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Life Imitates Art at Intel
figa writes "Eric Paulos and Elizabeth Goodman at Intel's Research Laboratory at Berkeley are using the Situationists' exploration of urban space and psychologist Stanley Milgram's social experiments to design wearable devices."
Fighting the Crack Ban in Fine Restaurants
How many times has this happened to you? You've just finished a wonderful dinner at your favorite fine dining establishment -- the filet was rare, the port was perfect, and that lemon sorbet? Bliss.
What could be better? A Crack Aficionado knows. Time to get high, high
You push back your chair, loosen your tie, and fire up a small chunk of that funky stuff. Ahhh, the good life.
But then it happens. From nowhere, your formerly friendly waiter swoops in, all aflutter, trotting out that same old story: "I'm sorry, sir, but we do not permit crack smoking in our restaurant." Next thing you know, you've got the maitre d', the sommelier, the owner's silent partners, and fourteen jack-booted thugs in gray SWAT team tacticals swarming all over you, and you're hustled out the door with your jacket over your head.
Damn.
Crack Aficionados have always faced discrimination, so it's no surprise that even in five-star restaurants where every hand sports a Dunhill or a Macanudo in that sweet post-prandial afterglow, crack smokers still can't enjoy a smoke without having the heat come down all over them. Trend setters make the old order uncomfortable. It's just the way of the world.
This sort of unfair treatment is something we all have to deal with sooner or later, but you can be ready when it happens. With CA's guide to fighting the crack ban, you'll have an answer the next time some monkey in a tux screams, "What the hell are you doing?"
Assert Your Rights
When faced with opposition from management, a keen knowledge of history, morality, and our Judeo-Christian traditions can serve you well. Point out that nowhere in the Bible, the Magna Carta, or the Constitution is crack specifically denounced (or even alluded to, as far as our interns can tell. There could be something in Psalms, but the jury is still out.). Sure, there might be a few lines buried in Section 201 of the U.S. Criminal code, but who reads that stuff anyway? We're talking big picture here.
Argue the Point
Restaurant-industry workers are people-friendly. They work in a social business. A well-constructed argument can coax out their natural flexibility, tipping the scales in your favor.
The Socratic Method has stood the test of the centuries. When faced with a hostile waiter, employ this method to solve the problem. In a soft and measured tone, lay out your position, listen carefully to the waiter's response, and then call him a fool. Ask him how many credits he racked up before he dropped out. Crumple up a dollar and fling it in his face. When he turns away to search for the manager, give him a swift boot in the ass to hurry him on his way.
The Patriotism Card
Everyone loves America. America is about freedom. After all, this is not Russia. This is not China. This is not the place where the wall came down. Is this not America, the land of the free, and the home of the brave? You're damn right it is.
You're an American (Unless you're not, in which case here's your first lesson: lie. Always lie). Point out that as a citizen of this country, no one has the right to obstruct your pursuit of happiness, even if your happiness lies inside little rocks from South America.
Tell them you were in Desert Storm. If you put your butt on the line while liberating that Wal-Mart in Kuwait City to make the world safe for totalitarian theocracy, you'll be damned if anyone is going to tell you how to live your life.
Point the Finger
No one likes a tattle-tale, but let's face it: we all do what we have to do. If management is miffed because you're heating up a little cocktail at your table, what about all the cancer-spewing cigarette smokers busily killing everyone all around you?
What about the guy next to you puffing on a Cubano? That's illegal too, and no one is calling the Feds. It's not fair. It's just not fair. Say it out loud. "It's just not fair." Yell it. "It's just not fair!" Grab the waiter by t
I hope they figure out a way to discreetly "wink" to a stranger in the room, without invading their privacy, or already having their phone#, over a mobile phone.
--
make install -not war
From one of the links:
Call me a philestine, but I have no *fucking* idea of whether it's good or whether it's whack.
Tubal-Cain smokes the white owl.
Score 4: Interesting for a thinly veiled "Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!" gag. Not bad!
I agree with this post.
-- Guy Debord
Ed Bradley might be on 60 minutes but he's just a nigger to the rest of us.
Excuse me. You left forgot to complete your sentence. I believe you meant to write:
"...to the rest of us in-bred hillbilly trailer trash."
Hope this helps.
I thought for a second these wearable devices would be telling their wearers to shock people to death. But apparently it was based on another of Milgram's ideas.