Posted on 03/04/2005 2:57:34 PM PST by watchdog_writer
He might very well have said it... just not in "The Prince". He does have a couple of other books, but the prince is his "capolavoro" (masterpiece).
I think you are correct. I don't want to go into detail on this issue because it could give some a##hole Senator information on how bloggers can get around any U.S. regulations. But the sheer number of websites and blogs and the ease of creating new ones would make regulation essentially an impossible task.
My intuition tells me that most of the American public would be angered by any attempted regulation of bloggers and websites. The internet and email are regarded as an arena for free expression that is different from broadcast TV. Legislation to regulate free speech on the internet would generate a firestorm of revolt from the general public. I don't think such legislation can be approved in congress. If our lyin', cheatin' congress somehow passed this legislation by quietly sneaking it past us, then the attempted implementation would generate a firestorm of revolt and the legislation would be repealed quickly in a bill sponsored by someone like Ron Paul of Texas.
You know, if the Democrats on the FEC write regulations for the internet and actually try to implement them, that will generate a tremendous backlash against the Dems on the FEC and the Dem party as a whole. This could work out well for our side: no regulations will ever be implemented and the DemocRATs will get the blame for trying to silence free speech on the internet.
I agree. McCain gets stranger every year and more autocratic in his actions (if not his style). He's a major league crackpot at this point in time, and now is the time for him to retire and stop his assault of the First Amendment.
Whew... was that confusing? It must be the wine... oh and it's past my bedtime
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lol - actually I think I understand what you are saying, but yea you did say it in a convoluted way. Basically your saying that your suspicious of over generalized and oversimplified conclusions.
If I understand it correctly the Elliot wave was a generalization made for stock price predictions, which is more or less regarded as quackery.
I find fractals very interesting, I've read most of Wolfrom's a 'New Kind of Science', which describes how pattern recognition etc.. will likely become a new focus of science. But I don't know what you are talking about regarding the inverse cryptology function... :)
The author of 'the Wisdom of Crowds" is James Surowiecki. And I understand your concerns about it, but I assure you it is a very, very, very good and interesting read. You will not be dissapointed. He does attempt to cover 'herding' and manipulation of the crowds, similar to the phenomena you descibe with your prof.
Alot of it deals with sociological studies of small groups and the value of markets, stock markets etc.. have in aggregating data.
For example, studies have found that if a small group starts with it's members in two polarizing group then the two groups tend to moderate their opinions. If a small group is formed where members start with very similar opinions then more extreme opinions will result. (this is all generally speaking of course).
The book is filled with interesting concepts like that, often applied to real life situations.
Yes, I don't believe that such robust fractals can work as a predictive method, however, the theory behind it is reasonable.
All living organisms and colonies when they interact, build structures which can best be described as robust fractals. For example, a coral reef. When you see one, you know what it looks like, in fact, you can use mathematics to describe it. However, you cannot use mathematics to predict how it will actually grow. This in effect is what the Elliott wave guys try to do.
They recognize that the actions of humans are also biological entities interacting, and the evidence they leave behind are charts of stocks... which follow familiar patterns.
Fibonacci first noticed that the Fibonacci series predicted many of the structures found in nature. This was the real beginning of fractals... the famous Fibonacci series (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...etc.).
I considered them to be the opposite of the algorithms used in cryptography, since they work in the opposite direction, as for example, "one way functions". In cryptography, it is easy to create the key, but almost impossible to decipher it. Fractals work in the 'opposite direction'. They are descriptive rather than predictive algorithms.
For example, even the amazingly simple "logistic growth equation" - which uses no operation more complicated than addition and multiplication - will produce two different results when the same input is run on two different computers - one of which is a IBM type PC, and the other an Apple.
Poodle boy Kerry!
Here's a link that explains better than I have so far: One Way Functions (By RSA Security)
Cryptography is based on such one way functions, the fact that the mathematics are easier in one direction (the forward direction) than in the opposite direction (the inverse direction). It might be possible, for example, to compute the function in the forward direction in seconds but to compute its inverse could take months or years, if at all possible.
Fractal mathematics seems to work in the opposite direction more easily. Whew! That's what I was trying to say.
For example, when you see a coral reef or a tree, the fractal you are viewing can be described mathematically, but the math to predict where the next branch will grow, or how big it will be, or when it will sprout is nearly impossible. Math can easily describe it though. Anyway, the Elliott Wave people recognized these biological patterns in stock trading, as the stocks and their charts represent graphic documentation of the actions of living organisms... just as a coral reef does. There is a sense to it, and math can describe it, but NOT PREDICT IT!
Hope that makes more sense...
"notice the face of the Sinatra character is blank.."
A chilling read is
THE RED PRESIDENT
by Martin Gross.
I read it last fall during the heat of the Kerry bid for the Oval Office. Absolutely "Manchurian" ... and awfully close to the bullet we dodged November 2, by the grace of God.
Wow, a new term," like garbles pulling a lever for more feed."
Like WWII Pinup Betty, this 'Garble' could grow LEGS....
(Grable...Greta Garbo...gotta go.)
The First Amendment has withstood numerous assults over its 222 years of existance, but McCain-Feingold may finally do it in.
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