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FBI File Notes Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field

Hugh Pickens writes "Bloomberg reports that the FBI has released a decades-old file it kept on Steve Jobs, the deceased Apple co-founder, after a background check for a possible appointment by former President George H. W. Bush conducting interviews with unnamed associates of Jobs to judge his character, drug use and potential prejudices. 'Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs' honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,' according to the materials. Several people commented 'concerning past drug use on the part of Mr. Jobs,' according to the file including marijuana, hashish and LSD during the period 1970 – 1974. The file also noted that Jobs was not a member of the communist party."

337 comments

  1. Hardly a unique trait by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most people (we are not all paragons of virtue) do that. The difference was that Jobs was apparently good at it.

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    1. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Most people (we are not all paragons of virtue) do that. The difference was that Jobs was apparently good at it.

      The difference between SJ and most people, not referenced in his report but available from anyone who ever worked closely with him, was that SJ was addicted to backstabbing even when it would hurt him as well. Do a favor for SJ? Either disappear immediately or count on him going out of his way to hurt you.

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
    2. Re:Hardly a unique trait by mapfortu · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      There are many many many more younger people than older people. What do you suppose happened to them all? ... Backstabbing. If you don't get good at it then you are relegated to bagging groceries before you achieve forty years.

      --
      any:every:99. find anyone and everyone who knows anything. 99 percent of all have been trained to know nothing about it.
    3. Re:Hardly a unique trait by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Most people (we are not all paragons of virtue) do that. The difference was that Jobs was apparently good at it.

      With his wealth, at the end, as a yardstick, he wasn't merely good at it, he wrote the book, the preface, table of contents and the index, plus did a bang-up job for the cover art.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    4. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drug use in the 70s? Two minor drugs and one that was extremely popular? Preposterous.

    5. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      If he hadn't been so good at it, maybe he wouldn't have fooled himself into thinking that he didn't need the possibly life-saving surgery for his cancer until it was too late.

    6. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't do that, but I do masturbate profusely.

    7. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, someone else did all that - he just took the credit.

    8. Re:Hardly a unique trait by CODiNE · · Score: 2

      That's a known ADD trait, self-destructiveness and antagonizing those in relationships with them. I'm surprised it never seemed to show up in his business dealings, that is doing something suicidal to the company and wrecking things from the inside out.

      Or maybe he just got lucky and his suicide moves turned out to be market successes.

      --
      Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
    9. Re:Hardly a unique trait by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Continuing on the "wealth as book writer" theme: compared to the rich guys from Microsoft, or Wall Street, Jobs was a poor bodice-ripping schlock peddler of $0.99 paperbacks... Fabio with a typewriter, if you will.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    10. Re:Hardly a unique trait by blind+biker · · Score: 0

      The difference between SJ and most people, not referenced in his report but available from anyone who ever worked closely with him, was that SJ was addicted to backstabbing even when it would hurt him as well. Do a favor for SJ? Either disappear immediately or count on him going out of his way to hurt you

      Add the manipulation and the lying he was so good at, and what you get is a textbook psychopath. That's what Steve Jobs was.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    11. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >I'm surprised it never seemed to show up in his business dealings

      It did.

    12. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what you're saying is that Steve Jobs was actually an alter-ego of Gomez Addams.

    13. Re:Hardly a unique trait by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why do you think they fired him from Apple? They brought him back when they bought up NeXT when it went under. SJ was a sometime marketting genius. Problem was, like most geniuses, his talent was erratic as hell. They never could count on him to figure out the next new thing correctly. (Can anyone say 'Lisa'? 'Cube'?)

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    14. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Nixoloco · · Score: 2

      The difference between SJ and most people, not referenced in his report but available from anyone who ever worked closely with him, was that SJ was addicted to backstabbing even when it would hurt him as well. Do a favor for SJ? Either disappear immediately or count on him going out of his way to hurt you.

      Have you met everyone who worked closely with him? What is the reference for this? Do you have a personal anecdote? I'm curious where you derive this assessment of him. To say that "anyone who ever worked closely with him" would basically call him a vindictive backstabbing SOB seems extremely hyperbolical or like you just have your own axe to grind.

    15. Re:Hardly a unique trait by The+Askylist · · Score: 2

      Bullshit. Here in the UK, smoking a bit of weed and dropping a tab or two was just part of growing up in the 70s. No big deal - just the result of an enquiring mind rather than being an obedient sheep.

    16. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People would avoid going into the same elevator with him, to avoid any potential repercussions. It's been written about, why not start reading if you are so interested.

    17. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Nixoloco · · Score: 1

      People would avoid going into the same elevator with him, to avoid any potential repercussions. It's been written about, why not start reading if you are so interested.

      You're the ones making the argument, so it is your point to prove. I've read a significant amount about him, but not heard this specifically. Citations and references are valuable tools (necessary tools) to support a position, especially when that position is so derogatory towards someone. If you can't produce them, then maybe you shouldn't me making the statements or should at least preface them with "I imagine...". Also, you might also need to learn to consider possible bias in your sources (if you were to use them).

    18. Re:Hardly a unique trait by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Some of those failures did end up being the next big thing. Lisa became the Mac, NeXT OS became OSX, the cube was part of a new of thinking that (re)valued design in computers. Jobs did have flight of fancy though, like his state of the art factories where he obsessed over how to make the process beautiful. Ironically abandoning those white elephants and going to China like everyone else is now a major point of criticism for Apple.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    19. Re:Hardly a unique trait by reub2000 · · Score: 1

      A psychopath sticking around as long as Steve did at Apple? The textbook psychopath is highly unreliable.

    20. Re:Hardly a unique trait by sa1lnr · · Score: 2

      Four years, extensive?

      I'd call it bloody amateur. ;)

    21. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least you would still have your dignity. That's worth a lot more than any amount of money.

    22. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      70s? Oh man, I musta time traveled during my vacation to Amsterdam!

    23. Re:Hardly a unique trait by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Here let me help you with your obvious misunderstanding of psychopathy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopath.

      The psychopath is born with an absence of empathy and conscience. Now that does not affect their IQ. Dumb psychopaths will do truly horrific things and get caught at a younger age, thinking they have the 'power' to get away with them.

      Smarter psychopaths will spend their whole life plotting and scheming always being careful not to get caught, regardless of how destructive they become ie. Darth Cheney (now that's the nickname given to him by people who personally knew him) and how many people had to die to enrich his company to the tune of billions.

      It sounds like it was a very lucky thing for the rest of us that Steve Jobs did not get into politics.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    24. Re:Hardly a unique trait by reub2000 · · Score: 1

      First off, read your link. Yes, psychopaths lack empathy. That goes with many of the personality disorders listed in the DSM. But, the article also backs up my assertion that psychopaths are unreliable:

      He sees this as often due to seeking immediate satisfaction of desires, resulting in such things as quitting jobs, leaving relationships, changing plans and committing crimes, all apparently on a whim. ... The flipside, according to Hare, is that such individuals have a low tolerance for boredom and are unlikely to sustain activities that are dull or require intense concentration over long periods.

      Also, it's not really intelligence that makes a psychopath do dumb things. It's more a lack of taking consequences into effect. Cleckley includes a lot of smart people among his case studies who do stupid things that undermine their long term goals. What seems to separate most psychopaths from success is fear. Fear is integral for learning. It's the memory of fear that prevents us from repeating things that had a bad outcome in the past. Even if a psychopath is smart, this lack of fear means that they have less inhibitions to do what seems dumb.

      So yes, I think he sounds more like a narcissist than a psychopath.

    25. Re:Hardly a unique trait by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They never could count on him to figure out the next new thing correctly. (Can anyone say 'Lisa'? 'Cube'?)

      What? Your expectation is for every single product to work out? A hen that lays golden eggs? Dream on, it doesn't exist. Jobs had more products that were milestones in computer evolution than he had failures. That's a pretty unique success rate.

      Why do slashdotters hate success so much? Does it make them feel inadequate?

    26. Re:Hardly a unique trait by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      The story that people were afraid to get into the elevator with him in case they got fired was certainly in the media. But it sounds apocryphal. In reality I'm sure most employees would have welcomed some time with Jobs.

    27. Re:Hardly a unique trait by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Far from it. All over Europe too it's pretty normal. We've got plenty of politicians now admitting they took recreational drugs when they were students.

      Sadly that doesn't usually make them vote for repeal of prohibition, because they are two faced bastards who will follow whatever they think gets them more votes.

    28. Re:Hardly a unique trait by catmistake · · Score: 1

      Why do you think they fired him from Apple?

      Just FYI... Apple never fired Steve Jobs nor was he asked to leave, nor did the power at the time there want him to leave Apple. He was reorganized to an area of reponsibility where he couldn't do as much damage to the company... what Steve perceived this as, personal insult, caused him to leave. Also, Hell, whether it exists or not, is a proper name and should be capitalized.

    29. Re:Hardly a unique trait by sound+vision · · Score: 0

      Dude, I think I'm in a time warp right now... HUUUUACK COUGH HUUUAURGH KUH HWAAARK~ (oh shit chocobo noises)

    30. Re:Hardly a unique trait by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

      Psychopath or sociopath?

      --
      Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
    31. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering he died at a relatively young age and there's nothing you can do with your money when dead, I'd say he did a fairly bad job.

      When you have several billion pounds it's quite easy to list the top ten silent killers and spend some resources getting very regular, if very expensive, check-ups. In fact, it's one of the few reasons I'd value having a lot of money - my "materialism" extends as far as wanting excellent health but little further.

    32. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A mind-altering drug is the result of an "enquiring mind"? I'm as much against the criminalisation of weed as the next non-idiot but that's because marijuana is a social problem - just as drinking or tobacco smoking - not properly a legal issue.

      An enquiring mind enquires: it learns, formulates and tests reasonable hypotheses. A deficient mind seeks a substitute for itself. By the '70s it would have been as ignorant to argue that weed might improve the mind as it was by the early 1900s to argue that bloodletting was a cure for disease.

      "Everyone" (in the adolescent) in the '70s "smoked a bit of weed" precisely because it was what the cool guys did - it was the result of being an obedient sheep rather than having an enquiring mind. Probably harmless in small quantities to the otherwise mentally healthy, but worthless entertainment.

    33. Re:Hardly a unique trait by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Informative

      A mind-altering drug is the result of an "enquiring mind"? I'm as much against the criminalisation of weed as the next non-idiot but that's because marijuana is a social problem - just as drinking or tobacco smoking - not properly a legal issue.

      Drinking is a legal issue because it causes people to behave dangerously. Smoking is a legal issue because it causes people to wander around emitting cancerous compounds. MJ is an issue only because it has been criminalized. It does not contribute or lead to behavior which is harmful to others, only its criminalization does that.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    34. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      the cube was part of a new of thinking that (re)valued design in computers.

      Indeed. Most notably the part where it overheated to the point of killing itself -- visual design over function.

      That's served Apple quite well for a long time.

    35. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It smells bloody awful, which is enough for me to say it should be illegal.

    36. Re:Hardly a unique trait by jamstar7 · · Score: 1

      They never could count on him to figure out the next new thing correctly. (Can anyone say 'Lisa'? 'Cube'?)

      What? Your expectation is for every single product to work out? A hen that lays golden eggs? Dream on, it doesn't exist. Jobs had more products that were milestones in computer evolution than he had failures. That's a pretty unique success rate.

      My expectations? No, I know better. The corporate board of directors? Damned straight they do. Dump money into something that doesn't work, and they see it as being out a ton of money. Who cares if you actually learn something that'll help them down the line, you wasted money NOW that could go towards other things, like crushing the competition, or paying dividends, or developing something that WILL make the company a ton of money. Why do you think most corporations don't do a lot of R&D unless it's government subsidised?

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    37. Re:Hardly a unique trait by The+Askylist · · Score: 2

      An enquiring mind should be willing to test hypotheses on itself - the hypothesis, for instance, that smoking weed or taking LSD makes the mind less able.

      Having tested that hypothesis and found it to be less than useful (I can still function perfectly well after a smoke or a tab), I conclude that the law is an ass, and I shall continue to indulge this "deficiency" so long as I find it to be pleasurable.

      YMMV.

    38. Re:Hardly a unique trait by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      My previous reply to this comment was modded down, but that's OK, because thanks to the respondents, it still got the message through alright.

      For the record, I stated that "Add the manipulation and the lying he was so good at, and what you get is a textbook psychopath."

      I forgot to mention his habitual parking in the disabled's spot. Textbooks psychopath indeed.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    39. Re:Hardly a unique trait by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Drinking doesn't "cause" people to behave dangerously any more than holding a knife "causes" people to behave dangerously.

      That is in fact a load of bullshit. Many people simply lose control of their emotions and many people in fact do become violent if you give them alcohol, no matter their intent or yours.

      Smoking in an enclosed public space may be dangerous to those around you for its carcinogenic effect.

      True.

      As may marijuana.

      [citation needed]. good luck! I happen to know the opposite is true, because I pay attention to scientists, but I would enjoy it if you wasted a bunch of time trying to support your anonymous, cowardly assertion.

      And one man abusing any drug tends to have an effect on at least those around him and in most cases on public services too.

      Now prove that it's possible to abuse.

      When marijuana smokers claim that their activity is uniquely harmless they are not only laughably wrong

      [citation needed]

      but distract from the real point: marijuana isn't being outlawed based on whether it's harmful to anyone.

      Oh, few MJ users have missed that point. Unfortunately, many other people are still banging on the drum about it being harmful, when there is no evidence that anything other than truly epic use that is actually difficult to achieve will harm anyone who is in reasonable health.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    40. Re:Hardly a unique trait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The common element in the story you paint is not a single group of people stalking and oppressing you; it is you and your behaviour.

      Your posts are increasingly offtopic, incoherent and self obsessed. They are being modded as such. Rather than recognise or acknowledge this you cry 'victim'.

      *sigh*. You'll ignore this, too.

  2. Old Pot/Kettle drama by losttoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wondering if the FBI does background checks on Senate, Congress and Presidential candidates? Pretty sure 99.9% would have the same issues with "dishonesty". My favourite line from the TFA is "Others mentioned that Jobs couldn’t be trusted and that he was able to create a reality-distortion field." Wondering how strong this force field was and was it able to warp the time-space continuum?? :P

    1. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Qzukk · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wondering if the FBI does background checks on Senate, Congress and Presidential candidates?

      Of course not, that would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    2. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by newsman220 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it can distort the space/time continuum. And the FBI doesn't background check political candidates. That's your job, and the media's. Nobody bothers, since nobody will listen anyway.

    3. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by masternerdguy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Also, there are these really cool things called 'elections' in which you get the chance to periodically vote for a candidate you like. The majority rules and the candidate that pleases the most people is elected. Did you know that you can even run for election?

      --
      To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
    4. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      And what would do they do if they did find something? There is nothing in the constitution allowing someone to be kicked out or denied office for failing a background check. Unless they find a crime they can prosecute, the best the FBI could do is go public and let the voters decide.

    5. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by losttoy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So anyone holding a government job, working on a government project or deemed a person of public trust is required to go through a FBI background check, except the political masters at the very top. Boy! that sure makes sense to me :-D Because we all know the masters at the top are beyond blackmail and corruption! Right.

    6. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wondering if the FBI does background checks on Senate, Congress and Presidential candidates?

      Of course not, that would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

      Not only that but they would have to put all candiates in jail. So it would be a quite counterproductive action.
      Show me an honest politician and I'll sell you the Golden Gate Bridge.

    7. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by nschubach · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You can run, but you won't win... People keep crying out that they want to curb career politicians, but when you have Joe Nobody on the ballot vs. someone you've seen on the TV, people will vote for the one they saw on TV.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    8. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Guidii · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Interesting snippet:

      [Retracted] concluded the interview by stating that even though he does not consider Mr. Jobs to be a friend, he (Mr. Jobs) possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position. It was [retracted]'s opinion that honesty and integerity are not required qualities to hold such a position."

    9. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      When government engages in this flavor of oppression (and yes, spying on innocents is a form of oppression), it says much more about government than it does the victim. I don't care if Steve Jobs told lies every time he opened his mouth -- I'd sooner trust him (or any common man) before government with my own safety and well-being.

      Similar to when somebody talks behind another person's back: it says much more about the person doing the talking.

    10. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Circus.

      None of that matters if the vote counts are forged.

    11. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by masternerdguy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is the 21st century. Traditional TV is going away and its becoming easier to get followers without taking out millions of dollars in commercials. We are approaching a critical point where the little guy can get as much exposure as the big guy if they use the medium intelligently.

      --
      To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
    12. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      Well, here's something I think they could do if they found something:

      "Senator Blowhard, we acquired a very interesting audio recording made in the hotel room next to the one you were staying in on April 14, 2006, with a certain Miss Dupre saying something about how much she liked a 'Mr Hotdog'. Now, it would be a real shame if a public servant such as yourself were so demeaned by this happening to find its way into the hands of a reporter for a major TV network. By the way, how were you thinking of voting in the upcoming law enforcement funding bill? Just curious."

      And if you're thinking "But this is the serious crime of blackmail!", then ask yourself who's responsible for investigating such crimes.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    13. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by bws111 · · Score: 1

      I guess the lack of FBI background checks for candidates is why we never, ever hear about things that might make a candidate open to blackmail and corruption. We never hear about candidates extra-marital affairs. We never hear about sexual harassment. We never hear about past actions or statements that appear to be in conflict with what they are now saying. We never hear about drug use, or school performance. We have no idea where a candidate gets his income, or what companies/industries he has ties to.

      What do you think campaigns are, besides one enormous background check?

    14. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Probably not today but Hoover did for 48 years

    15. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My favorite paragraph was this one:

      _______concluded the interview by stating that even though he does not consider Mr. Jobs to be a friend, he (Mr. Jobs) possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position. It was ______ opinion that honesty and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position. _____ recommended him for a position of trust and confidence with the Government.

      He said this after the beginning of his/her interview where he characterized Jobs as a "deceptive individual and not completely forthright and honest," and then mentions the usual reality distortion field stuff.

      Good enough for CEO work, good enough for Government work, lol.

    16. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      really? spying? it was a background check for a job, a high level government job no less. Yes the government spies, yes it is wrong for the most part, no a background check is not spying. And what oppression are you talking about, the kind where things you say and do influence who and what you are, oh the humanity.

    17. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by nschubach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You can try (and by all means, I support any efforts) but there's a membrane (glass ceiling?) that has to be broken through for people to even seriously consider someone running via Youtube, etc. You'll never be invited to any debates, people will not do research on their own to find out what you support and they will continue to vote for the person with "experience". You pretty much have to start from the city/local government at a young age and work your way up to be considered for spots that are intended to be filled by common citizens, but you're not going to be a common citizen if you work up the ladder and you have to dedicate your life to it unless you have a ton of money to spend on ramping up that campaign.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    18. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We are approaching a critical point where the little guy can get as much exposure as the big guy if they use the medium intelligently.

      Yes, and we are also approaching the year of Linux on the desktop.

    19. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Wondering how strong this force field was and was it able to warp the time-space continuum?? :P

      It can bend concentric rectangles into a unique shape so I'd say it's pretty damn strong.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    20. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      President for sure. I don't think there's a person on the planet with a higher security clearance than the CiC of the US military.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    21. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by KingAlanI · · Score: 1

      The reason for failing the background check might be an impeachable offense or the candidate not meeting the age/residency/citizenship qualifications
      Also, Congresscritters can be expelled by a 2/3 vote of their chamber for any reason.
      So the information would need to be made public, but you wouldn't need to wait for the next election and hope they get voted out

      --
      I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
    22. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      They probably assume the public can vet a candidate better than the FBI. Steve Jobs was being considered to be *appointed* aka not voted into office.

    23. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Our problem isn't that the people are stupidly voting crooks in. Our problem is that we never fire them. Imagine what would have happened last summer during all that budget nonsense if several of the people in that room had to deal with the threat of being recalled.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    24. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      We are approaching a critical point where the little guy can get as much exposure as the big guy if they use the medium intelligently.

      That would, of course, be a Good Thing. The problem is that intelligence alone doesn't pay PR firms' bills.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    25. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by newcastlejon · · Score: 2

      Please allow me to post (yet another) quote from a favourite TV show of mine:

      [discussing a financial scandal]
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: They've broken the rules.
      Sir Humphrey: What, you mean the insider trading regulations?
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: No.
      Sir Humphrey: Oh. Well, that's one relief.
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: I mean of course they've broken those, but they've broken the basic, the basic rule of the City.
      Sir Humphrey: I didn't know there were any.
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: Just the one.
      If you're incompetent you have to be honest, and if you're crooked you have to be clever.
      See, if you're honest, then when you make a pig's breakfast of things the chaps rally round and help you out.
      Sir Humphrey: If you're crooked?
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: Well, if you're making good profits for them, chaps don't start asking questions; they're not stupid. Well, not that stupid.
      Sir Humphrey: So the ideal is a firm which is honest and clever.
      Sir Desmond Glazebrook: Yes. Let me know if you ever come across one, won't you.

      I might as well throw this in too, for no other reason than it makes a good insult:

      Dorothy Wainwright: [Referring to Desmond Glazebrook] He's too stupid to know whether he's honest or not.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    26. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by wintercolby · · Score: 1

      The problem is that crooks are always on both sides of the ballot. The question is weather you want the murderous crook or the amoral crook.

      --
      Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
    27. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Matheus · · Score: 1

      ...but that's where it gets funny. Going through normal channels to get security clearance it extremely prohibitive. (I've been through it a lot) There are all sorts of reasons why they will turn you down some of which may surprise you.

      BUT: There is nothing in the code of this land that says you win an election only after you've passed the proper clearances (all sorts of issues about barrier to entry, existing power having to much control over incoming power, etc). This tends to work out in a small way because anyone who gets elected to office usually goes through a MUCH more rigorous investigative process by the press and has their dirty little bits shown to everyone who cares to see BUT in the end that hasn't stopped certain crack heads from becoming president. SO you end up with people being given the highest clearance in the land (Presidents, Senators, Secretaries) when potentially they would be considered unworthy of such trust through normal channels.

    28. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to start a flamewar, but Obama had dang little experience compared to his opponent. People will, given the right set of circumstances, vote for the person with little or no experience.

    29. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Wondering if the FBI does background checks on Senate, Congress and Presidential candidates?

      They don't have to, those background checks are done by the private sector. The findings are published in newspapers, on television, radio, blogs, etc.

      Just because people pay more attention to advertising than they do news stories, those background checks go mainly unnoticed for the most part.

      What percentage of Americans knows that Ronald Reagan was the first divorced president? Or that George Bush had DUIs and his wife killed a guy? Or that his Vice President, Dick Cheney ALSO had DUIs? We have more background information about the current president than almost anyone who has ever held the office.

      The information is out there. You only have to choose to look at it. Also, since Governor George Romney (father of Mitt). presidential candidates release an average of ten years' worth of tax returns, which can tell a lot about a candidate. For some reason, his son Mitt has decided to only release one year. So although there is some background that candidates decide to hide out of shame or embarrassment, there is still quite a bit of information available. But most people figure it's easier just to watch the commercials on TV.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    30. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      He had >10 (1997 forward) years political experience before being elected President.

    31. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by youngone · · Score: 2

      Most of the CEO's I've worked for either create or attempt to create exactly the same reality distortion field. Their success or failure in this determined their length of service.

    32. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by backwardsposter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem is (usually) the kind of person who wants to run for this office isn't the kind of person you want to hold it.

    33. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by timeOday · · Score: 1

      The idea of giving the security apparatus power to veto political candidacies is insanity.

    34. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Rik+Rohl · · Score: 1

      But for those jobs, dishonesty is a prerequisite.

    35. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 2

      It depends on what your reaction to the stuff is. If it's, "yeah, it's not like I was the only one there getting a lap dance. It's a strip club, not a nunnery," then it's not a big deal.

      If your reaction is more along the lines of, "OH GOD don't tell my wife I'll do anything!" then you don't get to look at the pretty documents.*

      *Actual documents are boring as fuck. I could tell you what I do, but then I'd have to... wake you up.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    36. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by kenrblan · · Score: 2

      You're right about the barrier to entry for serious contention. Look at how many GOP debates have invited Buddy Roemer during this presidential primary cycle. That guy is a former governor and also served as a member of the US House of Representatives, and he can't get in the room for a debate. His only presence has been on the internet, twitter, and random TV interviews that generally have him comment on the other candidates.

      BTW, I'm not advocating the guy in any manner. He just seems like a really good example of your counterpoint.

      --
      Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein
    37. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Although, and this concerned me at the time, he had never had a "buck stops here" elected governmental political role (such as Mayor or Governor). He had also never had a "buck stops here" commercial job (such as CEO, President of Company, Owner of Company). In retrospect, my concern was well founded -- but then the alternative was pretty bad also.

    38. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The solution would be to find someone who doesn't want the job and force it on him/her.

    39. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can run, but you won't win... People keep crying out that they want to curb career politicians, but when you have Joe Nobody on the ballot vs. someone you've seen on the TV, people will vote for the one they saw on TV.

      Shiny.

    40. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you think IPhones are shaped: their cases are pressed into the shape of human fetuses, and then exposed to him for an hour. Even now, they still replicate the effect with his perfectly preserved severed head on a golden pedestal.
       

    41. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by lightknight · · Score: 1

      So...random guess here...Steve Jobs had been mind-fucked at some point (typically necessary for the creation of that level of a distortion field -> it's a defensive measure), and the people in power couldn't find any dirt on him (unrelated, standard political maneuvering, though possibly a waste / misuse of agency resources).

      --
      I am John Hurt.
    42. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by lightknight · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, but you could never let them know they were doing it.

      --
      I am John Hurt.
    43. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      Or, in Star Trek: Kahless said, "Great men do not seek power. They have power thrust upon them."

    44. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Tell that to Ron Paul. Plenty of supporters in the intertubes. Millions to spend on PR. But not as many millions as some other candidates, and so he doesn't get close. TV ads and news coverage is still vital.

    45. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by tragedy · · Score: 2

      J. Edgar Hoover, the founding leader of the FBI is generally believed to have operated in just such a manner. I've heard it referred to as "tyranny by index cards".

    46. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      Yet an abnormally large proportion (compared with the general population) of Parliamentary members in the UK have criminal records, again a disproportionately large number of elected officials in local and national government have records for crimes against children. Yet, they still get "elected". Something be wrong with the system, methink.

      --
      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    47. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Tastecicles · · Score: 1

      Depends much on what it is you're securing. I have datagrams secreted away that not even POTUS gets to look at. Therefore, my clearance exceeds his.

      --
      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    48. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wondering how strong this force field was and was it able to warp the time-space continuum?? :P

      Yes, he used it to go back in time and use rounded corners before everyone else did.

    49. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      Makes perfect sense, though. Would you trust the FBI to run background checks on politicians? I imagine that if they did, you would find any that promise to increase FBI funding get a cursory skim through their history, while any that threaten to reduce funding have every detail of their lives examined under the microscope to find any excuse to keep them out of office... and *no-one* is completly without some dirt that could be used against them.

    50. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The majority rules and the candidate that pleases the most people is elected.

      The majority does as they are told by the box in their living room, because they have no mind of their own. But even if you do manage to vote for a better candidate, the results of the election will be fudged as they were both times we got Bush Sr.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    51. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And speaking of background checks and about PAST substance abuse - not just Pres. candidates but..ummmm, how about President Georgie Junior's past?

    52. Re:Old Pot/Kettle drama by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Old thread, so likely no one will read this, but....you're not serious right? The Citizens United ruling was basically the last nail in the coffin of 3rd party candidates. Sure, you might be able to get a million twitter followers, but you'll be blown away by the billions spent on commercials bad mouthing you.

      The average citizen is going to be, well, average. They have never, and will never, take the time to really understand the issues. You can tweet the best ideas in the world, but you'll get nowhere unless you are on TV daily, have the backing of major media, and have large corporate funded super-pacs buying up ad time across the country.

      True grass roots political candidates are dead in the water until we have serious campaign finance reform put in place.

  3. Job Requirements? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >> Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,

    Sounds like a politician to me!

    1. Re:Job Requirements? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      They figured he wasn't as good as Karl Rove though.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    2. Re:Job Requirements? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 3, Informative

      I am not sure what Karl Rove has to do with the consideration of Steve Jobs for a posible appointment by President George H.W. Bush. Karl Rove was an advisor to George W. Bush, who had yet to run for governor of Texas when this took place.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    3. Re:Job Requirements? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Fair enough, I missed the "H."

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:Job Requirements? by HBI · · Score: 2

      Rove worked for the elder Bush as well. His 1978 and 1980 campaigns were primarily Rove's work. Rove was engaged in Texas to shepherd Bush's son and keep him out of trouble after the elder Bush went to Washington as the Vice-President.

      --
      HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
    5. Re:Job Requirements? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 2

      Rove worked for the elder Bush as well. His 1978 and 1980 campaigns were primarily Rove's work. Rove was engaged in Texas to shepherd Bush's son and keep him out of trouble after the elder Bush went to Washington as the Vice-President.

      That is not true. Karl Rove first worked with George W. Bush on his failed Congressional campaign in 1978, before George H.W. Bush became Vice President. While Karl Rove worked on George H. W. Bush's 1980 Presidential campaign, he was not its chief architect. Additionally, George H.W. Bush did not run for any office in 1978.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  4. Would have fit in just fine! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals

    Sounds like Jobs would have been perfect!

  5. Re:Breaking news by nhat11 · · Score: 1

    OMG that means they're human?

  6. Drugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tons and tons of people have used a bit of hash and LSD in their past, but few will admit it to their employers if they work in the professional world.

    It's not that these activities actually make a person of bad or suspicious - it's that many people _believe_ that they do. This turns casual and innocent drug users into liars because they have to protect themselves from the horribly ill-informed and paranoid power structure.

    1. Re:Drugs by HomelessInLaJolla · · Score: 1

      I have no idea why the major media panders to the ignorant lemmings by continually hyping up "hash(ish)" as if it is some evil distorted mutated cousin of unholy origin. Hash(ish) is no more sinister than a mulch box for recycling grass clippings and weeds pulled out of the garden. Modern marijuana consumers are, technically, obsessive about the top buds. Real smokers know that, since we grow acres and acres of it, we more or less harvest it like wheat and pulp it together like a crazed cotton gin. If you're lucky you'll get a blob which includes some of the opium (poppy), too.

      Similar to the ignorants who do not know that their jedi light saber is really a mock up of Alephel's stick.

      Those who do not know history are doomed to be a nuisance to society.

      --
      the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac
    2. Re:Drugs by Tsingi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ... turns casual and innocent drug users into liars because they have to protect themselves from the horribly ill-informed and paranoid power structure.

      This is what bad laws do, turn everyone into a criminal. Once you're a criminal, deservedly or not, you lose at least some level of respect for the law. It's somewhat self defeating.

      But then, what do I know, I don't like Star Wars much.

    3. Re:Drugs by GillyGuthrie · · Score: 1

      This turns casual and innocent drug users into liars

      My thoughts exactly. It sucks having to bold-faced lie about my marijuana use for fear of being branded or otherwise discriminated against.

      Off topic - I hate the idea of corporations winnowing their pool of prospective employees by using psychological tests. I can't even land a minimum-wage job at Blockbuster without lying about how much "I love being in big crowds." =/

    4. Re:Drugs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm more interested in the fact that they consider marijuana and hashish to be different. WTF is that?

    5. Re:Drugs by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      Tons and tons of people have used a bit of hash and LSD in their past, but few will admit it to their employers if they work in the professional world.

      Some of my favorite parts of the Jobs' bio is where he throws people out because they haven't done LSD and are thus too square to work at Apple. Just nice to see the normal situation reversed.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    6. Re:Drugs by russotto · · Score: 2

      My thoughts exactly. It sucks having to bold-faced lie about my marijuana use for fear of being branded or otherwise discriminated against.

      Yeah, I know, I work for a company with a reputation of being a bit on the California granola side, and it's always awkward when I have to admit I never smoked pot.

  7. wrong by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    with the amount of business Steve sent to China, he should be an honorary member of the Chinese Communist Party

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      As should just about every other business and industry executive. But wait, they were doing it because of lower costs. Hmm . . . reeks of capitalism to me. I guess the world isn't so black and white.

    2. Re:wrong by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      Ok, but then you have to complete the deal and really present "Communist" China for what it is - the freest market on this planet.

    3. Re:wrong by hercubus · · Score: 1

      ... he should be an honorary member of the Chinese Communist Party

      Right, because Apple is the only company that found it had to move manufacturing to China. Apple was actually pretty late to the party in China, I believe they kept manufacturing in America longer than a lot of companies did. (party pun intended)

      Whatever we do, let us not wonder what it is about our national character (I want stuff cheap) or our national trends (cutting local labor _always_ boosts stock price) or national policies (yes we subsidize moving jobs overseas) that creates a situation where a whole buttload of manufacturing went to China, including Apple's

      --
      -- How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics.
    4. Re:wrong by yurtinus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Everybody is quick to blame business - but look at the environment that led to it: Americans love their cheap widgets. You have an American made widget on the shelf next to a Chinese made widget, your American widget is usually 20-30% more expensive. What do you suppose people are going to buy? We've created an economy around disposable goods where competition is primarily on price. If a business tries to stay American made, they will fail to their competitors that import. *ALL* Americans have been happily exporting our economy to China. Now it's starting to bite us back and of course we are playing the blame game.

      --
      +1 Disagree
    5. Re:wrong by kuleiana · · Score: 1

      ...as should we all, since we knowingly purchased--and still purchase--most of our products from China without checking the labeling on all of the products that we buy. We should not complain about things we support.

      --
      Thinkingman.com New Media
    6. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least our billionaires are not members of the communist party.

    7. Re:wrong by wintercolby · · Score: 1

      That's precisely why I love K&N air filters. They cost 3 times as much, but they took something that had been disposable and gave it a lifetime warranty. It's on the shelves next to the cheap air filters, costs 3 times as much. You have to clean them every 50k miles, but it's easy to do and you may only buy one cleaning kit during the life of your car.

      I'm not saying you're wrong about people's inclination toward cheap stuff. When you know something better is coming out within the next 4 years, it makes no sense to buy something that lasts for 10. If I can pay double for something that will last 10 times as long, and won't go obsolete in that time, I do.

      --
      Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
    8. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For what, being a good capitalist? I'm not sure what you mean.

    9. Re:wrong by triffid_98 · · Score: 1

      Whatever we do, let us not wonder what it is about our national character (I want stuff cheap) or our national trends (cutting local labor _always_ boosts stock price) or national policies (yes we subsidize moving jobs overseas) that creates a situation where a whole buttload of manufacturing went to China, including Apple's

      A great many things are still manufactured in America. This is because they have a labor cost of zero dollars + whatever it costs to keep a fully automated production line running.

      "Keeping those jobs here" employs whoever drives the forklifts, 3 accountants and 4 rich sociopaths with MBAs. People who talk about off-shoring tend not to focus on that.

    10. Re:wrong by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      There's nothing cheap about an Apple widget.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    11. Re:wrong by yurtinus · · Score: 1

      Heh - precisely why I hate Swiffers and the new crop of "when you're done, you just throw it away" doohickeys. As for something better coming out in the next 4 years... A lot of that is marketing hype to convince people that they need the latest and greatest. I think cell phones are the epitome of this. Absolutely the phones made today are worlds better than my ancient piece of crap - but how many people you know tossed out their iPhone 3 when the 3gs came out? Repeated the same thing for the iPhone 4 and again 4s... Computer hardware, cars, televisions, you name it. People get an impression that they *need* the latest even when what they currently have is fulfilling their needs. It used to be that people couldn't afford to always have the latest and greatest, so we'd get by for a while on our old stuff until our old stuff couldn't cut it anymore.

      Now the prices have dropped enough that we can, but that doesn't reflect the true cost. If what you buy so much of can't be built by somebody who can earn a living amenable to you, all you do is pass the costs along. Typically the cost is paid by the manufacturing companies that have closed up shop and the people who used to work there. It's simply not a sustainable economy. At some point there won't be enough people around that can even afford the cheap crap because we put them all out of work buying cheap crap from overseas.

      Remember, something better will always be out in four years - but you know what? Something better than *that* will be out in 8. I'd rather drop 20% more on something that'll last me the eight years than 100% more to buy something every four.


      All that said, I'm still not convinced the oiled cotton (I think... is it still cotton?) element in the K&N is any more effective than a good paper element air filter ;)

      --
      +1 Disagree
    12. Re:wrong by yurtinus · · Score: 1

      ...except its cost of manufacture.

      --
      +1 Disagree
    13. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the best illustration why completely unregulated markets are a terrible idea.

    14. Re:wrong by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      Americans love their cheap widgets.

      Wait a minute...

      Apple? Cheap? Popular?

      Aren't I supposed to pick two or something?

    15. Re:wrong by wintercolby · · Score: 1

      As far as more effective at letting air into the engine, I noticed a significant improvement in my wife's Mazda Protege, which had 30k miles on it when the filter was installed. It's had the same air filter since then, cleaned 8 times, and now has 268k. I think it's also as effective at filtering the air as the paper filters.

      --
      Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
    16. Re:wrong by John+Courtland · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the mill operators, the supply chain analysts, the freight, etc. and all the services to keep those working.

      --
      Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
    17. Re:wrong by yurtinus · · Score: 1

      OKOK, I've been thoroughly chastized for saying Apple stuff is cheap. I give in. Cheap to build, expensive to buy - though in the case of cell phones, they hare almost entirely subsidized by the expensive data plans. So still, cheap to buy!

      --
      +1 Disagree
    18. Re:wrong by triffid_98 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the dock operators, the longshoremen, the freight, customs, etc. and all the services to keep those working.

  8. RIAA/MPAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Funny. Chris Dodd (MPAA) and Cary Sherman (RIAA) also twist the truth and distort reality. Shoud Apple hire these guys?

  9. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Might I ask exactly whom you believe will fall for your rubbish? This article is about the absurdity of the FBI having such a file, not about "mean" Steve Jobs. Your article quotes Florian fucking Mueller, and that billion in royalties comes solely from Apple, who (a) can afford it, (b) was already paying it, (c) has been racing to the bottom with Google's business partners for quite some time now, and (d) started it. Learn how to troll.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  10. what's with the all-caps emails? by Trepidity · · Score: 1

    What kind of computer system were they using in 1991? By 1991 it wasn't very common anymore for users of email, Usenet, or FidoNet to do everything in all caps.

    1. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      What kind of computer system were they using in 1991? By 1991 it wasn't very common anymore for users of email, Usenet, or FidoNet to do everything in all caps.

      The FBI likes yelling.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by number6x · · Score: 1

      1991 was the year windows 3.1 came out, but the windows socket API did not appear until 1992.

      email was almost exclusively a Unix thing and a little on the mainframe. Mac had a pretty good stack for email but everything else was hit or miss. A lot of Mainframe and some Mid-frame (Honeywell, Unisys) systems defaulted to all caps.

      Windows, Apple II, and others usually did email through BBS's or BBS-like providers like Prodigy and Delphi.

      And we had to walk to and from school through 6 feet of snow, uphill both ways!

    3. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      IBM mainframes (think iSeries, AS/400 etc) have been mostly case-insensitive uppercase by default until recently. I'd imagine it's quite common on the ancient-history-mainframe side.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    4. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Mr+Z · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When I hired into a high tech company in 1996, they were still using a home-grown electronic mail system running on a mainframe, using a tn3270 emulator to access it. Most people had transitioned to SMTP mail for most purposes (they quaintly called it "Internet mail"), but there was still an important segment of mail traffic that went over the old system.

      The older, proprietary message system did allow mixed case, and most people used it that way. But, there were still a handful of people (mostly in HR) that had been there 20+ years, and still sent all their messages in ALL CAPS. (One person I remember specifically had their tn3270 emulator set to force CAPS mode.)

      That proprietary system got retired about 2 years after I hired in. I wasn't sad to see it go.

      My point, anyway, is that old habits die hard. Mixed case may have been supported or may not have been, but ALL CAPS was slow to die out in certain corners. Heck, aren't NWS alerts still in ALL CAPS?

    5. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 4, Funny

      To be fair to the NWS, if they're issuing alerts, they should probably be shouted.

      What's more appropriate?

      "200 inches of rain expected. You are urged to evacuate." ...or...
      "200 INCHES OF RAIN EXPECTED YOU ARE URGED TO EVACUATE"

      ?

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    6. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by swb · · Score: 1

      On the CDC Cyber series of mainframes you could fit more text in some applications in all uppercase than you could in mixed case or lowercase.

      IIRC, lower case letters were escaped and required double the storage (12 bits vs. 6).

      In one of the chat applications, it was occasionally necessary to type in all caps to fit the maximum message length in the input. Typing in mixed case would cut your message length roughly in half.

      It sounds like it wouldn't matter, but if you were on a TTY 33 at 110 baud and had to wait for not only your text to go through but for the TTY to print all the other users messages before you could send the next line, it did matter, often to the tune of a minute or more.

    7. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But, there were still a handful of people (mostly in HR) that had been there 20+ years, and still sent all their messages in ALL CAPS

      how far we've come.

      back in the day, things were all caps. then mixed case became possible. now, kids are being hired who grew up texting and everything is in lowercase.

    8. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by decsnake · · Score: 1

      In 1991 the FBI was probably still using TELETYPE, as in 5 bit codes, 50 CPS.

    9. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Probably a mainframe terminal. The ones we have didn't have lower case. The computers did, but not the terminals.

      Part of what I used to have to do was download a report off the mainframe and load it into Word Perfect to convert the report's case (as well as other formatting nicities).

    10. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      build a damned ark and put some unicorns on it

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    11. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      How much longer until text deflation leads to nothing but lines and dots? .... -- -- -- .-.-.-

    12. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by djlowe · · Score: 1

      email was almost exclusively a Unix thing and a little on the mainframe.

      That's simply not true. I built hundreds of LANs using NetWare back in the day, and it came with MHS, which was a very nice corporate email solution for its time, and had great third-party support. The companies that I worked for used Infinite Technologies' Connect2 product line. Their base product, Connect2, did internal mail routing and point-to-point email delivery between networks via analog modem. Later enhancements, such as SMTP gateways, gateways to other proprietary email systems (CC:Mail, Lotus Notes for example), pager gateways and fax gateways, not to mention custom-written gateways, extended the reach and usefulness of the mail system. CompuServe had an MHS mail hub.You could even get gateways to minicomputers such as the AS/400.

      Remote access to the corporate mail system was done via dial-up to the corporate mail hub: Transfer the mail to/from and then hang up.

      They had a product called Connect2Library, which we used inhouse: Send a mail message from a customer site to our library address, provide the password(s), specify a file, or request a list of files, and the mail system would email them to you - we used it for patches, fixes, drivers and technotes, and it was enormously useful to our field engineers: Rather than having to carry diskettes (!) full of such and have to maintain them, we could centralize them and keep them current. And even though most of the connections between networks was via analog modem, the files were small, and the availability far outweighed the small amount of time that it took to transfer them through the mail systems.

      Later, there was an MHS to Exchange gateway product, and I installed many such along with MHS to SMTP setups to allow companies to preserve their investments in what were solid, reliable and robust mail systems.

      One of the coolest things I ever did was to set up MHS to voicemail gateways: You'd call the company's voicemail number, enter your PIN, and the gateway computer/MHS mail hub would perform text to voice translation on your messages and then read your email to you. You could record replies, which would be attached to the reply mail messages as WAV files that the recipients could play. All of the common email options were available too: Skip message(s), delete, create new ones. Neat stuff, and all done with PC-class hardware and voicemodems.

      You may not have used it, but email was in widespread use on PC's and corporate LANs in the late 80's and early 90's, long before Internet access became widely available, and many companies used it as an effective communications tool.

      Regards,

      dj

      P.S.

      On a similar note, I used to leverage the MHS mail gateways for remote access. They ran DOS, and I'd send a "magic email message" to the customer's site. Once received, the gateway computer would replace the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files with ones that would load Carbon Copy or PC Anywhere and reboot. I'd then call in, log in, and do whatever work needed to be done. Once done, I'd run a batch file that replaced the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files with the ones that ran the mail hub software and reboot the computer... and it would then go back to servicing email.

      These setups saved me a LOT of travel time over the years, and our customers appreciated them because we could respond very quickly to problems and didn't need to drive what was sometimes hours to get to their sites.

      In many ways, such solutions were far more secure than today's always on Internet access: The networks were isolated to the customer site(s), and remote access was limited.

      Yeah, yeah, I know - "You damn kids get off my lawn!", but there's a lot to be said for the solutions I and others created back then.

      Regards,

      dj

    13. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Tastecicles · · Score: 2

      We're halfway there, what with txtspk... here's a joke from 1990 (possibly before, that's when I first came across it; I'll try and do it from memory):

      The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.

      As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as "Euro-English".

      In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.

      There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.

      In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkurage the removal of double leters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the langwij is disgraseful, and they should go away.

      By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

      After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru! And zen world!

      -
      Postscript: That last paragraph looks slightly German to me. Hitler's dream come true (no you may not invoke Godwin's, it was a joke).

      --
      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    14. Re:what's with the all-caps emails? by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      That's a reheat (and slight reworking) of this old piece.

  11. Not a Communist at that time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure in support of Communism later.

  12. So, in other news, absolutely nothing unexpected. by thesandtiger · · Score: 2

    None of those things are surprising or unexpected. None of those things, or even just the combination of those things, are unique or special to Jobs, or uncommon among humanity at all, let alone people of his generation and initial environment. Hell, the fact that he had an FBI file isn't even surprising or unexpected - I'm sure quite a few /.ers have FBI files just by virtue of where they've worked etc.

    This is "news" in the same way that saying Mr. Jobs was a carbon based life form would been news.

    Jobs was who most people expected he was, even when they had vastly differing opinions as to his worth as a human being.

    I'm not trying to say that /, shouldn't report this stuff, but rather that I'm just surprised the guy's file was so mundane - you'd hope for *something* juicy.

    --
    Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
  13. In other news... by sureshot007 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apple just filed a patent for methods of creating a "Reality Distortion Field". They are calling it iLie.

    1. Re:In other news... by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      but there's a bug: if you don't hold it right, it tells the truth!

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    2. Re:In other news... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Apple just filed a patent for methods of creating a "Reality Distortion Field". They are calling it iLie.

      Samsung carbon copies it and Slashdot gets mad at Apple all over again!

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    3. Re:In other news... by sureshot007 · · Score: 1

      I don't know why I got modded as "troll". I genuinely though it was funny.

  14. Re:Breaking news by bws111 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What is absurd about the FBI having a file on someone who was a potential presidential appointee?

  15. "twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to achieve his goals.

    The man outright stated he was willing to bankrupt the company he was in charge of making a profit for in order to avenge a perceived theft.

    I would say the guy has reality, vengeance, and anger issues that rivals that of women I've let into my life.

    Seriously, the guy had a very elegant approach to things, that's why Apple is very popular among those who don't mind having choices made for them, because despite the premium they're good solid choices as long as you don't have anything outside the box to accomplish. There's no doubt in my mind the guy had control issues, the fit he threw when the iPhone boot-loader was cracked, the fact he won't let you deal with multi-media data on external USB/FireWire drives on Mac OS X, the FUD he had the company spread about OGG/Vorbis, and the face Apple officially doesn't even acknowledge Linux exist even though it counts MS/Windows as a bonus feature combined with temper and obsessiveness stories that leaked about his first term as CEO tells me Jobs was likely a sociopath.

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    1. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Osgeld · · Score: 2

      "tells me Jobs was likely a sociopath."

      or a spoiled little shit of a man child

    2. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would say the guy has reality, vengeance, and anger issues that rivals that of women I've let into my life.

      Jeebus --- pot meet kettle! I can just picture the spittle frothing at the corner of your scowl as you wrote this comment...

    3. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by supercrisp · · Score: 2

      "the guy has reality, vengeance, and anger issues that rivals that of women I've let into my life" -- The women are variable; the constant is you.

    4. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      none of that, I've got a nice set of knife scars to remind me how some people react to not getting their way, or at least having their supply of drug money cut off

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    5. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by liamevo · · Score: 2

      The problem with the world today is that most high profile business people, CEO's and the like all show symptoms of being a sociopath. Our society is setup to reward sociopath's who are intelligent.

    6. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      I've only had one that went nuclear on me, I've had another go into a self harm spiral, and another that still contacts me trying to get back together despite breaking it off 17 years ago when I was in high-school. The others were parted for various other reasons. Sure I'm the constant, I'm the constant that watches others wig the hell out because they have no control over their emotions.

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    7. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by DreadPiratePizz · · Score: 1

      "the fact he won't let you deal with multi-media data on external USB/FireWire drives on Mac OS X"

      What do you mean by that? I have no trouble playing multimedia files off of Firewire drives. I have no trouble saving them. I have no trouble moving my iTunes purchases to them. Can you clarify?

    8. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by RollTRS · · Score: 2

      the fact he won't let you deal with multi-media data on external USB/FireWire drives on Mac OS X

      I know this is irrelevant to your point, but you've piqued my curiosity. What are you referring to here?

      --
      "Perl is my favorite... It's like wiping your ass with unix." - Lord Ender
    9. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by ImprovOmega · · Score: 1

      The problem with the world today is that most high profile business people, CEO's and the like all show symptoms of being a sociopath. Our society is setup to reward sociopath's who are intelligent.

      I would add: and don't hurt others too much. Although the level of hurt that society is willing to put up with is directly proportional to how much money the sociopath in question is able to raise.

    10. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by thefixer(tm) · · Score: 3, Funny

      People who "don't mind having choices made for them"...? Um, that's like the entire population of this country. On the count of 3, everyone say "baaaaaah!"

    11. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by liamevo · · Score: 1

      Sure they don't hurt us too much in our own society, but look at the societies we use for resources and man power, those people are being buttfucked by our industry leaders and their own political and business leaders.

    12. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by getNewNickName · · Score: 1

      Given the amount of media exposure Jobs had, anyone else under the same spotlight would appear sociopathic. Media loves to focus on faults and sensationalize even the smallest issues. It's doubtful that any typical slashdotter would look saintly under that amount of scrutiny.

      Silly statements that get blown out of proportion like bankrupting his company to avenge a theft, that's buying into the idiocy of mass media... right, because Jobs "bankrupted" Apple all the way to becoming the largest company in the world. Jobs was a fabulous marketer who stretched the truth where it benefited the company. He wasn't a saint nor the devil-incarnate, he was just a guy who sold you shiny toys, just like the rest.

    13. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      "largest company in the world"

      By what measure?

    14. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      My own oxymoronic description of Steve Jobs is that he was an empathic sociopath. He was very empathic towards his customers--at least on the front of providing a cohesive, friendly product and product experience and working tirelessly to get there--but rather sociopathic toward the people nearest him. Throw in his famous charisma and tada! Steve Jobs.

      The empathy itself is a faux empathy, though, so it perhaps isn't such the contradiction that it seems. I think Steve keenly understood the Paradox of Choice, and had no problem making all the choices for his customers. He lucked out having a great sense of taste coming from his sense of minimalism.

    15. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Pope · · Score: 1

      ...the fact he won't let you deal with multi-media data on external USB/FireWire drives on Mac OS X, the FUD he had the company spread about OGG/Vorbis...

      Say what? As they say on Wikipedia, citation(s) needed.

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    16. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sociopaths are actually quite good at reading people and giving them what they want (and telling them what they want to hear). That's not empathy, it's just a very skilled ability to mimic empathy. Ted Bundy was a classic example. Almost everyone who knew him described him as charming, personable, and charismatic.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    17. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      They have the most influence over iPads.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    18. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by getNewNickName · · Score: 1

      "largest company in the world"

      By what measure?

      By market capitalization.

    19. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Last Mac I ran, OS-X Tiger through Snow Leopard.

      I could put program and data disk into the AcomData Firewire/USB housings and do as I pleased, I could install programs, read normal data and even write blank disk. I have a large DVD and CD collection so I wanted to rip them to my NAS drive. Mac OSX refused to acknowledge audio CD's and DVD movies in my AcomData housings, they gave a drive label but wouldn't even play audio or movies with the native players, much less let me rip anything. I successfully used the same housings with both USB and FireWire on my very slow Toshiba Tecra A5 and later on my own custom built desktop - both running Kubuntu, I may have actually started with straight up Debian on the Toshiba before switching.

      Every board I asked for support on got exactly the same "Huh?" response you gave, save one who said that's just the way it is.

      I could use the internal drive just fine, but with the size of my collection I really didn't want to wear out the much more expensive internal drive on my Mac Mini. This issue, though not a concern to most people, is one of the biggest reasons I ditched Apple all together. I suspect it might have worked if I had actually bought Apple branded products or "official" third parts stuff from the Apple store instead of my generic PC hardware, but I was a knowledgeable computer user who used to think OS X was incredibly awesome, not a fanboy. The message board where they told me it was on purpose I replied "why did they break the mount command since it works in BSD?" They replied it wasn't broke. (I think I tried it in PSBSD once also, but I haven't dumped a whole lot of time into BSD actual)

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    20. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      I wish I could mod you up in a thread I participated in.

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    21. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

      Our society is setup to reward sociopath's who are intelligent.

      That's one of my main complaints with some TV shows, like House. The concept "the ends justify the means" seems to be rather popular too and rich/successful people often get a pass on their methods...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    22. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      No doubt.

      I've never bashed (modern) Apple products on their hardware design, actual ease of use or elegance. I wan't a Mac Book Pro that isn't a Mac Book Pro so bad it hurts. I had a company issued Mac Book Pro at one point (I had to give back) and I really missed the awesome hardware. Now that Dell offers the XPS Z series and Samsung offers their rather impressive knock-offs I may just have that void fulfilled. BTW, I wouldn't trade my Acer Aspire One for a Mac Book Air, despite the fact I could trade the Air for two of mine.

      I am personally a paradox, I love the Apples sleek approach to things, but I like making my own choices also. Fortunately as long as you give me the basic hardware almost all modern notebooks have and let me make some of my own choices in software setup I'm a happy camper. If Steve would have produced the hardware he did, produced the software he did, only take the padlocks off of a few things and let the users make a few extra choices for themselves Apple would in my opinion be the best thing ever.

      Instead I'm sticking with PC's, Linux, Android and making my own choices while keeping a really close eye on what's happening over in the ARM world. I want an nVidia Tegra developers board so bad it hurts, it would make such an awesome car stereo with Android or a touch version of KDE on it (with a big button touch music player).

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    23. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      I second your comment.

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    24. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by thefixer(tm) · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's nice to hear. I always feel under appreciated on slashdot. :-)

      You're dead on about the sociopath stuff. I never worked directly for him, but I had a number of projects where I was reporting to those who did. There was an employee communications meeting being held by an exec VP when Jobs came back which was particularly amusing. They opened up the floor to general questions and this bright eyed girl asked "What is he like in person?" VP pauses for a good 10 count and then says "Well, you kind of have to be a bit of a meglomaniac to do what he does."

      And that's the truth of it. At the end of the day what separates Jobs from a number of other geniuses is a lot of those other people probably listen to the opinions of others.

    25. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Personal dealings. I gave up on Apple over it and I have run into other people who've said the same, but it seems to be an issue no one else cares about, or it may have been something to do with trying to use non-Apple approved generic external housings and off the shelf desktop drives. Works great on non-Apple and it may even work fine on Lion or possibly even later patches of Snow Leopard. Apple lost me over it so I don't know anymore.

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    26. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Mr+Z · · Score: 1

      Fair enough. Good point.

    27. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by wintercolby · · Score: 1

      You're the constant because you're the one narrating that story. The problem with that theory is that no one is constant. You grow, learn and get better at how you handle life. Either that or you stab someone for cutting off your drug money, get incarcerated, and learn life's lessons the hard way.

      --
      Most ignorance is vincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know. --Aldous Huxley
    28. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 2

      No, you knife someone, you marry a rich guy (I'm leaving out details on that), even after being convicted of felonies and including drug use you use the rich guy to buy the kid the other two have in common from the court system by fighting a seven year court battle against a guy who has security clearances from three different three letter federal agencies.

      Nope, you become a good enough sociopath you get your way on everything, especially if you go up against someone who has a moral platform that prevents them from using underhanded tactics.

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    29. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure I'm the constant, I'm the constant that watches others wig the hell out because they have no control over their emotions.

      Second, and I'd like to add, we really need to reverse Women's liberties - they've done nothing but harm.

    30. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would say the guy had reality, vengeance, and anger issues...

    31. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      I stand corrected - mostly. The company needs to drop his vendettas now that he's gone. They can keep a very respectful and profitable company while protecting their IP without the vendettas.

      I've had three different iPhones, an original, my 16GB 3G and the 8GB 3G I bought used to replace the 16GB one I broke. I now have an Evo 4G.

      They are both great phones for different reasons and other than the fact they both have touch interfaces and cover the same basic functions they're nothing alike. When I first started using Android there was quite a learning curve. I had to get used to the "pull down shutter" interface at the top (which I now love BTW), I had to get used to the applications existing not just on multiple desktops if I so desire but in an actual application "drawer". My Android phone multi-task. The music interface is inferior to the iPhone, but it plays Ogg/Vorbis and I even figured out how to embed album covers in the file and make them display. The lack of being stuck with only Apple approved formats an iTunes was a huge improvement to me.

      Maybe the Google guys did run off with a couple of iPhone ideas, but as a consumer who's used both the two platforms are incredibly different and the Google stuff on my old iPhone is a lot of what made my old iPhone usable - it's not like Apple's never taken anyone else's idea.

      The anti-Android vendetta needs to stop.

      The Pystar / Mac Clone thing, meh, could go either way, I think they have a debatable case there (yes, they won the debate, I'm talking about my perspective).

      Intentionally setting iPhones to brick if you try to break the bootloader is just incredibly prickish and even though I'm not sure if they should be civilly liable for that or not I still think Steve and others on his staff making sure it happened needed to be repeatedly kicked in the nuts for making that happen. Really, once you sell it to someone else it's not yours anymore.

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    32. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      So, largest publicly traded company then.

    33. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by zoloto · · Score: 1

      It just sounds like you don't know how to use OSX. I've never had issues with the same kind of setup you've described.

    34. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 2

      I would say the guy has reality, vengeance, and anger issues that rivals that of women I've let into my life.

      Yet here you are raving and ranting because Jobs either "didn't acknowledge" your pet projects, whatever that's supposed to mean, or because of imagined slights against them. Sounds you might have some issues of your own.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    35. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      My pet projects?

      You mean Ogg/Vorbis? Ogg/Theora? Some sort of CODEC to make a web standard that wasn't proprietary? I wouldn't call making the web useful to everyone was a pet project, yet Apple led the charge on making sure the officially selected default format would not be open.

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    36. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      You're probably right. OS X is just so much more difficult to figure out than Linux, Windows 9x, some NT Variant, or BSD. My God, how do all of these hipsters with their liberals arts degrees ever even get this Über difficult OS to run at all? In the middle of a coffee shop no less!

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    37. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      Citation needed. Apple hadn't even released the iPod when Ogg/Vorbis first came on the scene. Firefox wasn't even released until 2004, who would've used this open web CODEC, Internet Explorer ? Sounds like a case of blameapple-itis.
      BTW, I ripped all of my CD's to Ogg/Vorbis to play on my iAudio back in the day, then I got an iPod and I haven't looked back since. Step 1: make stuff not suck, step 2: make it open. When OSS stops skipping step 1 then I'll get interested again.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    38. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      You obviously don't read Slashdot much, and you pretend Codecs are hardwired, and to top it off you reply with as though specific dates you outlined were required in order for my statement to be relevant in an attempt to confuse the issue.

      and Nokia

      APPLE FUD keeps it proprietary

      AGAINST APPLES PROTEST Nokia is the bigger part of this one

      http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/09/23/2128254/the-looming-video-codec-fight

      http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/06/06/1344256/apples-html5-and-standards-gallery-not-standard

      http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/07/13/1430232/w3c-chastises-apple-on-html5-patenting

      Citation enough for you?

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    39. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by maccodemonkey · · Score: 1

      "the fact he won't let you deal with multi-media data on external USB/FireWire drives on Mac OS X"

      Errr that's not true.

      "the FUD he had the company spread about OGG/Vorbis"

      Again not true. They had legitimate reasons (quality concerns and hardware acceleration), and they allow OGG in QuickTime/iTunes through plugins.

      "and the face Apple officially doesn't even acknowledge Linux exist even"

      Again, huh? Apple has numerous open source projects where Linux is a supported platform. They even considered Linux as the basis for iOS, which they publicly mentioned. Apple also for the longest time supported MkLinux, Linux running on their own kernel.

      This sounds like an angry, non-sensical rant, not really a well thought out series of points.

    40. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just sounds like you don't know how to use OSX. I've never had issues with the same kind of setup you've described.

      So it is not intuitive then.

    41. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Sardaukar86 · · Score: 1

      It just sounds like you don't know how to use OSX. I've never had issues with the same kind of setup you've described.

      I thought OSX's strength was that it Just Worked without one having to be a gearhead to use it?

      Perhaps you with all your superiority can explain this in such a way that I (a mere peon) might understand.

      Pecosdave seems to me to be fairly articulate and intelligent, If someone technically-minded like Pecosdave* can't get it to work, who exactly is OSX aimed at?

      Retorts that amount to "Well, *I* don't have any problem with it, you must be stupid" reflect far more unfavourably on you than the person you are being snippy with.

      * I'm surmising this from his posts; my assumption may be incorrect

      --
      ..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
    42. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      Firstly it's worth noting here that we might not even have HTML 5 if it wasn't for Apple, which was part of the consortium that ">pushed for its development. And the last 2 links have little to nothing to do with the topic at hand of audio video encoding. Secondly CODECS might not be hardwired but they are implemented in hardware, as h264 is, which becomes a major issue on mobile devices and that's where the majority of HTML5's growth is. Ogg/Vorbis was never going to win out over h.264 because none of the hardware companies, none of the software companies and none of the content companies were going to make money of off it (or get some MAD ammo by cross-licensing) and thus none of those had any incentive to use it, promote it and make it more efficient by embedding it in their hardware. A battle which was long over by the time HTML 5 was finally ready by the way. So it comes down to making either a philosophical choice, which would have hobbled devices like smartphones for the foreseeable future, or to go for a technology with a broad base of support (as opposed to the handful of opposing parties your articles quote.) Apple has always been pragmatic in these kinds of choices. If the pragmatic choice would've been Ogg/Vorbis they would've made it, as Apple have shown in the past by their willingness to build on open source technology where it makes sense.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    43. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Are you a professional apologist or just a fan boy?

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    44. Re:"twist the truth and distort reality" by Reservoir+Penguin · · Score: 1

      Isn't OSX supposed to be intuitive for such basic things as playing media?

      --
      US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
  16. Re:Breaking news by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Get a life bonch. A Slashdotter who lives in one of the most boring places in the world is telling you to Get. A. Life.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  17. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  18. iRapture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no reality distortion field in our politicians. wasn't that the administration that had a secretary of the interior who wasn't concerned with pollution and resource depletion because he was expecting the rapture during his term?

  19. Re:Breaking news by pecosdave · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Even though Google hasn't been 100% faithful to it's "Do no evil" policy it's done better than most companies.

    I hope among Motorola's patents Google finds a patent trump card it can use to point a cannon at every other phone maker out there to strong arm everyone else into dropping all of their own patent suits. "The Nuclear Patent" that way we can get on with actually improving things and getting better phones instead of just tiptoeing around the patent wars.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  20. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmm. Point taken. Then I guess it's really just a point of curiosity, and there's nothing to get upset about. I'm still new at this "yelling at bonch for being a horrible person" thing, so there may be a few rough patches to work out.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  21. SSN? by JStyle · · Score: 1

    I don't know the rules, but is it okay for the FBI to post the man's social security number? It's on nearly every page. 549-94-3295 if anyone was wondering.

    1. Re:SSN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      * submits credit card application *

    2. Re:SSN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought that was weird also. And why did they need to redact Jobs' birth father name from the report? I didn't understand that because I thought it was already publicized in the press .

    3. Re:SSN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Staybay Hobs! If you're gonnna racist,, get it right, man.

    4. Re:SSN? by alva_edison · · Score: 1

      Maybe they're Eastern-European illegals?

      --
      He effected a bored affect.
  22. Re:So, in other news, absolutely nothing unexpecte by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is "news" in the same way that saying Mr. Jobs was a carbon based life form would been news.

    To be fair, that revelation would have surprised a lot of the Apple Faithful.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  23. Honest not required for government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Jobs' defense, the interview subjects still recommended him for the high-level [government] appointment, which he didn't get.

    "Honesty and integrity are not prerequisites to assume such a position," one of the interview subjects reportedly said.

    Source

    Whoever it was that said that to the FBI has serious chutzpah.

  24. Exactly bws111 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Exactly.

    Also, Steve did publicly lie, repeatedly, about Apple never using Intel cpu's such as "...it will be a cold day in hell...".

    Companies and individuals made huge investments in Apple products and Steve bold faced lied through his teeth. Overall he was a great individual but, like any human, he definitely had his no good, snake in the grass, piece of crap, lying moments.

    1. Re:Exactly bws111 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Overall he was a great individual

      Everything I've heard said he was basically a douche bag. Brilliant but a douche bag.

    2. Re:Exactly bws111 by msheekhah · · Score: 1

      truth is he planned it from the beginning

      --
      Mark Anthony Collins
  25. TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Animats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a note that Jobs once held a TOP SECRET clearance while at Pixar. I wonder what Pixar was doing for the Government.

    1. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's a note that Jobs once held a TOP SECRET clearance while at Pixar. I wonder what Pixar was doing for the Government.

      Bush was afraid Toy Story was real. He was worried his dolls were all spying on him at night.

    2. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      My understanding was that Bush thought that he was Buzz Lightyear and that his identity was being stolen...

    3. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by hughk · · Score: 2

      Probably grid computing. The same tech that builds render farms can be used for code breaking.

      --
      See my journal, I write things there
    4. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by recharged95 · · Score: 2

      Well if you were in hi-tech back then, it made sense.

      From the link:

      "This system was aimed at high-end government imaging applications which were done by dedicated systems produced by the aerospace industry which cost a million dollars a seat

      Having been there, yes, they were that expensive!

    5. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simulations, simulators and visualizations most likely. An interactive pre-visualization pipeline for rapid planning, training and analyzation of special operations sounds like something a company like Pixar could have delivered.

    6. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by houghi · · Score: 2

      I wonder what Pixar was doing for the Government.

      Make the politicians look less fake.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    7. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

      Thats the strange thing some Presidential talking shop I can understand releasing some paper work but TS clearance that's serious shitand given some of the damming statements about his personality how in hell did he ever get TS.

    8. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It took them a while to build the rendering farm for the first black president.
      Now they're working on the first lesbian babe president. It will be worth the wait.

    9. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Getting a Top Secret clearance isn't all that hard, especially for a generalized clearance that's not going to used as a basis for access to compartmentalized information. It's when your being vetted for accesses and compartments that they really rake your past over the coals.

    10. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      OMG the Mars rover footage is all FAKE. I can tell by some of the pixels.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    11. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was during his tenure at NeXT that he held that clearance. It is pretty well known that the US Government was the largest consumer of the original cubes.

    12. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by thevil · · Score: 2

      Gawker: A source who worked with Jobs emailed to say "several people had security clearances at Pixar since, in the early days, they were selling an image rendering software system that could be used to enhance satellite surveillance photographs and film. There was even a Chernobyl demo. They thought that the 'spooks' would provide a huge market."

    13. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by LS · · Score: 0

      Creating fake videos of osama bin laden.

      --
      There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
    14. Re:TOP SECRET clearance at PIXAR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a note that Jobs once held a TOP SECRET clearance while at Pixar. I wonder what Pixar was doing for the Government.

      They were building the intersect. Chuck was not just a comedy, it was an unauthorized documentary which is why the real CIA made the writers create the horrible last season to kill the show.

      Hold on a sec, there is a black helicopter above my house for some reason. Damn, I hope this does not put a kibosh on travelling to the office in DC. BRB.

  26. Good to know, that he was not a communist. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good to know, that he was not a communist. I would have hated myself for buying any of his products.

  27. Best quote from entire document by johnthorensen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    [redacted] concluded the interview by stating that even though he does not consider Mr. Jobs to be a friend, he (Mr. Jobs) possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position. It was [redacted]'s opinion that honest and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position. [redacted] recommended him for a position of trust and confidence with the government.

    That quote alone is awesome on so many levels I can't even begin to describe the joy and mirth I experienced while reading it.

    1. Re:Best quote from entire document by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [redacted] concluded the interview by stating that even though he does not consider Mr. Jobs to be a friend, he (Mr. Jobs) possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position. It was [redacted]'s opinion that honest and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position. [redacted] recommended him for a position of trust and confidence with the government.

      That quote alone is awesome on so many levels I can't even begin to describe the joy and mirth I experienced while reading it.

      The only thing more awesome than the comment itself is the fact that the guy said it to an FBI investigator's face.

    2. Re:Best quote from entire document by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The background check was for a position in the George W. Bush White House. Honesty and Integrity might have been detrimental to a candidates success.

    3. Re:Best quote from entire document by mykepredko · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry I don't have any points to mod you up - when I saw it (and it is located in multiple locations of the document) I really thought it said it all.

      myke

    4. Re:Best quote from entire document by washort · · Score: 2

      "Read my lips: No new taxes."

    5. Re:Best quote from entire document by Muros · · Score: 1

      It would be more amusing if he said it to a politician's face. I'm pretty sure that most FBI asshat maneuvers are due to orders from above and CYA mentalities, not the outright malevolence one sees in many in politics.

    6. Re:Best quote from entire document by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [redacted] has some huge balls.

  28. "Communist" is just branding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Communist China is communist like Roman Meal bread is from Rome.

    1. Re:"Communist" is just branding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Communist China is communist like Roman Meal bread is from Rome.

      If you believe that, I suggest you go there and criticize the government; or try to hold a public worship service; or try to run for office without party approval. You'll end up in prison before you close your mouth. China is an example of what can happen when a totalitarian government decides to allow a bit of economic freedom. Those with ties to the government or enough money to bribe enough officials are doing well. Average workers, not so much. And trials for those "accused" of a crime are a joke. The judgement is pretty well known before the trial begins.

  29. I don't believe it..... by 3seas · · Score: 1

    my co-worker is now saying I'm gonna pop.

  30. Ah, the seventies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Basically everyone spent that decade high on everything imaginable.

  31. Re:I understand! by Barefoot+Monkey · · Score: 2

    Steve Jobs is LSD!

    That statement makes more sense than I'm comfortable admitting.

  32. Re:Breaking news by GameboyRMH · · Score: 0

    And god forbid a company use patents to seek royalties! That's just so evil, what will Google do next, patent some touchscreen gestures? Patent concentric rectangles!?

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  33. Re:Breaking news by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

    Yeah, there are four government agencies that have files on me, and I'm not even a potential presidential appointee!

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  34. Re:Breaking news by Jawnn · · Score: 1

    What is absurd about the FBI having a file on someone who was a potential presidential appointee?

    Better question... "Why didn't he get the job?" I mean, come on. After that "...will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,” observation, you'd think that he'd have fit right in with that bunch. And he wasn't a communist either. Apparently, that was somehow important back then.

  35. Our government is just paranoid by techgeek0279 · · Score: 1

    I think sometimes people are just too paranoid. Being too paranoid is just counter productive in my honest opinion. I mean, investigating Jobs' life, where did it get them anyways?

  36. Re:Breaking news by Gilmoure · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They're better than human, they're a corporation; All the rights and privileges, a lot less of the requirements.

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  37. FBI doesn't distort the truth? by na1led · · Score: 1

    So they like to point out all of our faults, as if the FBI is the most honest organization on the planet, Yea Right!

    --
    -- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
  38. Re:Breaking news by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

    Fuck that I got all excited from the Title. I fully expected that Jobs created a working Reality Distortion Field. Not just him dispelling myths or outright lying. People do that daily, why is it newsworthy?

    I'm not an Apple fanboy, but Christ let the man rest.

    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  39. And to the public... by RyoShin · · Score: 2

    I think the worst thing about this is that the public in general will see his drug use as being worse than his dishonesty/reality warping. I'm by no means excusing it, but I'd rather have a user than a liar any day.

    (It's funny that I went to actually RTFA and it was barely longer than the /. summary with no additional information.)

    1. Re:And to the public... by NonUniqueNickname · · Score: 4, Funny

      I went to actually RTFA

      You've learned your lesson, I hope.

    2. Re:And to the public... by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Moreover, drug use over 30 years ago!

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    3. Re:And to the public... by JimBobJoe · · Score: 1

      I think the worst thing about this is that the public in general will see his drug use as being worse

      I hope that isn't the case anymore. Actually I was wondering if FBI background checks are as obsessed with drug use as they once were. It seems quite old fashioned to me. (In the same way that figuring out who is a communist is also pretty old fashioned too.)

    4. Re:And to the public... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's wrong with LSD or cannabis use? The former is neither toxic or addictive, and the latter is a carcinogen (when smoked) and can be a motivational issue, but is generally much much safer than say .... alcohol.

  40. Hacks by Phoenix666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it me, or is it the more we learn about the inner workings of our government via WikiLeaks, social media, and other channels that it becomes clear the last thing on earth any reasonably intelligent person should ever do is give their trust or dollars to the government or big corporations?

    As a young man I had an impression of at least certain departments of the government as being competent, such as the FBI, CIA, and State Department. The first of those to fall was the CIA, with whom I had personal contact in the late 90's; calling them room temperature IQ's would be an effusive compliment. Then the FBI botched investigation after investigation throughout their lab screw-ups. And their modus operandus seemed to increasingly be to frame their suspects and violate the basic constitutional rights of innocent Americans. The State Department's sign-off on yellow-cake uranium was the first big blow to my confidence in that bunch; the next big strike against them was breezing through their application process only to wonder why it was no people of color made it; and the nail in the coffin was Cablegate.

    Now, maybe DARPA has mettle left. The SEALs seem to prove themselves again and again. Apple and Google appear to be effective. But why do we cede so much to all the rest, given how shot through with corruption, collusion, and incompetence they are, and at such horrific cost?

    We are, many of us, so much brighter and better and deserving of more to have our collective potential so utterly frustrated by such dross. It's not an information problem so much anymore. We have any one of dozens of channels to chose from to communicate. Is it a question of will or organization? As refugees from the system of ritual abuse constituted by the status quo, are we constitutionally unable to work with others cohesively or deeply afraid of bullies who will walk up and punch us?

    I struggle with this because I see the deep intelligence of so many of my colleagues and of the general community on /., and I wonder what challenges we could not surmount if we could break free of our learned social inhibitions. We have all grown up in a world ruled by salesmen, thugs, and psychopaths, but that's not the world I'd like to leave to my kids. I'd like them to live in a world led by artists, engineers, scientists, and humanitarians.

    --
    Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
    1. Re:Hacks by jockeys · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We have all grown up in a world ruled by salesmen, thugs, and psychopaths, but that's not the world I'd like to leave to my kids. I'd like them to live in a world led by artists, engineers, scientists, and humanitarians.

      Artists, engineers, scientists and humanitarians do not have an unquenchable, innate thirst for power.

      Salesmen, thugs and psychopaths do. So they work hard to gather, consolidate and maintain power while decent people don't. It's that simple.

      --

      In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
    2. Re:Hacks by Barney_Stinson · · Score: 1

      The SEALs are competent because they have life or death jobs and have a very good process for weeding people out. The government.... ehh not so much.

    3. Re:Hacks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You left out one other critical group of people. Those-that-shit-in-cereal.Yes, I mean you.

      That guy was all inspired to go out and change the world, and instead of letting him believe what he needed to in order to accomplish his goal, you thought honesty (or cynicism) was needed. If everyone does what you do, the world gets worse.

      “Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
      Enwrought with golden and silver light,
      The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
      Of night and light and the half light,
      I would spread the cloths under your feet:
      But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
      I have spread my dreams under your feet;

      Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
        W.B. Yeats, The Wind Among the Reeds 1899

  41. WHEN STEVE JOBS DIED by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1

    He said "Oh, Wow!" not "Oh, NO!"

    May we all be so fortunate...

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:WHEN STEVE JOBS DIED by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He said "Oh, Wow!" not "Oh, NO!"

      I was there. It was "ouw OUW"

    2. Re:WHEN STEVE JOBS DIED by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      He said "Oh, Wow!" not "Oh, NO!"

      No, no he didn't. Everyone knows that his last word was "iDead".

    3. Re:WHEN STEVE JOBS DIED by idlehanz · · Score: 1

      He was a successful "shovel ready" project.

      --
      Changing the world... one research project at a time.
  42. Steve Jobs Didn't Die by jameskojiro · · Score: 1

    The Crazy People Living in his mind just ascended and left his body behind....

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
  43. marijuana _and_ hashish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh my god he used cannabis _AND_ cannabis -.-

    1. Re:marijuana _and_ hashish by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      OK... thank you- sorry, I guess I'm a square and not really up to speed on my drug terms; but, I thought they were the same thing (or variants thereof). Decided it would not be prudent to google the terms to find out for sure.

      I suspect 90% of his generation living in California had similar exposure.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:marijuana _and_ hashish by GillyGuthrie · · Score: 1

      They're the same thing, but hashish is a dangerous form of "mare-i-joo-ana" that is highly potent; one "hit" of that stuff can leave you high for days and often leads to murderous rages and psychotic episodes. All this shit was official documented decades ago - didn't you learn anything in school? =p

  44. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 1, Troll

    That's the most half-hearted attempt at misogyny I've ever read. I might recommend this Wikipedia article as a starting place to work on your insults.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  45. Seriously? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

    C'mon, anyone who didn't use recreational drugs from 1970 -- 1974 is lying or hadn't been born yet.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:Seriously? by InspectorGadget1964 · · Score: 0

      I'm pretty sure i have read about W. using them as well, but instead of being know for his brains, he has been known for making monkey faces! I guess there must have been some LSD somewhere in his past!

    2. Re:Seriously? by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Well, right, and anyone who seriously believes C. didn't inhale must have been inhaling themselves.

      And none of this really matters.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  46. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You seem really angry for no good reason. I'm sure the reason is good to you, but it's really bringing the quality of discussion down for the rest of us.

  47. Re:Breaking news by Dishevel · · Score: 1

    So your links do not say what you imply that they do.
    Both links only state that Google in order to remove fear from the EU has promised that they will continue to license according to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory). Then they go on to say that they have no intention of charging more than the company already is.
    I guess if you want to assume whatever makes you feel good you can think that they are going to do that. Of course if you want to just guess you could guess that they would be compliant in both statements by charging $1 / year to lic everything.

    My guess is we are both wrong.

    Do not let this stop you from posting more FUD though.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  48. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And he wasn't a communist either. Apparently, that was somehow important back then.

    That was important for getting to government everywhere back then. Even in Russia.

  49. Re:Breaking news by DrXym · · Score: 2

    What is absurd about the FBI having a file on someone who was a potential presidential appointee?

    And by the looks of the material, he filled in the forms, he agreed to be interviewed and he probably nominated associates to talk with. He could have flat out said no and none of this would have happened. I expect in the end it was the administration who said no. Hard working and driven are positives, being a narcissist, liar and deadbeat father are negatives and I suspect they tipped the scales.

  50. Re:Breaking news by poetmatt · · Score: 1

    wow, that was fast, apple sockpuppet.

    I'm highly impressed how you managed to spin this entire discussion (or attempt to) into being anti-google and still manage to not even say the old A word (apple).

    Anytime you feel like doing something for a living that involves ethics, feel free to stop posting on slashdot.

  51. Anti communist seems anti democratic by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm baffled by America's continuing war on stamping out communists.

    Sure, this is a democracy, we want to stay a democracy. We had enemies who were communists; however, the witch hunt against communism, which is still going on to a lesser degree is baffling.

    When I applied for my green card, and later my citizenship (as recent as 2 years ago)- I had to fill in a form saying I hadn't overthrown any governments, wasn't a communist, etc, etc, etc. ... and no, I'm not a communist- although I joined a joke "communist party" in university that parodied the Republican and democrat clubs (I'm actually very centrist)- surprise they didn't find that and block my citizenship... :)

    To me it seems to be "undemocratic" to try and stamp out an individual party or belief like that. Sure- if they try to over-throw the country- or do terrorist acts- or represent a foreign nation- but to try to keep people out because of their belief. Obviously the made a point- even as late as the 80's to make sure Jobs wasn't a commie... this was after the worst of the cold war- and after McCarthyism was en vogue.

    Even MLK was demonized by the FBI- they spread false rumours about him trying to discredit him because he had communist friends and they FBI was worried he too might be a communist trying to spread communism.

    I dunno- but even as someone who is opposed to communism - I find the attack on communism by the government to be kinda creepy- it feels as if some rights are being violated somehow. If I did want to be a commie- should I not be allowed to? Should I not be allowed to have a political opinion that is not main stream? What if a Republican government later decides to attack and out law the green party, or the democrats?

    Am I the only one who finds this wrong? I know we're supposed to hate the commies- but we're also supposed to let people believe whatever they want and only arrest them if the commit a crime or conspire to do so.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:Anti communist seems anti democratic by 0123456 · · Score: 0

      I'm baffled by America's continuing war on stamping out communists.

      Could be something to do with, you know, murdering tens of millions of people in the last century and wanting to destroy everything that America stands for.

      Just a thought.

    2. Re:Anti communist seems anti democratic by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Communist nations have done that, yes. - and to be honest, I can't think of any communist nation that hasn't been responsible for one attrocity or another.

      That said, and I'm not defending communism, not all communists are bad people- they just have a bad taste in political ideology. Plenty of democracies have done horrendous things.

      I guess my point is, it seems undemocratic to persecute people of one political belief system, no matter how flawed- BEFORE they do, or conspire to do anything wrong.

      If I were to be in favour of a sortition based government (which I am actually) no-one would try to throw me out of the country. If I were in favour of the US adopting Britney Spears as a constitutional monarch (don't worry I'm not that crazy) no one would throw me out the country. I could even run on one of those platforms for a government position. (just not for President).

      If someone happens to believe in communism- even if they promote it peacefully- that's not criminal (or shouldn't be)- it should just be a bad opinion.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:Anti communist seems anti democratic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The UK, US and Japan can beat that number by a significant margin, in just the last century.

      These countries were Democratic - or at least as democratic as we get these days.

    4. Re:Anti communist seems anti democratic by godglike · · Score: 1

      "I know we're supposed to hate the commies..."

      As most Americans define it, this means hating most other countries in the world.

    5. Re:Anti communist seems anti democratic by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Probably because most communist parties have had as an outspoken goal to violate basic human rights, in addition to the armed revolution:

      Article 17.
      (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
      (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

      I have a bit of a problem with permitting e.g. a racist party that have as policy to take away human rights that per definition should be inalienable and no government should have the right to take away. Even if 51% were to vote for that party (or 2/3rds or 3/4ths or whatever it'd take to change the constitution) it'd still be wrong. It's not something I think should be possible through "democratic" ways, and so not really within the political positions a democracy should accept.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  52. RDF and culture by CODiNE · · Score: 1

    Fanboy alert, I did read the Issacson book.

    It had an interesting bit about the RDF and Jobs' reasoning behind it. The basic gist of it is that while a young guy he went to India and found himself a guru while immersing himself in "Eastern religion". Apparently during this time he learn the power of intuition and that at times it can triumph over the facts or what reason would tell you. It seems that this became a core belief of his and would color his views of what is and isn't possible.

    So basically in rejecting western thought processes and harsh rationality he believed he could bend reality to his will. This later comes up when he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and tries to cure himself with odd diets and fasting.

    True at times he would use it as a marketing trick to assert things that he didn't want the public to know about, such as denying that certain products were in development. At other times when using the RDF he indeed did believe such things and often succeeded in accomplishing what others would view as impossible. Such as negotiating record company contracts, getting Gorilla glass for the iPhones in time and forcing product thinness on his engineers.

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
  53. Re:Breaking news by Tsingi · · Score: 1

    Please don't feed the troll

  54. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 2

    That's much better.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  55. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You really are just a pro-Apple anti-Google ranter, bonch. I'm not going to say you're a paid shill, but you incessantly try to turn conversations to be about how much Google sucks and Apple rules. I'm finally done with you.

  56. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're modded up to +5 Interesting for being hateful for no good reason. Not only that, but it was flat out wrong (as you admit in the later response).

    Be less mean. That crap doesn't help anything. Especially when the only reason for being mean is because you yourself misinterpreted the article.

  57. bonch is a shill Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The bonch account, together with bonch, Overly Critical Guy and SharkLaser accounts, are sockpuppet accounts employed to astroturf slashdot with Apple-friendly PR and karmawhore through fluff posts.

    They also are involved in a coordinated campaigns to manipulate discussions and attack slashdotters who post messages which are unfriendly to their astroturfing campaign or threaten their karma.

    Mod this astroturfing shill account accordingly.

  58. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 1

    Man made of straw should not bait flame.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  59. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  60. Re:Breaking news by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

    Not really misogynist though. That could merely be construed as someone politely telling you you're nuttier than a fruitcake without any regards to gender.

  61. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  62. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  63. Re:Breaking news by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 0

    True. I was hoping that the next post would somehow try to tie it all together by drawing on stereotypes about feminists or something.

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  64. epitaph of a scheming cunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....as though that was a surprise.

  65. Re:Breaking news by Adriax · · Score: 1

    He believes it's unfair for any company to make products that compete with apple, so to legally satisfy FRAND all other companies must transfer ownership of all patents to apple then commit ritual suicide.

    --
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  66. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the forces opposing you grow in number with each day

    your shilling has been exposed, no one takes anything you post seriously

    leave site and never come back, we are too smart for your pathetic astroturfing to ever succeed

  67. Ahem by koan · · Score: 1

    Every politician relies on "reality distortion" and our government wouldn't be able to exist without "reality distortion" this single trait starts at the top government officials and goes all the way down to obese women that wear Lycra shorts.
    In addition, Jobs was so successful after taking drugs (though not necessarily because of them) I think it's safe to say that at least some of the "War Against Drugs" (WAD) propaganda is complete and utter baloney, in fact I think about how ridiculous the WAD is every time I buy a bottle of vodka at the corner grocery.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  68. Government 'Jobs' by Suffering+Bastard · · Score: 2

    ...after a background check for a possible appointment by former President George H. W. Bush...'Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs' honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals'

    In other words Steve was perfect for the job.

    --
    "Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
    - Deep Thought
  69. Re:So, in other news, absolutely nothing unexpecte by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is "news" in the same way that saying Mr. Jobs was a carbon based life form would been news.

    To be fair, that revelation would have surprised a lot of the Apple Faithful.

    Surely even the Apple Faithful must know that human beings living in silicon valley aren't actually *made* of silicon.

  70. Lack of Redactions by alva_edison · · Score: 1

    It's probably not that useful now, but there's some interesting personal information in the linked FBI file, the one that caught my eye was his SSN.

    --
    He effected a bored affect.
  71. Re:Breaking news by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hell, I have an FBI file. Prints on file with them, too. Everybody in the military, past, present, and future, gets one as part of their security clearance procedure. Some of us get them added to over the decades as a result of, well, things. Things like, participating in a protest movement, joining an organisation with ties to radical politics. I do have to say, tho, that most of the 'subversive' things I did back in the day are real snoozers today. Kinda hard to remember why we fucking cared that much.

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  72. I guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is it contagious because it seems all APPLE product owners are delusional and will twist reality to get what they want, it even works on themselves, it's the only explanation that fits compulsive buyers for owning every version of an Apple product

  73. Re:Breaking news by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

    and if you read it TS clearance for his time at pixar

  74. Re:Breaking news by Moryath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Corporations are what you'd get with a human who:

    - Never sleeps
    - Never needs air
    - Has no conscience
    - Has enough funding to run a team of lawyers 24/7
    - Cannot be imprisoned or arrested, even for a single hour

    I'll believe a corporation is a person when one can be given the death penalty for murder. Oh, wait, they just fine the corporation lots of money and the people responsible for the murderous decisions get off scot free with a golden stock parachute...

  75. Re:Breaking news by amoeba1911 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I second that motion. Corporations break the law and commit things that would be considered felonies, yet they just get a small fine and a slap of the wrist. The fine is always ridiculously small, it is like having a $90 fine for stealing $100 worth of goods from a store. The chances of getting caught by someone you can't bribe are small, and when you do get caught, the fine isn't that bad.

    In some states, convicted felons lose the right to vote. Yet, corporations convicted of felonies are allowed to sway elections with unlimited campaign contributions.

  76. Senator's by sgent · · Score: 1

    Senator's who have TS clearance do go through a background check. The House Armed Services Committee & Intelligence committee's require background checks on member's. The difference is that the Senate can decide to appoint someone to a committee regardless of the results as its up to the political process. That being said, I would be highly surprised if they did.

    Cabinet Secretaries also go through background checks (usually) as part of their confirmation process. Although in theory the Senate could confirm w/o one, they do require them before hearings even take place.

    The president / vice-president are the only ones who truly go through no official background check. However, the publicity and media surrounding a campaign almost guarantee's that everything will come up. If the people decide (regardless) that they don't have a problem, then its not the FBI's (or anyone else's) place to tell them no.

  77. Re:Breaking news by kenrblan · · Score: 2

    I read it and thought, "Why would working at Pixar require Top Secret Clearance?" My only guess is they were working on military simulation graphics.

    --
    Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein
  78. OK by joh · · Score: 2

    You may think about SJ what you want, but if you look at his presentations and speeches one thing that is much more interesting than his RDF is the pieces this RDF is made up from: He is extremely clear, logically convincing, he speaks freely without a script and everything appears to be very well thought through. You don't need to accept what he did and what he thought, but there's still much to learn from him, if you like him or not.

    For any political, public or indeed business work these are abilities that are extremely important and at the same time rare. I can fully understand that there were people wanting him badly in a political rule. And I'm actually happy that he was obviously single-minded enough to not fall for that. He never cared for anything but computers, applied technology and business. Even if you don't like the company, the software and the business he built, the way he managed to do that certainly is something to learn from.

    Only idiots refuse to learn from people they don't like. The opposite from something that is totally wrong is invariably also totally wrong.

  79. Ah, Yes [Prime] Minister by reluctantjoiner · · Score: 1

    Still completely relevant to this day. And this episode is indeed appropriate for this situation, which concerned the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of England and how Sir Humphrey utilises basic back stabbing techniques (ie first get behind them) to ensure that "Mr Clean" doesn't get appointed.

    And while we're throwing quotes:
    Dorothy Wainwright: [Referring to Desmond Glazebrook] He never has an opinion on anything; he always agrees with whomever he's speaking, so naturally, people think he's sound.

  80. ...not a member of the communist party by msobkow · · Score: 1

    Because you have the freedom to vote provided it's for the Democrats or the Republicans, not any "fringe" parties.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  81. Re:So, in other news, absolutely nothing unexpecte by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

    Well there is some precedent.

    --
    If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
  82. LSD... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...bad for your liver.

  83. Steve Jobs and the FBI's opinion of him: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Steve Jobs was a man of vision. The FBI has myopia. Was the FBI writer promoted, or did he get the boot he so richly deserved? The sad fact is that the FBI misses more than it gets, being ill led. When an FBI agent does stumble upon, say the guys who murdered JFK, MLK, RFK, George Wallace, Vince Foster, the same guys who shot the Pope, Gabby Giffords, and Ronald Reagan, they get mind wiped. Obviously it's the Plumbers. The Plumbers have had a CIA-developed mind-wipe drug since the early sixties. It's mostly a clear, alcohol-like general anesthetic. A whiff or two will give amnesia while weakening the willpower to "OK, sure." The young teens of Dallas and Houston, raped by George W. Bush, his dad, and the Plumbers would tell you all about it, if they could just remember. There were so many unaccounted-for hickeys that dermatologists thought it was a new disease. W. told Skull & Bones all about it. Many republicans "enjoyed" W.'s stable of fillies (Condolezza Rice among them), none turned him in for rape, especially John Tower.
    So where are the arrests of George H.W. Bush, umbrella man in the JFK assassination? The FBI would cast aspersions on Steve Jobs, when Mr. Jobs is no longer around to defend his name and his honor.

    1. Re:Steve Jobs and the FBI's opinion of him: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Steve Jobs was a man of vision.

      just wondering if those "visions" are related to the drugs he took in the 70's.

  84. Jobs^H^H^H^HBush by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

    'Several individuals questioned Mr. Bush's honesty stating that Mr. Bush will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,'

    Heh...

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  85. Re:Breaking news by smash · · Score: 1

    Given the history of drug use and ability/intent to distort reality, he's the ideal new age US president.

    --
    I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
  86. Re:Breaking news by not-my-real-name · · Score: 2

    Yeah, there are four government agencies that have files on me, and I'm not even a potential presidential appointee!

    That's just what they want you to think.

    --
    un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
  87. Lame FBI by godglike · · Score: 1

    The Yanks are so lame in their security assessments: did drugs 30 years ago; not a communist; has human failings. None of these matter, being communist would actually make him more useful to a strong central government in some roles.

    How about: totally committed to Apple; completely inappropriate for the job; polarizing figure; much more useful as an entrepreneur; will make the best damn product in the world and alienate 75% of the people doing so.

  88. apple? cheap widgets? by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    (scratches head)

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  89. Re:Breaking news by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

    Reality doesn't fit in with your bile. If you're RTFA, you'd have discovered he got the job. Dimwit.

  90. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hell, I have an FBI file, and I'm not famous or important.
    (still posting AC, though)

  91. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Corporations help to keep the populace enslaved.
    To governments who like to keep clean noses, it is a perfect symbiotic relationship.

  92. Re:Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...why is it newsworthy?

    Because people are still making him out to be a saint, rather than simply a successful businessman with typically poor ethics and morals?

  93. Yup, cheap widgets to buy and make. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What? You thought they'd send those savings on to you, their customer?!?!?!

    Don't be so naive!

  94. Re:Breaking news by beachcoder · · Score: 1
    Quite. I especially like the interviewee on pages 41-42:

    He characterized Mr. Jobs as a deceptive individual who is not completely forthright and honest. He stated that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals.

    Then, shortly after:

    [He] concluded the interview by stating that even though he does not consider Mr. Jobs to be a friend, he (Mr. Jobs) possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position. It was [his] opinion that honesty and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position. [He] recommended him for a position of trust and confidence with the Government.

    Is that you, Woz?

  95. Re:Breaking news by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 1

    He did get appointed...

    --

    Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

  96. We are not like "normal" people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You would not like to be involved at any level of government. You are not like those people who fight hard to be there. To us, society and state (and all forms of governing it) are things to endure, and avoid. Do whatever you can for your children, then for yourself, and for your loved ones. If possible, harm nobody. Be happy when you can, as often you can. Be a stoic: "sustine et abstine".

  97. Re:Breaking news by SmurfButcher+Bob · · Score: 1

    I believe the official quote is, "I'll believe that corporations are people when Texas successfully executes one."

    --

    help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am

  98. FBI made a mistake by NewYork · · Score: 1

    "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." --Mark Twain