it a business or a State. Such communities HAVE no legitimate power in the first place.
USA got mobs and interests now, not voters...most anything to do with the public's support is corrupt, by the public unfortunately. So we have an allegedly peaceful and egalitarian and rights-respecting government spreading poveryy, was, assassination, and espioage. Oh yea the tax system is ass-backwards as well.
Microsoft has always done well at several things. The third party developer environment. The packaging of software for diverse but actually quite related purposes. The proliferation of ways of doing one thing and the backward compatibility, as well as the semi-consistency of user presentation. Productivity tools for individuals, for firms, and for developers.
They've never been great at design per se. Nor have they been innovators, any more than Apple has been.
The thought that diverse platforms and form factors might present a unified experience is a good one, although I suspect unrealizable as long as physical screens and keyboards and pointing devices remain the main interfaces. But nobody likes any of those things anyway. Humans on their own don't communicate that way!
Perhaps our contraptions ought not to either.
This is funny. Like folks with no larynx due to tobacco, smoking through the hole in their neck. The whole concept is funny. And would be if the guy had been engaged in sex, or any number of notoriously engrossing activities. Not because there's anything funny about injury, but just because.
Ruining those who do it? WTF does that mean? It's voluntary, so doing it can't ruin anything. Ruin is when you want a house, but it burns down. Ruin is not when you set fire to the house intentionally to roast marsh mellows.
No one's business how people spend their time or their money. If someone would rather finish their chapter and burn alive, instead of losing the book and getting out, it's their choice. Where do these tyrants get off claiming a right to restrict smoking drinking gaming etc.?
There's no virtue in anonymity...people evolved to be the opposite of anonymous, in a fishbowl of gossip. Get used to it.
ANY regulation presents numerous problems. Whoever regulates monopolizes. (Voluntarily accepted standards are a different matter). Regulation also assumes that there is such a thing as legitimate government. There is not.
People forget that the idea of legitimacy whether of the voters or of the King has to do with avoiding the evil of civil strife, not with some sort of moral standing. Regulation which facilitates commerce, progress, etc. has its place...it's like a public road or a Defense Department. Those which secure rights, equality, and all manner of public protection for privately enjoyed things (caribou and snail darters come to mind) are just spoils of the system.
Anonymity is a tool to fight illegitimate (i.e. most) governmental activity.
CURRENCY ought to be about supporting trade. That means the value of it is not readily manipulated. Period. Governmental currencies by definition fail the test. Add ludicrous pension obligations to those governments, and we get a progress-stifling economy. An UNCONTROLED currency could take down ½ of this, and the loss of the ability to steal the pension funds from out of everyone’s pockets through inflation might curb the pensions. Who knows, with progress again enabled, robust pensions might again become affordable.
Gold tended to come and go as the balance between mined supplies and economic growth changed, but not all that much most of the time. The dollar or the pound were like that, once upon a time, but no more.
A bitcoin somewhere in the value range of $50.00usd to $250.00 USD would be in the ballpark for the actual value traditionally represented by dollars or pounds. The difficulty I believe lies in supporting a transition from an esoteric techie thing and speculative bubble and potential pay pal alternative, for which the total currency supply need not be large at all, to a currency base capable (as augmented by circulation velocity and the lenders’ magic of lending the same reserves more than once) of supporting the majority of the planet’s economic activity.
It’s hard to imagine how that transition could occur, without an intermediate step of coordination and control: back to the original central bank problem.
Second intelligent comment I've seen on the subject (after my own, which isn't as relevant: touch as a unified interface for devices of all types).
Cheapness - mass market powering mass production with a steep downwards cost curve - that's what the PC was and the smart pocket device is. Personally I think the iPad size is either far too small or far too big, but the portable device is getting truly cheap and truly robust.
Use case - I've tended to approach tech since I got in to it in the early 60's as a question of toolkits, for which I would later find purposes. Most people do not look at ANYTHING that way - they already know what they want to do, and it will involve such things as people, entertainment, earning money, spending money, education. The only one of those that interests me in the LEAST is people, and that, not much for most of them.
But then, I am odd. So are PC's. A famous industrial design consultant with 7 figure earnings once spoke and answered questions afterwards. Asked about the design quality of PCs in general, he pointed to doorknobs. Doorknobs he said are designed so that any human being once observing a doorknob in operation knows all they ever need to know about how to make use of a doorknob: GOOD DESIGN. Then he said, if the Doorknob defines design excellence, then the PC is at the opposite extreme of the design spectrum. He's right.
Ubiquitous pocket wireless connected devices lend themselves to what people are likely to want to do, with these “APS” for every imaginable purpose. Maybe a PC is like a toolshed supporting a garden, but these BYODs are cornucopias full of grown vegetables, no experience required.
The Court actually is upholding most of Amazon's contention...the tax upheld has to do with the activities of NY businesses, using Amazon in part as agent for collection, marketing, and/or shipping. Not with such Amazon sales as have no connection with a NY presence - if Amazon's 'own' sales were Amazon's ONLY sales into NY, the tax would not apply.
As to the principle, Congress probably ought to require sales taxes on interstate commerce to be collected uniformly at a State or Metro level at one rate, and then apportioned, but so far, Congress has not done this.
As to taxes in general, they are not the right of the Government to collect nor the obligation of the citizen to pay nor deserving in some fashion to support whatever the government supports. They are fees paid through the consent of the governed for services rendered. No in-state presence, no services received and no citizen representation either, so no tax. If it meant the total end of all non-voluntary payments, why that would be a darn good thing on its own.
I see the future very clearly. There will be absolutely NO privacy. There will be absolutely NO security - no locks whatsoever, not on anything. Everyone will be able to exactly as they please to anything or anybody anytime anywhere.
Perfect safety! EVERYTHING being known, what is harmful will only be done once ever per perpetrator...
THAT is the solution.
Computer security is an oxymoron, get used to it!
Really, I'm never in a situation where what I bring is not far more valuable than what I want, and I have choices, always. If I want to call or research something, I just do it, and if you decide to hate me for it, that is your problem, I don't need any particular individuals or groups for any purpose, I can get others, any time.
I'm seen as kind and benevolent by almost anyone, though. Must be because I do not play the game of wanting to do one thing but doing something else instead.
Humans evolved where everyone in the band knew everything everyone was doing. Good idea now, abolish privacy, record anything, discourage harmful actions. It's what acts people take when they learn things that matters. So what, what adult has sex, or how, with what other consenting adult, for example. Bravo to the Spies. But piss on the TSA.
Google is a PITA especially any sort of "search" that crowd sources / page ranks screw that. Likewise image oriented versions of web mail. No loss in either case.
But I use IE 11 and some of the goggle stuff esp maps and sometimes docs sometimes search, no such issues here.
Rarely go to web outllok fka Hotmail but haven't seen any change there either.
Suspect the people with these issues have i d 10 t or KITC errors
The "Precautionary principle" is neither a principle nor is it precautionary. It is Luddite and the work of vested economic ideological and political interests.
So fracking might scare or inconvenience fewer people than coal, fission, wind, damns, or poisonous solar arrays? This is a problem?
MY religion is human power and empowerment!
I spit on the Religion of avoiding risks! And on democracy for that matter - useful to control the power of the State, dangerous to have actually in control of ANYTHING!
Thorium and Solar cells (or space-based) with decent in cost storage, those are great and were the point of the article. Not FuckYuppiesShima.
There is NO real problem at Fukashima, not compared to the hazards of hydroelectric damn failures in earthquakes, or mining, or even oil transportation. Wake up idiot environmental jihadists!
Maybe its better if you do NOT wake up. You are the ENEMY OF MANKIND!
Runs great! Nightly, ice dragon, cometbird browsers with 38 tabs, outlook, IE with maybe 10 - 3.2 gig memory used. Boots extremely quickly. Mounts *.iso. Runs hyper-V VM's. Bootleg true MS code installs fine with default key, activates with win 8.0 key. IE can be set to one mode only, desktop or TIFKAM. Tiled start screen manageable. TIFKAM side by side works intelligently. Between new "start" and older WinKey 'power menu', charms can be avoided. Ne search feature now works as they say it did in Preview. Media Center was there.
I don't see much reason to change/upgrade tools 'just because its new', but this thing is a real improvement!
There are issues imho with portable contraptions used as computers, even laptops, but both Intel and ARM chips and SSD storage are getting to the point where before long applications as opposed to "aps" will run and run well. The smaller display and small, non-existent, or add-on KB input means limit the use of such Iimho, but they sure are great for taking ones electronic connections, including the hundreds of thousands of 'aps, with one at all times. And the portables are largely used for networking, geography, media consumption, and communication.
Whether the concept of "one ring to rule them all" makes sense, I don't know. The use case differs. BUT. If it matures successfully, users and those who support them and code for them would have one and only one user interface to deal with. It's already converging - MAC OS X, Android, Windows, and most public-oriented Linux distros are looing more alike every day.
As to the upgrade. I put 8.1 RTM atop a 8.1 preview and yes I had to reinstall the limited number of aps , principally communication, browsers, and productivity stuff. There is no 'keep aps' option on this path, as was stated in the beginning. I AM WAITING for the actual final release code to upgrade 8.0. Screen shots from others who have put the RTM - ACTUALLY ANOTHER BETA - atop 8.0 show a "keep aps" option. Also, the real public release build will be supported for 90 days after install.
Work networks are different, at least as long as espionage in general and "Intellectual Property" are concerns - they are no concern of mine though.
I connect one box alone to do banking and that's all it does.
Other than that, I hate security - I can evict the unwanted on my own, have no secrets, and value convenience highly, and privacy not at all.
Many things are slowed down or sometimes obstructed entirely by dumb-ass security.
Chrome is a terrible browser unless media consumption is the objective, which for me it is not, unless it is printed text.
Bill Gates is said to be as smart as Einstein or Hawking ("IQ 160") and perhaps he is. Being a living man, it makes sense that he prefers philanthropy that may uplift the human condition is his lifetime, which his work fighting disease may well do. In the more tropical and poorer places where malaria is such a threat, the disease environment is probably THE major obstacle to prosperity.
As to panning Google, little that Google does provides much benefit IMHO. Previous firms offering free search functions, such as AltaVista, were superior to Google at least for anything I use search for (Google does NOT in the slightest implement Boolean logic - one has to inspect the results to ascertain what exactly Google search did with one's input). I have NO USE for anything that is based on the relative popularity of things ("page stank").
@Roo noted that interconnectedness has its payoff. I agree but I see that as much more likely to be provided by economic and political entrepreneurs (private businesses and politicians), neither of whom tends to pursue public health unless forced to do so.
But I think that after Gates and I are gone humanity will benefit greatly if by that time we have a sustained off-Earth presence. The beyond-Earth universe simply has too much to learn and too much to offer for us to not give space exploration a high priority.
The appearance of sleazy attitude is not the reality. People playing games talk all kinds of trash. This one is offensive only to those who define themselves by their concern for political bullshit. Granted, said B.S. often is all that stands between us and far worse things. Even so, those who see no difference between what people believe or think or say and what they do, well they ought to STFU as they are crazy by definition.
LOL. Not having a tablet, I must guess that touch tiles add SOME convenience with tiny but touchable screens. I sense that the store aps are basically the sort of thing people put on phones - where is the nearest MickyD's, that sort of thing. At least, I have not found any others, except dubious cutdowns of traditional Win aps, like the Metro version of mail. So it's not clear that any of tiles, touch, or the store aps are of much use.
That said, the IDEA apparently DOES have use: it's what Apple is doing with the MAC, making it as much as possible resemble iOS, because clearly getting ONE interface to work almost everywhere would have various benefits, to uses, to developers, and to system vendors. Maybe someone should check and see what MAC people do with touch screen MACs.
As an updated win7, win8 ROCKS, in speed, in stability, and in some relevant extras, including ISO mounts and VMs without needing anything third party.
It amuses me, to see thieves aka content creators (since when did a media firm CREATE a single thing) trying to call the cops on convenience. Don't they know, convenience ALWAYS wins? We pay happily when by doing so we get more of what we want quicker more often more cheaply more reliably. Can't do that: then no payment for your alleged property/service.
I like a basically peaceful environment and also appreciate how law saves effort and boosts trade in many ways, but in general I think the least amount of it possible is best. I myself would divulge to the government your private data, if it appeared you were in the process of arranging to murder my fellow citizens. But I would not do so to assist someone in protecting anything intangible, such as their reputation, or desire not to be libeled, or desire to enforce an alleged right to non-material property. And absolutely not to assist anyone to collect a tax or to enforce a drug law, or a money laundering law.
I'd rather have no protection in cyberspace, than any at all, if to get that I had to in any way acknowledge or be affected by anyone's ideas of what is right, that go beyond physical safety of physical persons and physical property.
It surely makes those of us who have, do, and will be the ones providing more value than the price charged, just a little annoyed. Escaping the locals is one of the foundation-stones of progress. I do not know about you, but I would not, could I but find a buyer, operate a business in a swamp-gas-for-services jurisdiction. I'd operate where we had the teamwork going on.
Where I would collect the taxes I had earned the privilege to pay, for generating revenue in that jurisdiction's business environment, I would not argue, nor does the law provide, as far as I know, for my either not paying those taxes over, or not collecting them from the consumer.
This about customers, folks who will not spend at home, on the local rascals, but they feel they can get equal or better value dealing with say me on the internet. So they might actually pay me. And I have NEVER done business, nor set foot, in their jurisdiction; I may not even know where in the world it is. People preferring to spend their locally earned funds on faraway strangers are making a signal in a way: something local could be better, or at least a bunch of the locals think some local things could be better – they are putting their money elsewhere.
So how does it help anyone, besides local officials and their patrons, to either pay more for less locally, or more for more on the Internet?
THINK. A business has expenses and taxes where it operates, and hopefully the benefit is enough that it is indeed a benefit. It’s prices will be higher, because its costs are higher, if it also pays taxes/expenses WHERE IT DOES NO BUSINESS – IT GETS NO BENEFITS.
This tax is about fairness to local POLITICIANS.
The most negatively productive people in existence are, by definition, those chosen by my fellowcitizens. Why should they get paid? I admit, I used to represent 50,000 of them, and was pleases to improve their wages and especially (*big bucks*) their pensions, every year. But then I tended to tell them, my members, to sit and spin, unless they wanted to help me; if they wanted to help me, well we had a deal to try and help tnhe voters too...when values is up, volume is up, cost is down - all ways of counting - everyone wins, except the competition.
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