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Top SciTech Gifts 2002
Steve0987 writes "Scientific American has a list of suggested Christmas presents for the those technical people on your shopping list. There are a couple I might add to my letter to Santa." Um, I'd also like to add some wireless speakers, but the the coal from the Titanic seems a bit macabre.
A Soviet Whiskey class submarine.
Whiskey tango foxtrot, OVER
Claritan(TM) is now available without a prescription!
I'm sure all of you have seen that particular piece of newsvertising by now. I think what is upsetting to most, is the realization that the news is not really so interested in providing information so people can make their own informed decisions but to brute force people into behavior with deception. (ie, disguise advertising as news).
You might think of the press as becoming some Pavlovian Theater that seeks to control the audience. And once that realization has been made,
you can't help but feel a little disgusted.
I ran accross http://www.scitoys.com in an earlier /. article. Not only do they have some pretty cool items but they even tell you how to build a lot of them them yourself if you don't have the cash. I bought a Gauss rifle (http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/magnets/ga uss.html) for my boys. I can't wait for Xmas.
For the geek you want to get outdoors, get a basic Garmin eTrex GPS unit for around $100, then point them to geocaching.com. It's a fun geek activity, but maybe not suited to all geeks during the winter months. I'd be caching this weekend, except that I live in NH and it's about 10 degrees outside. (No, I'm not a New England native.) During the summer and fall, I had a great time hunting caches.
Even if they don't want to cache, it's still a neat geek toy.
I'm not Christian, so I stopped celebrating Christmas because I thought it was hypocritical of me. (Instead, I celebrate the Solstice. I'm desperate for the days to start getting longer again.)
Part of my problem with Christmas was that the whole holiday is a lie to most people. Hardly anybody is celebrating the birth of Christ. It's about buying gifts for your friends and family. And the buying gifts and consumerism isn't the problem either, it's the lying and hypocracy. If you want a holiday called 'Have fun and buy gifts for everyone day', then do that. Don't pretend it's about something it's not.
And by the way, Hooters isn't REALLY a family restaurant, it IS about the women in tight shirts, and don't let them tell you otherwise. Stop going there until they stop lying. Maybe if we stop the lying and hypocracy surrounding ourselves, we'll slowly be able to change the amount of lying that gets done to us by businesses and government.
Whats wrong with consumerism? What if you don't like doing anything other than being a consumer? I like being able to buy the things I like. Am I supposed to feel guilty about that now?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
NDPTAL85 writes:
"Whats wrong with consumerism? What if you don't like doing anything other than being a consumer? I like being able to buy the things I like. Am I supposed to feel guilty about that now?"
What is wrong with consumerism? Nothing. I'm not worried about people consuming things. Hell, bugs are consumers.
I'm worried about runaway consumerism.
Advertising works because it makes a hole that you now need to fill with the product in question. It tells you that you stink, you're stupid, you're abs aren't trim enough, that you aren't dating someone cute enough, that you'd be OH SO MUCH HAPPIER if you could just get that new Lexus, a PalmPilot, or maybe a device that spoots salad ingredients out like an ak-47. Then they can sell you thing x.
For you to argue that runaway consumerism doesn't exist is to argue that advertising does not work and more importantly, cause people to perceive things irrationally. Years ago Michael Jackson -- bless his nose -- pimped Pepsi despite admitting, in public, that he'd never touch the stuff. It was an enormous success. Why was it a success? Because people like(d) Jacko's music and damnit, if it was good enough for His Transparency, it was good enough for them! *sigh
If I close my eyes and squint just a little, I can imagine your question being paraphrased at an AA meeting. "What is wrong with drinking six pints of vodka at a party? What if that's all you like to do? Am I supposed to feel guilty about it now?"
No, you're supposed to recognize your addiction. One of the best signs of an addiction is being unable to stop whilst claiming that there isn't really a problem and that you could, really, stop at any time.
My
Limekiller
HisMother writes:
...so I can work longer ...so I can make more money ...so I can do more cocaine..." and it just keeps going faster and faster? The guy turns out to be in a bottle? This is the same issue.
"Kids, if we don't buy anything, where are the jobs going to come from?"
You're muddying the issue, though I'll grant that I don't believe you're doing it on purpose. The issue is not buying anything, the issue is buying too much.
Remember that tv spot back in the 80's where there is a guy walking in a circle, saying, "I do cocaine
You ask where the jobs are going to come from. I'm pointing out that if you didn't have this burning need to buy pointless things, then you wouldn't need to work as hard to begin with. Ie, your need to have a job to support your habit would be gone. Imagine only working 20 hours a week because that's all the money you need to keep yourself supported! Imagine that! An extra 1,000 hours every year to explore your life, experience your kids, take up a hobby!
And, to be clear, it is only the pointless things I'm bitching about, though it is very easy to rationalize almost anything if you try hard enough.
Yes, buying things drives the economy. But the economy only needs to be driven as hard as it is because it has a habit to support. Don't you see the circularity in your argument?
Not a flame, just a thought.
My
Limekiller
Before y'all descend onto the site to buy yourself a little radioactivity, Cash'n'Carrion WILL NOT SHIP OUTSIDE OF THE UK. Various reasons listed here
If I remember my nuclear physics correctly, Tritium (Hydrogen-3 (1 proton, 2 neutrons)) decays via a weak Beta-particle emission into Helium-3 (2 protons, 1 neutron). This beta particle, which is not energetic enough to make its way outside of the glass tube in which the tritium is stored, exceites the phosphor on the inside of the tube causing it to glow in one of several cool shades. As Tritium has a half-life of the order of 4500 days, these things should last a good few years (they suggest atleast 10) before the glow fades.