The Evolution Of Bells: From Sound To Legal Symbolism

Bell's Law can refer to several different laws, and in each case, it becomes a law in the same way as any other law. In the United States, laws are made by federal, state, and local legislatures, judges, the president, state governors, and administrative agencies. So, for a Bell's Law to become law, it would have to be passed by one of these bodies. For example, Bell's Law of Computer Classes, formulated by Gordon Bell in 1972, describes how computer equipment classes form, evolve, and eventually die. This is not a law in the sense of a rule that, if broken, subjects a party to criminal punishment or civil liability, but it is a law in the sense of a body of rules of conduct.

The Legislative Branch's primary function

Firstly, a bill is drafted. Any member of Congress, from either the Senate or the House of Representatives, can draft a bill. The bill's ideas may come from a Congress member or an everyday citizen or advocacy group. The member of Congress supporting the bill is called its "sponsor", and other supporting members are co-sponsors. Once drafted, the bill must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House, and if a Senator is the sponsor, it is introduced in the Senate. A bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper, a special box on the side of the clerk's desk in the House of Representatives.

Once introduced, the bill is given a number and read by a reading clerk to all Representatives. It is then referred to a committee, which will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill. Both the House and the Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members with particular interests and expertise in different topics. Committees may choose to hold hearings to better understand the bill's implications and gather expert opinions. If the committee does not act on a bill, it is considered "dead".

After the committee stage, the bill may be referred to a subcommittee for further specialisation, study, and hearings. The subcommittee may make changes to the bill and must vote to refer it back to the full committee. Once the hearings and subcommittee review are completed, the committee will meet to make any final changes and amendments before recommending the bill to the "floor". If the committee votes in favour of the bill, it is reported to the floor.

Once the bill reaches the floor, there is a debate, and members of the full chamber vote to approve any amendments. The bill is then either passed or defeated. If it is passed, it is referred to the other chamber, where it will usually follow the same route through committees and, finally, to the floor. This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it, or change it.

Once the bill has passed both chambers of Congress, it is presented to the President. The President may approve the bill and sign it into law, or they may refuse to approve it, known as a veto. If the President chooses to veto the bill, Congress may vote to override the veto, and if two-thirds support the bill, it will become a law. If the President does nothing and Congress is not in session, the bill will be vetoed by default, known as a "pocket veto".

How a bill becomes a law

In the United States, the process of turning a bill into a law is a complex one. Here is a detailed, step-by-step guide on how a bill becomes a law:

Step 1: The Bill is Drafted

Any member of Congress, from the Senate or the House of Representatives, can propose a bill. The idea for a bill can also come from citizens or advocacy groups. The member of Congress supporting the bill is called the "sponsor", and other supporting members are "co-sponsors".

Step 2: The Bill is Introduced

Once a bill has been drafted, it must be introduced. A bill introduced by a Representative is presented in the House, while a bill introduced by a Senator is presented in the Senate. Each bill is given a number: those starting with H.R. are House bills, and those with S. are Senate bills.

Step 3: The Bill Goes to Committee

After being introduced, the bill is referred to a committee. These committees are composed of groups of Congress members with specific interests, such as health or international affairs. The committee carefully examines the bill and determines its chances of passage. They may also hold hearings to understand the bill's implications, allowing input from experts, public officials, and supporters and opponents of the bill. If the committee takes no action, the bill is considered "dead".

Step 4: Subcommittee Review

Committees often refer bills to subcommittees for further specialised study and hearings. The subcommittee can make changes to the bill and must vote to refer it back to the full committee.

Step 5: Committee Markup

Once hearings and subcommittee reviews are complete, the committee meets to make changes and amendments before recommending the bill to the "floor". If the committee votes against the bill, it dies. If they vote in favour, it is reported to the floor, which is called "ordering a bill reported".

Step 6: Voting by the Full Chamber

On the floor, there is a debate, and members vote to approve any amendments. The bill is then either passed or defeated.

Step 7: Referral to the Other Chamber

Once a bill passes in one chamber, it is referred to the other chamber (House or Senate), where it goes through a similar process of committee review, debate, and voting.

Step 8: Resolving Differences

Once both chambers have voted to accept a bill, they must reconcile any differences between their versions. Then, both chambers vote on the same version of the bill. If it passes, it is presented to the President.

Step 9: The Bill Goes to the President

The President can approve the bill, in which case it becomes a law. The President can also veto the bill, sending it back to Congress with their reasons for the veto. If Congress still supports the bill, they can override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote, and the bill becomes a law. Alternatively, the President can do nothing (a "pocket veto"), and if Congress is not in session, the bill will not become a law.

Bell's Law of Computer Classes

Formulated by Gordon Bell in 1972, Bell's Law of Computer Classes describes how types of computing systems (referred to as computer classes) form, evolve, and eventually die out. It is considered a corollary to Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors per chip doubles every 18 months.

Unlike Moore's Law, a new computer class is usually based on lower-cost components with fewer transistors or fewer bits on a magnetic surface. A new class forms about every decade, and it takes about a decade to understand how the class formed, evolved, and will continue. Once formed, a lower-priced class may evolve in performance to take over and disrupt an existing class. This evolution has caused clusters of scalable personal computers with 1 to thousands of computers to span a price and performance range of use from a PC, through mainframes, to become the largest supercomputers of the day.

Scalable clusters became a universal class in the mid-1990s. By 2010, clusters of at least one million independent computers were predicted to constitute the world's largest cluster. Each new lower-priced class is established and maintained as a quasi-independent industry and market. Such a class is likely to evolve to substitute for an existing class or classes as described above with computer clusters.

Examples of computer classes that conform to the law include:

• Minicomputers (1970s)
• Personal computers and workstations evolving into a network enabled by Local Area Networking or Ethernet (1980s)
• Web browser client-server structures enabled by the Internet (1990s)
• Cloud computing, e.g., Amazon Web Services (2006) or Microsoft Azure (2012)
• Handheld devices from media players and cell phones to tablets, e.g., Creative, iPods, BlackBerrys, iPhones, smartphones, Kindles, iPads (c. 2000–2010)
• Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that enable sensor and actuator interconnection, enabling the evolving Internet of Things (c. >2005)

Bell's First Law of Usenet

This law is one of many "laws" that have been named after their formulators, including several sound laws in linguistics, such as Grimm's Law, Verner's Law, and Grassmann's Law.

Bell's Law of Computer Classes states that roughly every decade, a new, lower-priced computer class forms based on a new programming platform, network, and interface, resulting in new usage and the establishment of a new industry. This evolution has led to the creation of supercomputers, with clusters of scalable personal computers spanning a price and performance range from PCs to mainframes.

While Bell's First Law of Usenet may seem trivial in comparison to the far-reaching implications of Bell's Law of Computer Classes, it is nonetheless a fun and interesting observation about human behaviour in online communication.

The role of the US Constitution

The US Constitution is the highest law in the United States. It forms the framework for the country's national government and is designed to protect individual liberties. The Constitution divides the government into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Each branch has a distinct role and power, with a system of checks and balances in place to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power.

The executive branch is headed by the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and has the power to grant pardons and make treaties. The legislative branch includes both houses of Congress: the House of Representatives, which is based on population, and the Senate, which provides equal representation for each state. The legislative branch is responsible for passing laws, which the President can then veto. The judicial branch is led by the Supreme Court and other federal courts created by Congress. This branch interprets the laws and can declare a statute enacted by Congress unconstitutional.

The Constitution also establishes a division of power between the federal government and the states, known as federalism. While the federal government has significant power over the states, it is limited to the powers explicitly granted in the Constitution. Any powers not assigned to the federal government are reserved for the states or the people. The Constitution also limits the powers of the states in relation to one another, such as by prohibiting them from discriminating against citizens of other states.

The Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratification to address political, social, and economic changes. The process of amending the Constitution is deliberately challenging, requiring a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress or a convention called at the request of two-thirds of the states. The amendments then need to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures or conventions in three-fourths of the states. This makes the Constitution a stable and enduring document that protects against arbitrary changes.

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