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Nintendo Declares GCN Most Popular Console Ever
PhReaKyDMoNKeY writes "According to IGNCube, Nintendo has declared GCN the fastest selling console ever. Additionally, Nintendo claims that Luigi's Mansion is the most popular launch title in history as well. I couldn't seem to find the actual press release, but here's a related news story from Nintendo's site. I don't know how valid the claim is, since it's in their best interest to exaggerate, clearly, but it seems like the console demand in general is pretty high. " Now mind you every store in town seems to have plenty of Gamecubes in stock, but if you want an X-Box, you have to kill for it. Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
Oh yeah, Mr. Taco? I can destroy you with my mind bullets as well!
hey xav, irc over to thisside.net #2600 sometime.
-- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.
How comes we can't post [nt] messages?
all your mind bullets are belong to me...
hah! you are found out, mister taco man! you thought we would find your mind bullets funny, BUT WE KNOW YOU ARE NOT FUNNY! IT IS TENACIOUS D WHO IS THE FUNNY MAN!
:P
you bastard
Al Gore declares self inventor of the internet.
About 2:30 or 3:00 EST, my direct manager came up to me in my cube and whispered that a senior VP of the company I work for requested that he immediately escort me to the fourteenth floor (the fourteenth floor is the HR florr) of our building. He had no idea of what this was about.
Upon entering the conference room I was greeted by two secret service special agents who then proceded to interview me regarding what was going through my mind when I wrote said comment. The interview concluded with a ride in a SS issue sedan to my residence and a guided tour of my house for the special agents.
Fortunately, the special agents seemed to have been rather unimpressed with my abode.
Regards,
-Lee
"You know what time it is? Tenacious D time, you motherfucker go! Fuck Yeah!"
so do you know how they found out about who you are? also, did they have a warrant for a search, and if not, why did you let them?
BTW, ever read the Old Man Murray story about SS agents? funny stuff
Weird. I understand that your comment would be, well, questionable in isolation, but it appears in a thread on a Smallpox attack scenario (unfortunately I can't get at the original post right now since k5 is dead as a doornail but I follwed your link to the page on which your comment is found). There's no way I can see it could be construed as a direct threat, it was pretty obviously a comment on a hypothetical scenario posted by somebody else on k5. Nevertheless, infecting vice presidents with viruses is probably not a good topic for idle chat right now on the internet, as the Secret Service (ever notice that abbreviates to SS?) are watching. Remember Steve Jackson Games (actually, I barely do, but I remember the Secret Service stole lots of computers over some really silly nonsensical shit - I was, what, 13 or 14 years old at the time)? These aren't nice people.
Wow, you're pretty much a complete and total idiot for posting that.
Sure sure, freedom of speech, hypothetical scenario, and all that aside, what the hell did you think was going to happen? You can't yell fire in a movie theatre, you can't joke about having a bomb on a plane, and you can't talk, even in the hypothetical, about killing leaders of our country.
The mere fact that you seem suprised is evidence enough to me of your idiocy.
you know, even before all this went down it was illegal to make threats against the P or VP...the fact that you're essentially loading the gun for some idiot should make them suspicious -- i hope you werent _TOO_ surprised when they showed up for your cavity search.
________________________________________________
I'm not even sure where the "you can't talk, even hypothetically, about assinating our leaders" thing ever came from.
All of a sudden it's illegal to use the words "kill" and "president" in the same day, let alone sentence.
The SS is rightfully paranoid, that's what they're paid to be, but sometimes it's like "can't you read?!"
Perhaps he allowed them to search without a warrent so that he wouldnt be imprisoned as a _potential terrorist_ or as your "free-loving" govt calls them "visa violators". I hope a lot of you americans are starting see/hear what the media is saying about your thousands of people detained without charge or apparently even without family contact in many cases. Of course im talking about any media company NOT from the US. Ie NOT CNN / NBC, etc. It appears freedom of press is still taboo over there. :(
Oops, clicked submit accidently too early, it wasnt meant to be flamebait. :)
:) (Whoa, re-reading that, yep ive had a few too many, please dis-regard all flame-inciting parts, thanks)
But come to think of it i cant remember my end comment, hmm damn beer.
I don't have time to get a lawyer and get all uppity.
Regards,
Lee
No gun loading involved.
Regards,
Lee
Wow. Basically it's illegal to threaten the POTUS, his successors, yadayada... Conspiring to kill them is also illegal.
It's certainly not a threat: A threat would be "Hey, Mr. Vice President, I'm going to kill you with smallpox." or even simply "I'm going to kill the VP with smallpox." (DISCLAIMER: I am not, will not, and have never considered nor do I condone the killing of the President or the Vice President or really any higher form of life than a cockroach.)
My journal has hot
... or really any higher form of life than a cockroach.
:)
Wait, I thought you said you didn't condone killing the P or VP.
what suprises me the most about this is not that the secret service is reading Kuro5hin, but that they're taking what they read there seriously....
If they really think they're getting good leads from there, perhaps they could donate a new server to Rusty to bring it back up!
...with mind bullets.
I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
When they introduced themselves as SS agents you should have cried out: "I had nothing to do with the sale of nuclear weapons to Osama Bin Laden! Nothing!!! I swear!!!"
That was funny - and your sig makes it funnier!
Culture is more than commerce
Hows this any different than a Tom Clancy novel wherein the same sort of scenario may take place? He's certainly not advocating anything with his post, he's speaking entirely within context, and it's not as if he's giving away national security secrets to terrorists. I've heard Rush Limbaugh say much more "threatening" things during the Clinton years. Clearly the only way they can get away with this kind of BS is because of the current national climate (a.k.a. scared out of our collective asses of anything that moves).
Do we really want a government that can trample our rights anytime they want to in the name of National Security? Where anyone who makes an off-color remark could be considered a terrorist? Benjamin Franklin once said that those who exchange liberty for security deserve neither.
Wow, you're pretty much a complete and total idiot for posting that.
I couldn't disagree more. One of the biggest problems leading up to the 9/11 attacks was failure of the imagination. Nobody had really toyed with the scenario of passenger airliners being used as missiles. Nobody had really stopped to consider that extremists could be that insane. As a result, nobody was prepared for the events of that day, and the toll (in terms of human life and monetary damages) was catastrophic.
So here we've got some people mulling over potential terrorist attacks involving biological agents. When you play these scenarios out, you have to consider the worst case, and it just so happens that the worst case would include the targeting of our nation's leaders. It isn't pleasant to think about, but if the events of 9/11 showed us anything, it's that we have to start thinking about this stuff. In short, the Secret Service cracked down on this poster because he was doing exactly the thing that the government should have been doing before 9/11. (If they had, perhaps the attacks wouldn't have happened.)
So now, even after the horrific events of September, the apparent stance of the Secret Service is that people should not be speculating on these types of things. If that is their policy, and if they are willing to stand behind it, then fine. But if something like 9/11 happens again, and if it's something that could have been prevented if we had engaged in exercises like the one in the Kuro5hin article, then the blood of the innocent will be on their hands.
We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
Upon entering the conference room I was greeted by two secret service special agents who then proceded to interview me regarding what was going through my mind when I wrote said comment. The interview concluded with a ride in a SS issue sedan to my residence and a guided tour of my house for the special agents.
Well, you _were_ discussing killing the VP. While I can understand that, in context, it's not as bad as it first seems, the agents were definitely doing the right thing.
Suppose you were participating in a conversation going on in a public place with some random individuals, which happened to be about murder. Perhaps it concerned horrific murders, and somehow drifted to a hypothetical situation where someone might want to kill you. You eventually agree that there might be a reason that someone would want to kill you.
Now, think about how you'd react if some random guy you'd never met before just walked up and said:
"You know, if I were going to kill you, I'd probably sneak up behind you, kinda like this. Then, I'd take my gun..." (holds out his hand like a gun) "...and pistol whip you to knock you out." (acts like he's striking you) "Then, I'd bend over you and...BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!...you know?"
He then smiles, winks, and walks away.
I think that would be pretty unsettling.
I also think that, with the way things are currently going in the US, talks about killing officials, even hypothetically, need to be investigated. Granted, my analogy was exaggerated, but one should consider the current tension in the US before dismissing the situation proposed as completely different and misleading.
And, to be fair, I didn't hear any mention of harm done to you, as some slashdotters seemed to imply. Perhaps you were inconvenienced, but, considering the situation, that's to be expected.
I'd like to confirm that it absolutely is NOT illegal to talk about killing our leaders. It's illegal to actively advocate it("Go kill George Bush!"), or to actually send threats, as you mentioned, but talking about it is 100% protected ("Someone should kill that fuck George Bush!"). It's not even illegal to send "sort of" threats. ("I hope someone kills you, George Bush!"). However, any of these things most certainly can get you investigated, as the SS does take it's job very seriously.
But you put it much more eloquently.
Well, that certainly is elitist shit. No one really cares about your family lineage or how many wars your ancestors may have been involved with. It really doesn't make any difference. Did you personally fight in the Revolutionary War? Did you participate in the Civil War? No you didn't, so shut up.
I'm tired of hearing all this ethnocentric crap from people who think they're the only "Real Americans." As far as I know, you don't need to prove your loyalty to any nation in order to be considered a human being . The whole point of the American ideology is that every person -- regardless of gender, age, race, height, width, national origin, or sexual orientation -- should be afforded the same basic respect and decency. It's what Americans continue to fight for evry day. It's what you claim that your family has fought so hard to protect and what you now claim to be reserved for an "elite class." Your attitudes only serve to bring shame to those Americans who still hold freedom as a a fundamental part of humanity.
-- Support Ometz le-Serev.
All of a sudden it's illegal to use the words "kill" and "president" in the same day, let alone sentence.
Hello Citizen,
Please remain where you are. Secret service agents are currently enroute to your residence. Do not be alarmed. We just wish to have a little chat. Brew a fresh pot of coffee and wait for us on the floor, face down, hands behind your back.
Thank you.
Remember "Bring 'em on"? *sigh
I can.
But then I'm not trapped in "The Land Of The Free".
"American ideology"?
Surely an 'ideal' that you do not work toward in any way and in fact violate constantly safe in the knowledge that at least your ideals are okay is worth less than nothing.
Perhaps you were mistakenly talking about Canada.
He was talking about "non-Americans" not everyone visiting America or illegally enterying America is an American. If you went to visit Rome would you become an Italian? If after visiting the Sistine chapel you drive north and then hiked across the Alps would you then become Swiss? Even if you intended to live there? Even if you broke halting French or Italian or German?
A Saudi or Chinese student who goes to college at one of our state universities isn't an American and probably doesn't consider himself so. A migrant worker from Mexico isn't an American either, whether he receives welfare or not.
Under what circumstances such people should be allowed to become Americans if they so choose is irrelevant.
You might want to start using the Freedom of Information Act (Thank you, Ralph Nader) to check your FBI file (among others) in future months and/or years. This may be ended, for now, but good luck if you ever need (even low level) security clearance...
"It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
Remind me, do we hold it self evidently true that all Americans are created equal?
If we can place historical revisionism aside for a second, let's not forget that the writers of the US constitution actually considered themselves as British (or German). Their point was that people of other nations must be treated with respect. "Other" from their (initial) point of view mean "America".
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Assuming this is true, then it's a sad, sad indictment of the "intelligence" services.
You posted a discussion of a hypothetical scenario for infecting the Vice President with a curable disease. Similar scenarios can be found in any number of Tom Clancy-esque pulp novels. You detailed why the method you suggested probably wouldn't work. You used your real name, and you provided your full details and address voluntarily, a few clicks away.
And the secret service decided that it was a good use of their resources to send a couple of goons to check your loyalty?
OK, the SS screwed the pooch on September 11th. They'll be super paranoid now (in the proper clinical sense). But if they can't distinguish between jawing and plotting, they have no chance of stopping the next attacks. None.
For what it's worth, it sounds like you handled this the right way. The agents themselves probably weren't morons. The problem is with the moron who sent them. He or she needs a good kicking.
For the record, one way to do this would be to trip him or her up, then kick him or her sharply and repeatedly in the kidneys.
Uh oh. What have I said? Now evil terrorists will know how to do it! Where should I report for my loyalty check?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Yup, that's the secret service.
If you've read The Hacker Crackdown you'll know that part of their job is to trawl through all the threats made on the presidents/VPs' life - visiting mental institutes, crims in jail, and even the people who post threats on public forums.
http://www.lysator.liu.se/etexts/hacker/lorder1.hTo quote:
So it was nothing personal, just doing their job. Understand I'm not making judgments on you, them, their job, your post...
(insert Neo/Matrix joke here)
<sigh> From now on I'm gonna just put a grid reference in my signature...
For what it's worth, I've talked to people who answer phones at an FBI office, and you would have trouble believing the number of lunatics that call them. E.g., people who truly believe that the Secretary of Defense is using mind rays to control their hamster. After the Reagan/Hinkley/Foster debacle you can hardly blame the Secret Service for being a bit twitchy about potential nutcases.
On the bright side, it was probably a prize for the agents to interview you. After hunting down vagrant basket cases and militiamen, a garden variety Tom Clancy wannabe has to be a relief.
Good luck, Lee, and try not to worry about any further gov't action. If they were going to do something, you'd already be experiencing it. It simply isn't their style to pussyfoot around. I look forward to reading the details when Kuro5hin is back up.
-- ;-)
Kuro5hin.org: where the good times never end.
Actually, the Secret Service did their job perfectly on September 11 - the proof is that the President and Vice-President are still alive. The FBI and CIA screwed the pooch, though. The mission of the Secret Service is to investigate and prosecute crime involving the Treasury Department (of which they are a part) - and that gives them cover to handle almost anything with a financial component (hence the Steve Jackson Games case). They also provide protection to the President, Vice President, major party candidates, visiting heads of state, and so on. As a result, they handle threats to those who they protect.
But nothing in the Secret Service's functions would imply any responsibility for detecting the terrorist activity that culminated in the September 11 attacks. When it happened, they got the Vice President to shelter outside of Washington, and they got the President onto Air Force One (which isn't just an ordinary 747...) with fighter escorts and they started playing "where's Waldo" until they were sure they could bring him back to the White House safely.
As much as the Secret Service gets (justly) criticized for what we see as excesses in the computer-related cases they've had a hand in, the group that protects the Executive are as good as it gets. They take security very seriously, and would put themselves in front of a bullet or a bomb before allowing their charge to be hurt.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."