You're right, people DO confuse Fox's news and pundit commentary, but I feel that's how Fox likes it.
Also, Fox seems big on the whole "some people say..." line of introducing an idea that they want out there, but don't want to be directly blamed for introducing. "SOME PEOPLE SAY.... Obama is a socialist Muslim born in Kenya. But we'll let you decide!".
To be fair, I don't personally find the other channels much better and I don't watch any of them (I don't have extended cable). I just listen to NPR on the radio when I'm in the car, and read some newspapers online.
As a brilliant man said a very long time ago "The meaning of a word is its use in the language".
OK, my reply is going to be off topic, but your comment quoted above reminded me of an argument I had with some friends.
I had one friend who had started dating a mildly religious women who didn't like cussing, so he was working to cut cuss words out of his speech. He would sometimes use silly or weird words in their replacement, such as "ferk" in lieu of "fuck" if he accidentally hurt himself, for example.
My argument was that he was *still* cussing, despite the change in word. The new stand-in word retained the original meaning, use, and inflection and was understood by all as a replacement for the original word. Therefore, it was still cussing.
Many of my friends did not agree with my assertion.
As a linguist, I would be interested in your take.
The only people I see this of being a real use for, in any quantities making it worthwhile to pursue, is the military market, with researchers that operate in very remote areas being a smaller secondary market.
Who else is really going to be away from a traditional cellular network for long enough to need such a phone, outside of military and research folks? It just doesn't seem like a reasonable product for 99.9% of the population.
The catch in Japan is that it's not socially polite to walk around with drinks, you're encouraged to hang out at the vending machine and finish it off right there. Of course, taboos be damned, we had cheap electronics stores to explore.
Yeah, and they enforce it by not having recycling bins or trash cans ANY WHERE except right by the vending machines, yet somehow there isn't litter all over the place. When I was there it was incredibly warm and humid, so I'd walk around with a bottle of water or whatever just to stay hydrated, despite the lack of manners it displayed.
Mine, built for less than $4500.00 with used junk off ebay is better than MOST smaller commercial theaters. Do I get 1st run movies? Nope and dont care either. I have better popcorn, better sound, FAR BETTER picture, and I can pause the movie if I want.
Yeah, there are a LOT of used projectors on ebay for only a few hundred dollars. If you have a house with an extra room, get one of those, some surround sound speakers, some chairs from Ikea, and run it all off of your laptop and you're getting 99% of the theater experience without the overpriced, crap junk food or the rude patrons.
Go somewhere else then, seriously. Most often it's the small, independent, or even budget theaters that actual treat their patrons nicely.
+1 to this. I rarely see first run movies anymore, just because it's expensive and annoying to fight the crowds, sit through the commercials, and all of that garbage. My local independent theater shows movies a few months after they originally come out (I can wait), and will also run older films and cult classics (I've been able to see Blade Runner and Star Trek II there).
The best part is that tickets are only $3, they have real food available if you don't want popcorn, and they have beer. They limit the previews to 5 minutes, and don't show commercials.
It makes Regal (and whoever else operates the big chains these days) seem like a bunch of jerks.
Wow, I just want to comment on how nice it is to see someone who actually understands how water rights in the west (which is much more arid than the eastern US) work.
I work in a related industry and it's not often that people understand why water rights even exist, or how they operate. I'm with you on not totally agreeing with how it works, but from what I understand, many places are allowing the collecting of rainwater by residents now, because they realize that it probably won't impact the recharge rate of the local aquifers. If I have a 55 gallon bucket hooked up to my gutter at my house that I use to water my plants, I'm not doing much harm. I just don't think they want to see expansive rainwater harvesting system constructed that could divert serious quantities of water.
I always have location services off because I don't often need the GPS... I just turn it on when I need to use it with the Maps app. However, I imagine they can still get a pretty good fix on where you are at by triangulating the cellular signal, or even turning on "location services" silently in the background when they need a better fix on the location (I wouldn't put it past them).
All the rest of what Starbucks offers is just so much pretentious bullshit.
You haven't SEEN pretentious until you visit a Stumptown coffee roasters in Portland, Oregon. You can choke on the skintight black jeans and irony just stepping into that place.
I've moved to using glass for food storage. Although heavier, it's chemically safer since it's non-porous, and much easier to clean.
See, I still store food in tupperware, but will only reheat in glass containers, or microwave-safe plates. Does simply storing food in the containers contaminate it with BPA, or does the heating process do that?
Will health insurance companies reimburse people for Wii purchases?
Ha, doubtful. I just shelled out nearly two grand for a new bicycle setup, which I probably get more benefit from in an hour than a whole day of playing some Wii Fit game, and I couldn't get one red cent back from my health insurance company for that type of purchase.
Even my "health savings account", which I put money into beyond my normal insurance payments, won't even cover the purchase of health equipment. Sure, you can buy prescription sun glasses with it, or pay your co-pays with it, but buy something to help actually get and stay healthy? Forget it!
My parents tell me the Tri-state tollway in Illinois (built in the 1950s) was sold the same way. It's still toll today.
That would be frustrating. If something is built with a toll system to pay for it, you should be able to call a number (or visit a website these days) and see how much is left to pay off.
The only other reason I could think that a toll is still levied is that it continues to pay for maintenance. In that way, the people who actually use (and wear down) the road are responsible for paying the upkeep.
Here in Oregon, the Astoria-Megler bridge connecting Oregon to Washington was a toll bridge for a long time. They finally removed the toll booths sometime in the 90's and made it free. You can still see marks where the booths were though.
I should have specified I meant in business and commercial districts. Obviously you have some right to park in front of a house you rent/own.
Subsidize parking for drivers in the middle of a downtown core? Forget it.
I like the recent Portland meters. I've only once or twice had to wait behind someone who had trouble operating the meter, and I love that they take debit cards, since I usually don't keep a bunch of change on me.
Parking shouldn't be free, we already subsidize driving enough as it is without allowing people the unlimited ability to park their private property on public land, as long as they would like. Make them pay for the privilege, it's part of the "privilege" (not right) of driving.
I also enjoy the turnover parking meters create, ensuring that most of the time when I need to run an errand downtown and have to drive, I can find a spot with minimal trouble.
In my city, we now have cross walk signals that display a count down in large illuminated digits until the signal is going to change.
I know this is primarily for the benefit of pedestrians, but I like them as a driver as well. I now know with a greater degree of accuracy how long the green light is going to last, and if I need to be aware of an upcoming change to yellow and perhaps slow down, rather than speeding up to "make it".
This is particularly useful at an intersection I drive through every day on my way to and from work, which has a red-light camera.
I'll be dumping iPhone as soon as my current jailbroken 3GS is considered obsolete. I shouldn't have to literally break the law to make my phone run and work how I, the USER, want it to.
No, clearly you purchased the wrong phone for what you need, and have some serious buyers remorse. Sort of like buying a minivan then wondering why it can't go fast enough to win any street races, if car analogies are your thing.
I bought a 3GS last summer after it was released as well. It does everything that it advertised it was supposed to do, nothing more, nothing less. Since I bought it wanting those features, I am very happy with my purchase.
No one is forcing you to break the law to make the phone run the way you think it should, rather you have to break the law because you failed to read the standard set of features/benefits that they 3GS had at the time of release. It's not like they kept what it could and couldn't do a secret.
Slashdot Mirror
You're right, people DO confuse Fox's news and pundit commentary, but I feel that's how Fox likes it.
Also, Fox seems big on the whole "some people say..." line of introducing an idea that they want out there, but don't want to be directly blamed for introducing. "SOME PEOPLE SAY.... Obama is a socialist Muslim born in Kenya. But we'll let you decide!".
To be fair, I don't personally find the other channels much better and I don't watch any of them (I don't have extended cable). I just listen to NPR on the radio when I'm in the car, and read some newspapers online.
Interesting. Well, thanks for your take on it. It's always fun to ponder these sorts of questions.
And you're very right, it does depend on who you are talking to, like most anything.
Oh, and sorry to reply to myself, I forgot to add the obvious joke in my previous post:
Are you a cunning linguist? Or just a master debater?
Thanks folks, I'm here all night!
As a brilliant man said a very long time ago "The meaning of a word is its use in the language".
OK, my reply is going to be off topic, but your comment quoted above reminded me of an argument I had with some friends.
I had one friend who had started dating a mildly religious women who didn't like cussing, so he was working to cut cuss words out of his speech. He would sometimes use silly or weird words in their replacement, such as "ferk" in lieu of "fuck" if he accidentally hurt himself, for example.
My argument was that he was *still* cussing, despite the change in word. The new stand-in word retained the original meaning, use, and inflection and was understood by all as a replacement for the original word. Therefore, it was still cussing.
Many of my friends did not agree with my assertion.
As a linguist, I would be interested in your take.
The only people I see this of being a real use for, in any quantities making it worthwhile to pursue, is the military market, with researchers that operate in very remote areas being a smaller secondary market.
Who else is really going to be away from a traditional cellular network for long enough to need such a phone, outside of military and research folks? It just doesn't seem like a reasonable product for 99.9% of the population.
GJ you two. Mighty big of you, visiting other people's countries and wilfully showing poor manners. You seem so proud. Represent your country well.
So you follow every single societal norm, every where you go, at all hours? You must be the most amazing human on earth.
It was hot. I'm not going to dehydrate. I'll be sure to ring you up before my next trip so I can have your input.
The catch in Japan is that it's not socially polite to walk around with drinks, you're encouraged to hang out at the vending machine and finish it off right there. Of course, taboos be damned, we had cheap electronics stores to explore.
Yeah, and they enforce it by not having recycling bins or trash cans ANY WHERE except right by the vending machines, yet somehow there isn't litter all over the place. When I was there it was incredibly warm and humid, so I'd walk around with a bottle of water or whatever just to stay hydrated, despite the lack of manners it displayed.
In fact, I am typing this post on the rotated screen right now.
No wonder your post looked sideways.
What about those of us without houses?
Those without houses are just SOL. :)
I don't live in a house, so it's not something I've done, but will consider once I have a place of my own.
It's in Portland, Oregon (the Laurelhurst Theater). As another poster said, we also have the independent McMinamin's chain as well.
Mine, built for less than $4500.00 with used junk off ebay is better than MOST smaller commercial theaters. Do I get 1st run movies? Nope and dont care either. I have better popcorn, better sound, FAR BETTER picture, and I can pause the movie if I want.
Yeah, there are a LOT of used projectors on ebay for only a few hundred dollars. If you have a house with an extra room, get one of those, some surround sound speakers, some chairs from Ikea, and run it all off of your laptop and you're getting 99% of the theater experience without the overpriced, crap junk food or the rude patrons.
Go somewhere else then, seriously. Most often it's the small, independent, or even budget theaters that actual treat their patrons nicely.
+1 to this. I rarely see first run movies anymore, just because it's expensive and annoying to fight the crowds, sit through the commercials, and all of that garbage. My local independent theater shows movies a few months after they originally come out (I can wait), and will also run older films and cult classics (I've been able to see Blade Runner and Star Trek II there).
The best part is that tickets are only $3, they have real food available if you don't want popcorn, and they have beer. They limit the previews to 5 minutes, and don't show commercials.
It makes Regal (and whoever else operates the big chains these days) seem like a bunch of jerks.
Wow, I just want to comment on how nice it is to see someone who actually understands how water rights in the west (which is much more arid than the eastern US) work.
I work in a related industry and it's not often that people understand why water rights even exist, or how they operate. I'm with you on not totally agreeing with how it works, but from what I understand, many places are allowing the collecting of rainwater by residents now, because they realize that it probably won't impact the recharge rate of the local aquifers. If I have a 55 gallon bucket hooked up to my gutter at my house that I use to water my plants, I'm not doing much harm. I just don't think they want to see expansive rainwater harvesting system constructed that could divert serious quantities of water.
I always have location services off because I don't often need the GPS... I just turn it on when I need to use it with the Maps app. However, I imagine they can still get a pretty good fix on where you are at by triangulating the cellular signal, or even turning on "location services" silently in the background when they need a better fix on the location (I wouldn't put it past them).
All the rest of what Starbucks offers is just so much pretentious bullshit.
You haven't SEEN pretentious until you visit a Stumptown coffee roasters in Portland, Oregon. You can choke on the skintight black jeans and irony just stepping into that place.
I've moved to using glass for food storage. Although heavier, it's chemically safer since it's non-porous, and much easier to clean.
See, I still store food in tupperware, but will only reheat in glass containers, or microwave-safe plates. Does simply storing food in the containers contaminate it with BPA, or does the heating process do that?
I love it when my 'frickin lasers' jokes are in nice, orderly lines... ;)
Will health insurance companies reimburse people for Wii purchases?
Ha, doubtful. I just shelled out nearly two grand for a new bicycle setup, which I probably get more benefit from in an hour than a whole day of playing some Wii Fit game, and I couldn't get one red cent back from my health insurance company for that type of purchase.
Even my "health savings account", which I put money into beyond my normal insurance payments, won't even cover the purchase of health equipment. Sure, you can buy prescription sun glasses with it, or pay your co-pays with it, but buy something to help actually get and stay healthy? Forget it!
My parents tell me the Tri-state tollway in Illinois (built in the 1950s) was sold the same way. It's still toll today.
That would be frustrating. If something is built with a toll system to pay for it, you should be able to call a number (or visit a website these days) and see how much is left to pay off.
The only other reason I could think that a toll is still levied is that it continues to pay for maintenance. In that way, the people who actually use (and wear down) the road are responsible for paying the upkeep.
Here in Oregon, the Astoria-Megler bridge connecting Oregon to Washington was a toll bridge for a long time. They finally removed the toll booths sometime in the 90's and made it free. You can still see marks where the booths were though.
I should have specified I meant in business and commercial districts. Obviously you have some right to park in front of a house you rent/own. Subsidize parking for drivers in the middle of a downtown core? Forget it.
I like the recent Portland meters. I've only once or twice had to wait behind someone who had trouble operating the meter, and I love that they take debit cards, since I usually don't keep a bunch of change on me.
Parking shouldn't be free, we already subsidize driving enough as it is without allowing people the unlimited ability to park their private property on public land, as long as they would like. Make them pay for the privilege, it's part of the "privilege" (not right) of driving.
I also enjoy the turnover parking meters create, ensuring that most of the time when I need to run an errand downtown and have to drive, I can find a spot with minimal trouble.
$31.41 - math geek
Shouldn't math geek really be $3.14? At least then the decimal is in the right spot...
In my city, we now have cross walk signals that display a count down in large illuminated digits until the signal is going to change.
I know this is primarily for the benefit of pedestrians, but I like them as a driver as well. I now know with a greater degree of accuracy how long the green light is going to last, and if I need to be aware of an upcoming change to yellow and perhaps slow down, rather than speeding up to "make it".
This is particularly useful at an intersection I drive through every day on my way to and from work, which has a red-light camera.
I'll be dumping iPhone as soon as my current jailbroken 3GS is considered obsolete. I shouldn't have to literally break the law to make my phone run and work how I, the USER, want it to.
No, clearly you purchased the wrong phone for what you need, and have some serious buyers remorse. Sort of like buying a minivan then wondering why it can't go fast enough to win any street races, if car analogies are your thing.
I bought a 3GS last summer after it was released as well. It does everything that it advertised it was supposed to do, nothing more, nothing less. Since I bought it wanting those features, I am very happy with my purchase.
No one is forcing you to break the law to make the phone run the way you think it should, rather you have to break the law because you failed to read the standard set of features/benefits that they 3GS had at the time of release. It's not like they kept what it could and couldn't do a secret.