Comment Re:Corporate Shills (Score 1) 177
Some of my fondest coding memories were programming for an LP mud.
It gets to the point "Your body contemplates to take a breath of air....you get kicked"
Some of my fondest coding memories were programming for an LP mud.
It gets to the point "Your body contemplates to take a breath of air....you get kicked"
I might be biased though because I started playing back in the early 90's on various MUDs which were a) free and b) a lot more creative with their game mechanics. Give me a good old tabletop RPG any day of the week.
Really? You are trying to compare muds of the early 90s (which I also played) to todays games? You are comparing "You are in a room, your exists are up, down, north, west". I played majormud, telearena, tradewars2002, and a bunch of others. They were great, but nothing compared to today. After playing Doom 1 I said "wow one day we will have a merger of this and muds" and we do.
I think your dislike of MMOS today (which is just a large graphical mud) is that you are comparing today to your youth...that's a mistake...about as much of a mistake when I rented the original transformers series, and battlestar galactica series...what a way to kill my childhood memories. Things seem better from when you were a kid because your brain fantasizes and makes it better then what it was...plus as a kid we have beeter imaginations and are more easily impressed then when we are adults.
BTW - it did cost money to play muds back in the day depending on where you played (just like today). I had to pay $20/month so I could have a monthly account with the local BBS. It did cost the guy time/money to keep the computers/phone lines up and running and he was limited to 15-25 people at a time. He paid $10/line so charging users $20/month was fair.
This is like buying a car. Every time I've tried to buy a car, the salesman has tried to make the deal more complicated. Let's talk trade in! Nope. I'm selling my car separately. Well how about financing? Nope, I'm paying cash. What about this nifty special warranty the dealer offers? I'd rather just hand you the money than going through that charade. And no, I'm not handing you the money. Well, an extended manufacturer warranty? I'll self-insure, thank you.
Really? Buying a car is that complex?
"How much is the car sales person? X you say? Ok I will give you Y. Great now that we agree on Z let's move on.
I would like to finance, what's your rates? Q you say? Well that's better then my bank, so great let's move on.
I want to sell you my car, how much are you offering? M you say? Well, M is a bit low, how about N? Great now that we agree on O let's move on.
"Finally, the warranty, how much? S you say? Ok I will give you T. Great we have a deal"
It's four fairly simple steps...if a person finds that difficult then I'd imagine Linux involves solving the mystery of the universe. At any point in the process if you are unhappy with one of the rates you can decline. If your car purchase is anymore complex then that (other then inspecting the car) then you are doing something entirely wrong.
It is bad enough that they try to use SS as one, but, I do not want a sanctioned national id.
Too late...SS has already transformed (many many years ago) into a national ID. It's how you get a job (legally), get benefits (until they run out), pay your taxes, get loans, track your criminal record, track your passport, etc. It's a very good way of tracking people because it's a huge freakin number that is used on a 1:1 ratio.
However, social security has a major flaw...our cards have absolutely ZERO ways of gauranteeing the person holding the ID is actually the person using the ID (except age....i don't think I could pass for a 75 year old person...since I am 33).
Giving this card a method to be used as an ID will help.
BTW - jsut in thought. By law we are all required to have social security numbers from birth. We are not all required to have drivers license's, but many states require people have some kind of gov't id card by the age of 18. That means if you live in one of those states you have to get a drivers license, non-drivers license, passport, military id or welfare card by the age of 18...that is an extra ID (and some would say tracking) form. By putting a picture on your social card then people who would prefer not to be tracked can live their entire lives with only ONE form of ID (social)...anyhow I digress.
My point is this id will help prevent fraud, amongst other things. I am down for a bit less fraud
Does Congress really live in a fantasy land where illegal immigrants are hired to positions where they supply SSNs, drivers licenses, etc? In my experience the vast majority of businesses employing illegal labor do so by paying them in cash. "Come work with us for a day putting up drywall, there's a few sawbucks in it for you." No amount of biometrics will stop this.
Illegal immigrants use stolen socials to get said jobs...yes it happens, and yes it is significant. Those socials are also used by criminals who are trying to avoid detection, used by people trying to steal benefits, used by people trying to get loans and defaulting on them, etc. It's a huge issue. SS theft is extremely bad - it hurts the person who had their information stolen (getting your SS changed is next to impossible). It hurts the businesses who got screwed out of loan money (which in turn raises the prices for the general public).
Uhmm... Using a stolen SSN to get a job... Wouldn't that mean the social security benefits aquired over the years in that job would be credited to the original owner of that number?
The problem is that illegal immigrants are using this - and they are not supposed to be here. Criminals use this to avoid being tracked...I am sure we would like to continue to track pedo's...or escaped criminals. What if the person who is using this for work decides to then take grandma's SS benefits? Or take a loan out on her name and default on the loan now ruining grandmas credit? What if you are working, and someone else is working on your social....now your income tax bracket went up. If the person didn't pay any taxes on the money they made...guess who has to pay it...yup you do.
I'll prefer to keep my social private and I'll earn my own retirement benefits.
hey why not add thier bank account data, IRS payment status, medical history, criminal record, fbi and other three letter agency file indices... I'm sure you could think of even more things that would make your life and the governements easier. Don't worry, next week the Senate takes up the 'lets wipe everyone's ass for them' bill.
The gov't tracks you prett well actually. You think the gov't doesn't know your employment status, criminal record, fbi record, IRS payment status, bank account data, credit card bill, mortgage bill, car payment, phone bill, electricity usage, etc? You really honestly believe they don't already have this information on you tracking down to when you got your last parking ticket, or used EZ-pass the last time or went to an ATM machine in 2001? If you really think that then you are 110% naive.
All this bill is saying 1) Put some kind of biometric (whichi includes a picture) on your social security ID, 2) require employers to check this. Good, I have always wanted a picture on my social...that way I can worry less about it getting stolen. If they happen to put my drivers license information (probably a checkbox saying "he can drive a car"), put my passport information (probably a checkbox saying "he can leave the country") then I am all for it.
The information itself is not stored on the card (maybe my name/birthday), but an ID number on the card is linked to a database which *ALREADY* has the information.
So Lawrence, please stop with the scare tactics. The gov't knows this information about us...and as far as where you are concerned...don't worry as long as you pay your taxes the gov't couldn't care less about you.
Of course it's more than that. When you get a job you're already required to provide identification both of your eligibility to work and your identity (A photo ID in combination with SSN/birth certificate or a passport).
This may have some kind of verification to make sure the ID was properly checked. Many places only check your social security card...that has no form of actual identification. Are you sure it's the law you have to show a photo id currently? Birth certificate is absolutely not required. Each city, & state and employer is different. Two jobs ago I had to provide a photo copy of my naturalization certificate (though the second HR person said I had to bring it in to show it to her, because a photo copy from her predecessor wasn't proof enough...which shows inconsistencies). This was in addition to my license and social security card. My last job? Social security card and license. I am pretty sure the license was more for the employer then for the gov't (i would have to do some driving so needed a license). My current job - they just needed to check to see who i am and run a background check (not gov't required, just a company process).
THe point is - there are tons of inconsistencies, and through all of my employers (large and small, in NJ, PA, DE, and various cities/counties in those areas) they have all been different. I used to work in retail banking while in college and they had to get me bonded (all bank employees must do this)....i only had to provide social and drivers license.
Why they don't require some kind of photo on a soc card is beyond me...it would help reduce ID theft...and your social card is one of the most difficult ID types for you to get changed, and it is so integral in your life (credit, social security benefits, and more)
The biggest objections to the biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.
Tracking citizens of what, their work? We already do that. Before you can get a job (legally anyhow) you need to provide your social security number. The problem with this - your card has no biometrics (pictures, fingerprints, etc) - so you can steal someones social security card and then use that to gain work...which is not what we want. It's actually a huge issue and there have been many cases where illegal immigrants use stolen social security numbers from dead people (or living people who had their id's compromised). This will help curtail that identity theft.
This is nothing more then putting a "picture" on your social security card.
I find this hard to believe. Obama already gets enough grief about
Obama's not in the senate. He hasn't been in the senate since he became president. This proposal is in the senate. Stop obama bashing.
Just because Schumer is meeting with Obama does not mean Obama is responsible for this idea. According ot the article, a source in the white house said they have no official stance.
Personally, this is the first time I have seen the democrats sell something properly. They are targetting this towards everyone, but their language is focusing on immigrants. Republicans are against national IDs, but they are more likely to be for it when we start throwing out the words "immigrants"
If you have unusual wishes (noise is too often ignored IMO), then it's wise to do some research into that specific area.
Remove all of the fans and you should be good to go on the noise. It's free and will get 100% noise reduction. People who spend tons of money on "quiet" fans are just silly.
God help those who do not help themselves. -- Wilson Mizner
