As a rider to this I would say that the world is transitioning from oil to gas - which is a more environmentally acceptable fuel (generates more water - less CO2) and is also more convenient for all non-transport uses. I believe the switch away from oil will be accompanied not by shortage and high prices - but by glut and low prices.
The politicians may think that they are manipulating the market - but in reality it is driven by factors well beyond their control.
Saudi Arabia does not benefit from the US being oil independent; thus they are happy to keep the price of oil low and help contribute to the imminent bankruptcy of the Dakota shale boomers.
This started because the Saudis wanted to drive the shale producers out of the market. Unfortunately (for them) they miscalculated the level of price drop that would be necessary to do this (partly because the US has a preference for US sourced oil - even at a slightly higher price). Hence they are now hurting - and unlike other large oil producers - their economy has little else to fall back on.
Re: Elections on a fixed schedule pretty much garantee..
Elections on a fixed schedule pretty much garantee.. ..that nothing of any substance happens in the year and a half preceding an elections.
Whereas elections on an irregular but limited schedule (as in the UK before 2010 - and as I guess we will have again once a goverment loses its majority after 3 years) pretty much guarantees a permanent version of that paralysis - apart maybe from the first 9 months or so after the previous election.
The limited term of US presidents combined with the mid term elections in the US creates a unique "super-paralysis".
The alternative is of course the possibility of one party becoming entrenched and enacting lots of legislation against the public's will. This happened in the UK under Thatcher. I think that I prefer paralysis!
Whether the Ecuador court should have levied the penalty to begin with - I don't think they should per the government's prior approval.
You miss the point here - the government - aka the executive is not the same thing as the Ecuadorian State. This is true of any modern democratic country and was true even before modern democracies came into being. It was the main point of the Magna Carta.
Yes a company should be able to rely on a government provided that government is acting lawfully. It is the responsibility of the company to determine whether this is the case. If the company is actually complicit in unlawfulness then that is even worse.
Without this separation it would have been impossible to impeach President Nixon (for example).
It turned teh empire into a more civilised place (eg stopped the brutal games in the colosseum).
It kept the Eastern Empire going for another 1000 years or so and guaranteed the preservation of many major monuments (such as the Pantheon) in Rome itself.
So I'd reckon it worked out pretty well for Rome.
Christianity was a smallish cult before the Romans actively suppressed it
Actually no - in spite of the popular image most of the growth of Christianity happened during times when there was little no persecution. Christianity would have spread whether persecuted or not. During the final persecution under Diocletian many Christians who had joined in peaceful times denied the faith to save their skins.
New ideas often attract persecution (cf Gallileo, Darwin etc) but their spread is not necessarily a consequence of it.
Streisand type effects are real but they don't explain everything on their own.
Re: Re: Re: The irrelevance seems even more glaring
Your blog post only has meaning if one makes the erroneous presupposition that projecting lethal force (destruction, as you put it,) is not an appropriate task for a tool.
Sounds like an entirely reasonable presupposition to me.
Since the problem is that both good guys and bad guys are using the internet, the forthcoming solution is to require a government-issued license to use the internet.
Like they already did with Drones (AKA RC model aircraft).
can you imagine the President saying 'They use printing presses to poison the minds of individuals inside our country Not these days - but in the 16th and 17th centuries when printing was new they said it frequently - and they had a point.
Unfortunately for us the solution they came up with led to copyright that we still suffer under today. So the lesson is this.
1. Yes we do need to worry specifically about terrorists use of new technology - not because it is special but because it is NEW and hence our previous solutions are not adapted to it.
2. Even if WE don't worry about it others will and there is a fair chance that what they will come up with will have unwanted side effects - just like it did in the 17th century.
ANY SMARTPHONE THAT IS MANUFACTURED ON OR AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN, AND SOLD OR LEASED IN NEW YORK, SHALL BE CAPABLE OF BEING DECRYPTED AND UNLOCKED BY ITS MANUFACTURER OR ITS OPERATING SYSTEM PROVIDER.
Apple could now commence selling smartphone kits.
The user then becomes the manufacturer and so is thus only one who must be able to decrypt it.
On the post: DailyDirt: Who Doesn't Like Cheap Oil?
Re: low prices?
Not really true for fuel - in many places this tax is tied to the quantity of fuel not the price.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbon_oil_duty
On the post: DailyDirt: Who Doesn't Like Cheap Oil?
Re: Re: Re:
The politicians may think that they are manipulating the market - but in reality it is driven by factors well beyond their control.
On the post: DailyDirt: Who Doesn't Like Cheap Oil?
Re: Re:
This started because the Saudis wanted to drive the shale producers out of the market. Unfortunately (for them) they miscalculated the level of price drop that would be necessary to do this (partly because the US has a preference for US sourced oil - even at a slightly higher price). Hence they are now hurting - and unlike other large oil producers - their economy has little else to fall back on.
On the post: ISPs Are Trampling Net Neutrality While The FCC Sits Boxed In By Lawsuits, Upcoming Election
Re: Elections on a fixed schedule pretty much garantee..
..that nothing of any substance happens in the year and a half preceding an elections.
Whereas elections on an irregular but limited schedule (as in the UK before 2010 - and as I guess we will have again once a goverment loses its majority after 3 years) pretty much guarantees a permanent version of that paralysis - apart maybe from the first 9 months or so after the previous election.
The limited term of US presidents combined with the mid term elections in the US creates a unique "super-paralysis".
The alternative is of course the possibility of one party becoming entrenched and enacting lots of legislation against the public's will. This happened in the UK under Thatcher. I think that I prefer paralysis!
On the post: The Incredible Corporate Sovereignty Saga Involving Ecuador And Chevron Continues
Re: Re: Re: I'm afraid I'm with Chevron on this
You miss the point here - the government - aka the executive is not the same thing as the Ecuadorian State. This is true of any modern democratic country and was true even before modern democracies came into being. It was the main point of the Magna Carta.
Yes a company should be able to rely on a government provided that government is acting lawfully. It is the responsibility of the company to determine whether this is the case. If the company is actually complicit in unlawfulness then that is even worse.
Without this separation it would have been impossible to impeach President Nixon (for example).
On the post: Eight Years Ago, The Iowa Caucus Convinced Me Of The Power Of Twitter... Today? Not So Much
Re:
Well you would know that - wouldn't you?
On the post: YouTube Wins This Round In Germany In The Stupid Neverending War With GEMA Over Streaming Rates
Re:
Please NO.
Because what we will get will be a global insanity factory.
On the post: Nest Thermostat Goes From 'Internet Of Things' Darling To Cautionary Tale
Re: Re:
On the post: Nest Thermostat Goes From 'Internet Of Things' Darling To Cautionary Tale
Actually getting the source of the problem right DOES matter.
It's just that you have to be honest about it.
On the post: Nest Thermostat Goes From 'Internet Of Things' Darling To Cautionary Tale
Hitchhiker
If they'd read their Douglas Adams they might have seen it coming!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
On the post: European Court Of Human Rights May Have Just Outlawed Mass Surveillance Without Most People Realizing It
Re: "though they may not be as good at it"
We prefer to call it "creative innovation".
As in more Nobel Prizes per head than any othe country with a population > 10 Million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Nobel_laureates_per_capita
On the post: Facebook Nixes Picture Of Bronze Mermaid Statue For Showing Too Much 'Skin'
Re:
Read the article.
On the post: Woman Files Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Twitter For 'Providing Material Support' To ISIS
Re:
It turned teh empire into a more civilised place (eg stopped the brutal games in the colosseum).
It kept the Eastern Empire going for another 1000 years or so and guaranteed the preservation of many major monuments (such as the Pantheon) in Rome itself.
So I'd reckon it worked out pretty well for Rome.
Christianity was a smallish cult before the Romans actively suppressed it
Actually no - in spite of the popular image most of the growth of Christianity happened during times when there was little no persecution. Christianity would have spread whether persecuted or not. During the final persecution under Diocletian many Christians who had joined in peaceful times denied the faith to save their skins.
New ideas often attract persecution (cf Gallileo, Darwin etc) but their spread is not necessarily a consequence of it.
Streisand type effects are real but they don't explain everything on their own.
On the post: Woman Files Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Twitter For 'Providing Material Support' To ISIS
Twitter can fix this easily
Surely all those clever people should be able to fix the problem..../s
On the post: President Obama's State Of The Union: Praises Open Internet... Complains About Terrorists Using Open Internet
Re: Re: Re: The irrelevance seems even more glaring
Sounds like an entirely reasonable presupposition to me.
At least for a tool that is freely available.
On the post: President Obama's State Of The Union: Praises Open Internet... Complains About Terrorists Using Open Internet
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Just install a JihAdblocker,
On the post: President Obama's State Of The Union: Praises Open Internet... Complains About Terrorists Using Open Internet
Re: Learning from history, or just not giving a damn
They already did - and they already did!
On the post: President Obama's State Of The Union: Praises Open Internet... Complains About Terrorists Using Open Internet
Re: Re: I figured it out!
Like they already did with Drones (AKA RC model aircraft).
They are quite stupid enough to try.
On the post: President Obama's State Of The Union: Praises Open Internet... Complains About Terrorists Using Open Internet
Re:
Not these days - but in the 16th and 17th centuries when printing was new they said it frequently - and they had a point.
Unfortunately for us the solution they came up with led to copyright that we still suffer under today. So the lesson is this.
1. Yes we do need to worry specifically about terrorists use of new technology - not because it is special but because it is NEW and hence our previous solutions are not adapted to it.
2. Even if WE don't worry about it others will and there is a fair chance that what they will come up with will have unwanted side effects - just like it did in the 17th century.
On the post: NY State Legislator Proposes Ban On Sale Of Encrypted Smartphones
Easy
Apple could now commence selling smartphone kits.
The user then becomes the manufacturer and so is thus only one who must be able to decrypt it.
Next >>