Comment Other factors (Score 1) 347
They should also charge according to how close you're sitting to the screen, and how many speakers you have. </sarcasm>
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Maybe the first time, or the second. But when there's a pattern of obvious and blatant refusal of compliance, suspicion should certainly direct one's course of action. How else to find the truth?
Let's just stop all technological advancement until we overthrow the US government.
Nice straw man, man! Who called for the overthrow of the US gov't or the cessation of technological advancement? My point was that you're labeling people who are rightly suspicious of the motives behind a government-mandated kill switch as paranoid. Their suspicion is vigilance and skepticism, but not (at least in the pejorative sense) paranoia. If you think there's not potential for tyrannical abuse of this technology, you're naive.
The difference between your apparent misunderstanding of my position, and what I'd really advocate is this: You think I want to stop all technological advancement that could potentially be abused by the government. Actually, I just want full control of any technology I own. I do not want my cellphone or laptop camera to be activated unless I activate it. I do not want the mic or GPS on my cellphone to be active unless I'm using it. This is not too much to ask for, and is actually what the expectation ought to be when buying and using and use any of these devices. Sadly, though, as we've learned through recent whistle-blown information, this is not the case.
if humanity in general was as negative and paranoid towards every bit of technological change
There was a time when the idea that the government would capture and store every phone conversation and email of its citizens was paranoid. There was a time, not too long ago, that nobody would ever have believed that we'd have naked body scanners at the airport -- people like you would call anyone claiming this as a possibility "paranoid." Drone surveillance of the masses? Paranoid. Law enforcement roadblocks for obligatory cheek swabs? Paranoid. National database of private medical records available to unelected government entities? Paranoid
Fuck you and your labels -- you and your naivete. If a new technology can be used for control, obviously, it will be.
Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said she'd rather see companies pay more in taxes and fund schools that way, rather than relying on their charity or free software.
No surprise there. To the teachers unions, throwing money at the problem is always the answer. They always claim that if they just had more funding, they'd be able to buy more books and supplies (or software), or shrink class sizes. But, if you provide the necessary materials for free, well then, that's just not good enough. They're like the pan handler on the street corner holding the sign that says, "Will work for food." If you try to offer them work and/or food, though, they decline -- they just want money.
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed -- it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer. -- A.J. Perlis
