On Fri, 9 Jun 2000, R. D. Davis wrote:
> Well, the ARPANET did have a big flaw in it didn't it, I mean, they
> spent all that money, and look what still happened: the invasion of
> the AOLers (no offense to any AOL users here, I'm talking about the
> onslaught that nearly crippled Usenet several years ago that was like
> an infinite influx of first semester students who'd just gotten their
> usernames and passwords in CS101). ;-)
It's OK, R.D. You can take your foot out of your mouth now.
> In all seriousness, the internet, like many other things, is a double
> edged sword. It allows us to communicate more easily, and is
> extremely useful; it's a wonderful research tool.
Ok, stop there. No? Sigh...
> On the other hand, the Internet is a great wasy for some people to
> wasts vast sums of time, and, look at how easy it makes things for the
> government to spy on vast numbers of citizens due to the way it's been
> set up. Is the lack of security on the Internet possibly a well
> designed feature disguised as a flaw? Had the ARPANET never existed,
> isn't it likely that some other, perhaps more secure, form of
> communication may have originated without government intervention and
> become just as popular?
Remember what I was saying about your foot?
> More seriously, I know that there will come a day when the earth may
> become uninhabitable, and space exploration may be our only key to the
> survival of creatures living on earth. However, I seriously doubt
> that everyone would be able to leave, and imagine that only a
> relatively small number of carefully selected people and other
> creatures would get to leave and possibly survive, leaving the
> majority of the earth's inhabitants here to perish. What's the point
> in that?
The problem is not the sheer number of people on this planet, but the
percentage of those that are complete and utter morons.
> Unquestionably true, and I have a lot of respect for the skills and
> abilities of such engineers and scientists; however, could not their
> abilities have been put to better use for society?
Yeah! We could use a LOT more creative ways to kill and maim people.
Nukes just didn't go far enough, eh?
> I look foward to your answers, and if I'm wrong or am overlooking
> something, I'd very much like to know about it.
Dude, one word: TANG!
Sellam International Man of Intrigue and Danger
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Received on Fri Jun 09 2000 - 02:06:34 BST