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* Posts by blod

8 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Dec 2009

NZ internet filter goes live - gov forgets to tell public

blod
Big Brother

This is a part of a more general approach

They are slipping the censorship idea through the back door, under the pretense of protecting our children.

Once the mechanism is up, it's just a matter of deciding which sites to block.

So sure, some sites break the law, but who knows what the law is going to be in a few years? Today it's child pornography, understandable, tomorrow the book publishers push for a law that makes it illegal for you to order books from international sites, because it violates some obscure copyright law, and then you can't access Amazon anymore.

Does that sound so inconceivable?

And I'm not even talking about the danger of outlawing political views, which is a pretty standard example.

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Ex-Sun boss punts Apple-Microsoft-world 'tried to sue me' missive

blod
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@Freddie

You have me mistaken for a non-regulation nutjob.

I was merely pointing out that this particular case is NOT an example of raging capitalism, but rather a fine example of stupid government regulation.

I did not say one should abolish all regulation, instead, one should enact smart regulation that keeps the market as free as possible.

I'm a free market proponent, but I'm one of the rare ones that accepts that true free market cannot exist without regulation, because companies will always try to smother the "freedom" of the market to keep their competitive edge, hence the government should be on the lookout for such shenanigans.

As for your question: Is it right to blame the government for its susceptibility to big money when enacting regulation? YESSSS.

I expect the corporations to look after their own asses, that's their job. On the other hand, the government should be on my side.

If I were on trial, I wouldn't get angry at the prosecutor for trying to put me in jail, but I would be furious if my defense attorney agreed with him.

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blod
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Grenade

@Trevor

Last I checked, government sanctioned patent offices and draconian IP legislation was a form of government regulation...

So your tongue in cheek tirade against free market capitalism seems a bit misdirected.

Most "evil" corporations today got to be so evil/big because of their government lobbying and abusing regulation, so much of the evils of capitalism is actually introduced into the system via socialist, or central planning policies.

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'I'm an IT worker not an assassin'

blod
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IT Angle

Actualy Cazzo

Israel was established by the British government after a vote in the UN (that's one UN resolution that wasn't ignored)

Also, I wonder if you know the definition of the phrase ethnic cleansing... Because you might have it mixed with "border dispute", or even "occupation", both of which might apply to the political state of affairs in Israel over the past 60 years , but neither of which implies genocide.

You might recognize the word "occupation" as the very same that is oft used to describe British presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even the Falkland islands. I hope your replies to stories about the British government are equally vile.

You also should read a bit about Israel's history, particularly about the 1948 war. It may shock you to discover that many Arabs fled Israel willingly (not all though.... ) hoping to return once the invading Arab armies crush the Jewish state. These people are still waiting by the way.

Those who opted to stay, are called Israeli Arabs, they are Israeli citizens and they even get to go to the same schools as Israeli children, and vote for their own Arab parties in the Israeli parliament. There are over a million Israeli-Arab citizens in Israel, about a fifth of the population of Israel. Palestinians don't count as Israeli citizens, nor do they want to be, they have their own bodies of governance, that's where they vote for terrorist organizations to represent them at the peace negotiations.

Of course, I don't believe that the Mossad is behind this operation, despite the fact I'm not morally opposed to it. Simply because the Mossad would never use Israeli identities in such an obvious way.

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Google reveals nonexistent Chrome tablet

blod
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And yet... You'll use it.

Google will publish the ultimate bundle, the one Ubuntu wants to be but never quite gets there.

They'll supply you with everything you need from the very first boot up - a word processor, an email client, music service, voip, navigation, everything you could ever want from a mobile device. All you need to do is be online. Hell, with connectivity costs dropping each year, will it shock anyone if Google starts providing wireless internet connection anywhere for free?

Google's complex business plan is incredibly simple: If you're not online, Google can't make money off of you. PERIOD. All their services are geared towards getting you connected.

People will overlook the small matter of their own privacy to enjoy this advantage of simplicity, as they have done with countless other Google services (or as they have done with Apple products, though there the tradeoff was between simplicity and low cost). And Chrome OS will be a smash hit both at the checkout counters, and in Google's quarterly reports.

There should be an Eric Schmidt with horns icon...

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Microsoft 'offered sex and drugs to distributors'

blod
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Coat

Oh yes, as an Israeli I can tell you that

It's true, 95% of prostitutes end up dead here in Israel, but these are the fortunate ones, think about the remaining 5% who are left to service the rest of Europe... Talk about overstretched workforce.

As a matter of fact, there are ten abducted white European slave-prostitute-children for every male in Israel, I'm using 3 of those right now as a chair. And two more take turns blowing on my CPU, because they are actually cheaper than a CPU fan, go figure.

Also, 95% of criminals everywhere were conceived either in Israel, or while one of the participating partners was thinking about Israel, that is a FACT.

The Israeli authorities also admit this is a terrible problem, but they can't do anything, because they are busy stealing organs from Palestinians in a field hospital in Haiti while using white phosphorus on Japanese whaling boats in Darfur during Tibet's independence day. Also SARS.

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Ghost of Gates' tablet haunts Microsoft's future

blod
Gates Halo

I'm not a Microsoft hater, not by a long shot, but...

I think Balmer is one of the worst CEOs ever. In his reign, Microsoft has turned from an industry leader to an Industry follower that instead of innovating and conquering new markets, fortifies the old ones.

Everything Microsoft does is in response to other companies, that's the worst long term strategy ever.

Their latest move - the slate, is pathetic. They are not reinventing the portable PC like the iPhone reinvented the mobile phone/mp3 player, they are just offering the 2010 version of something that existed in 2006, that's not innovation, that being being dragged with the current like a piece of dead wood.

The board should cut this engineer loose and find someone with some cojones. All their competitors are using blitzkrieg warfare, and these guys are still digging a Maginot Line.

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Nokia jacks up Apple patent complaint

blod
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FAIL

US Patent 6438176 - Digital gaussian frequency shift keying modulator

Inventors

* Haran, Onn

* Ilan, Haviv

* Kaufmann, Yaron

(All of these names are classic Israeli names, a little national pride there, sorry)

Assignee

* Texas Instruments Incorporated

Last, I checked, TI and Apple are two different companies, so either I'm wrong about this, or you should make sure not to post "facts" that take exactly one Google search to disprove.

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