The last accident I saw took place when a bicycle driving up a curb lane full of parked cars to "get to the head of the line" at a red light knocked down an old man who was legally attempting to reach the driver's side door of his car.
I can't even count the number of times I've seen bicycles illegally take to the sidewalk to avoid traffic lights, run stop signs or illegally use pedestrian paths. Bicycle riders are a blight on society. Certainly their abuse of safe driving practice matches anything I've seen among car drivers.
Their self-absorption and indifference to others is best exhibited by the ones who insist on riding their little wire shit-sticks to work in the heat of summer. Not all, but a significant number, have standards of personal hygiene that are unacceptable in a business environment. I wonder if the Anonymous Coward above has considered whether all of the drivers who nearly killed him were in fact careless, or perhaps just fed up with having to pass him for the fifth time after he made repeated illegal use of the parking lane.
"They have a romantic attachment to manned space flight, while everyone under 40 finds it completely natural to project a presence miles away while sitting at the controls in a dark room."
You're going to get awfully bored "sitting at the controls in a dark room" and "projecting your presence" if we go much further than Mars. Between 6 and 40 minutes for each signal exchange to Mars is a bit of a wait. Want to try Saturn? Or Neptune?
I guess us silly old over-40's have a lot to learn from you young geniuses.
A friend of mine who was charged with drunk driving attempted to get the police tape of her subsequent interview at the station. It would have proved without question that the arresting officer who described "slurred speech and a disoriented state" was a liar. I can speak with authority on her condition, because I was her "one phone call" and saw her almost immediately.
The tape, of course, was "lost".
I'm certain this is not an isolated case. It cries out for some kind of legal accountability.
...of that eclectic and somewhat, ahem, "unruly" segment of the on-line community that uses phrases like, "Big Fucks Fly Out To..." I would dearly love to see the internet cleansed of Sears' presence the same way you'd fumigate your house to get rid of cockroaches, bedbugs or other loathsome and potentially dangerous pests.
A few points to explain my situation in a bit more detail.
The concept of using OpenOffice as a tool that might help me get around the next MS Office problem is what I will remember. My old format files will be dumped to alternate formats within the next couple of weeks.
My primary objection is that the Microsoft attitude ensures there will be a "next time". It won't be the same problem; it will be another problem generated by their arrogance and indifference.
I am NOT a computer person. I use it as a tool to accomplish my ends. I use Windows and associated software because it was the only game in town at the company I worked for, and I did a lot of work at home. If you recall, one of Microsoft's major selling points was that EVERYTHING would be backwards-compatible. Until recently they were pretty good about keeping that promise. My next OS, when XP Pro finally croaks, will be Linux. Until then, I don't think it's unfair to expect that older versions of the same program I paid good money for will remain readable. I wonder how many people have important documents in non-volatile storage in safety deposit boxes and such? Should they be expected to whip these things out and update them every couple of years?
Perhaps you'll manage to reserve just a little sympathy for people with a different mindset, whose priorities are not those of a software developer. Let me put it this way: I've got three books in my library over 200 years old. They work just fine.
"...a sperm's flagellum to overcome the problem of supplying energy to nanobots that could be implanted in the body as smart probes..."
For the first time since the beginning of recorded civilization, the words "sperm" and "smart" have been found in the same sentence.
Not to mention that the profound financial implications of sperm as energy bring a whole new meaning to the term "sperm bank". I call dibs on "Canada Thrust" and "Bank of Nova Scrotum".
I've got quite a lot of stuff in old Word and CorelDraw formats. If it hadn't been for this post, I'd no doubt have found myself in exactly the situation described: utterly screwed months or years after I installed the Service Pack and with no idea what the problem was.
I can't believe Microsoft would want to piss people off on purpose, especially given the difficulty they've been having with Vista. On the other hand, I can't see how anybody running a business could be so utterly, arrogantly stupid. All it would take to treat the user properly is one simple sentence informing them about the consequences of installing SP3.
One thing's sure: I'll remember the Open Office workaround described earlier if I ever run into a similar problem.
Unlike your ridiculous scenario, it's well-established fact that a significant percentage of Windows machines are running pirated versions. There's no "what if" about it.
If your search skills are up to it, spend 30 seconds with Google and you'll have all the proof you need. If that's beyond you, "Anonymous Coward", good luck with your future at the sharp end of the waste management industry.
Again this year I have resolved to resist the incessant whining of the teetotaller in the next office, and continue to support several microbreweries in the most tangible possible way.
I don't know the details of the new technology and who deserves to be compensated for it. Frankly, I couldn't care less. What really, really makes me sad is that all of us...the "First World" countries...use so much and have so much, yet we're so goddamned cheap about spreading it around.
I'll freely admit that I'm pulling a number right out of my ass here, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the total cost of the Iraq invasion (including care for wounded veterans) outstripped the total expenditure on aid and charity over the period.
It might be time to have a look at our priorities.
Should I remind anyone who's interested that a facility which feeds food pellets to sheep is not a restaurant, regardless of the number of "meals" it serves?
If every pirated copy of Windows stopped working tomorrow, and people were forced to buy new ones or go to an alternative, I wonder what those browser numbers would be?
Forgot? You mean when Daley got all those dead people to vote for Kennedy in 1960? Interesting observation, but off-topic and irrelevant. Graveyards have turned out for one candidate or another before, and no doubt will do so again. They can't often change things on a national scale.
Technology is the subject of discussion, and how much easier it makes perpetration of widespread electoral fraud. Daley managed to flip one county in a dead even election, and would probably be caught if he tried it today. Electronic balloting, even with on-demand paper ballots, has the potential to rig an election on a nation-wide basis, and do it subtly enough that the fraud could never be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
I guess the scumbags understand they'll need to come up with a new approach if they want to steal another election. You can only hit a mule between the eyes so many times before it figures out what the baseball bat is for.
And then, of course, the people you work for will start using all those little off-the-books tricks like suggestions about advancement, sudden "discipline problems" after 15 years of stellar service, hints about needing to "rationalize staffing levels" and such to make damned sure not only that you use the drug, but that you give all that extra time you'll have available to the company.
Thanks for the idea. If things come to pass the way I fear they will, I'll start sending suggestions to some of our law faculties and see if I can get them interested.
I guess you've heard a little about the situation in Canada. Our PM is currently auditioning for Blair's old position as Bush's lapdog, and his minority government was planning to sneak through a bill that probably would have given the RIAA everything it wanted, even though we've been paying a blank media tax for years that was supposed to compensate artists for lost sales. Because of public outrage, the bill hasn't been brought forward yet. Supposedly, time has suddenly been found for "consultation" with somebody besides the music and movie industries.
You guys down there might finally find out what an angry Canadian looks like. The last time a government tried something like this, the minister in charge lost his cabinet post, then his seat in the next election. We don't have capital punishment, even for scumbag politicians, or it might have been worse.
like the RIAA stepped in something squishy right over the top of their shoe, and they're at that point where they're praying it's just mud, and afraid to look down.
How did they ever get caught pulling their crap at a university with a whole faculty devoted to making lawyers? Can't you just see it...all those sweet little law students looking hopefully up at them, like a school of piranha that have learned how when their owner taps on the tank, a pork chop will be along shortly?
Slashdot Mirror
When systems are speaking to deviations, but software engineers apparently aren't speaking to regulators, I think there's some cause for concern.
The last accident I saw took place when a bicycle driving up a curb lane full of parked cars to "get to the head of the line" at a red light knocked down an old man who was legally attempting to reach the driver's side door of his car.
I can't even count the number of times I've seen bicycles illegally take to the sidewalk to avoid traffic lights, run stop signs or illegally use pedestrian paths. Bicycle riders are a blight on society. Certainly their abuse of safe driving practice matches anything I've seen among car drivers.
Their self-absorption and indifference to others is best exhibited by the ones who insist on riding their little wire shit-sticks to work in the heat of summer. Not all, but a significant number, have standards of personal hygiene that are unacceptable in a business environment. I wonder if the Anonymous Coward above has considered whether all of the drivers who nearly killed him were in fact careless, or perhaps just fed up with having to pass him for the fifth time after he made repeated illegal use of the parking lane.
"They have a romantic attachment to manned space flight, while everyone under 40 finds it completely natural to project a presence miles away while sitting at the controls in a dark room."
You're going to get awfully bored "sitting at the controls in a dark room" and "projecting your presence" if we go much further than Mars. Between 6 and 40 minutes for each signal exchange to Mars is a bit of a wait. Want to try Saturn? Or Neptune?
I guess us silly old over-40's have a lot to learn from you young geniuses.
A friend of mine who was charged with drunk driving attempted to get the police tape of her subsequent interview at the station. It would have proved without question that the arresting officer who described "slurred speech and a disoriented state" was a liar. I can speak with authority on her condition, because I was her "one phone call" and saw her almost immediately.
The tape, of course, was "lost".
I'm certain this is not an isolated case. It cries out for some kind of legal accountability.
...of that eclectic and somewhat, ahem, "unruly" segment of the on-line community that uses phrases like, "Big Fucks Fly Out To..." I would dearly love to see the internet cleansed of Sears' presence the same way you'd fumigate your house to get rid of cockroaches, bedbugs or other loathsome and potentially dangerous pests.
A few points to explain my situation in a bit more detail.
The concept of using OpenOffice as a tool that might help me get around the next MS Office problem is what I will remember. My old format files will be dumped to alternate formats within the next couple of weeks.
My primary objection is that the Microsoft attitude ensures there will be a "next time". It won't be the same problem; it will be another problem generated by their arrogance and indifference.
I am NOT a computer person. I use it as a tool to accomplish my ends. I use Windows and associated software because it was the only game in town at the company I worked for, and I did a lot of work at home. If you recall, one of Microsoft's major selling points was that EVERYTHING would be backwards-compatible. Until recently they were pretty good about keeping that promise. My next OS, when XP Pro finally croaks, will be Linux. Until then, I don't think it's unfair to expect that older versions of the same program I paid good money for will remain readable. I wonder how many people have important documents in non-volatile storage in safety deposit boxes and such? Should they be expected to whip these things out and update them every couple of years?
Perhaps you'll manage to reserve just a little sympathy for people with a different mindset, whose priorities are not those of a software developer. Let me put it this way: I've got three books in my library over 200 years old. They work just fine.
...why I so rarely dream about being raped to death by lust-crazed supermodels.
"...a sperm's flagellum to overcome the problem of supplying energy to nanobots that could be implanted in the body as smart probes..."
For the first time since the beginning of recorded civilization, the words "sperm" and "smart" have been found in the same sentence.
Not to mention that the profound financial implications of sperm as energy bring a whole new meaning to the term "sperm bank". I call dibs on "Canada Thrust" and "Bank of Nova Scrotum".
I've got quite a lot of stuff in old Word and CorelDraw formats. If it hadn't been for this post, I'd no doubt have found myself in exactly the situation described: utterly screwed months or years after I installed the Service Pack and with no idea what the problem was.
I can't believe Microsoft would want to piss people off on purpose, especially given the difficulty they've been having with Vista. On the other hand, I can't see how anybody running a business could be so utterly, arrogantly stupid. All it would take to treat the user properly is one simple sentence informing them about the consequences of installing SP3.
One thing's sure: I'll remember the Open Office workaround described earlier if I ever run into a similar problem.
Unlike your ridiculous scenario, it's well-established fact that a significant percentage of Windows machines are running pirated versions. There's no "what if" about it.
If your search skills are up to it, spend 30 seconds with Google and you'll have all the proof you need. If that's beyond you, "Anonymous Coward", good luck with your future at the sharp end of the waste management industry.
Again this year I have resolved to resist the incessant whining of the teetotaller in the next office, and continue to support several microbreweries in the most tangible possible way.
I don't know the details of the new technology and who deserves to be compensated for it. Frankly, I couldn't care less. What really, really makes me sad is that all of us...the "First World" countries...use so much and have so much, yet we're so goddamned cheap about spreading it around.
I'll freely admit that I'm pulling a number right out of my ass here, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the total cost of the Iraq invasion (including care for wounded veterans) outstripped the total expenditure on aid and charity over the period.
It might be time to have a look at our priorities.
Is this anything like that "Girl Repellent" stuff that Trekkies spray on themselves before going out to singles bars?
Thanks. That's the kind of feedback that makes this all kinds of fun. Happy New Year
Sigh. And people wonder why "lawyer" and "asshole" are so often treated as synonyms.
Get the maniacs off their scooters and into something bigger and heavier, so they can do some real damage.
The moderators disagree with you. Please have a look at the article.
Should I remind anyone who's interested that a facility which feeds food pellets to sheep is not a restaurant, regardless of the number of "meals" it serves?
If every pirated copy of Windows stopped working tomorrow, and people were forced to buy new ones or go to an alternative, I wonder what those browser numbers would be?
Been there, done that...though not in a tech field. I feel your pain (well, exhaustion, at least).
Forgot? You mean when Daley got all those dead people to vote for Kennedy in 1960? Interesting observation, but off-topic and irrelevant. Graveyards have turned out for one candidate or another before, and no doubt will do so again. They can't often change things on a national scale.
Technology is the subject of discussion, and how much easier it makes perpetration of widespread electoral fraud. Daley managed to flip one county in a dead even election, and would probably be caught if he tried it today. Electronic balloting, even with on-demand paper ballots, has the potential to rig an election on a nation-wide basis, and do it subtly enough that the fraud could never be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
I guess the scumbags understand they'll need to come up with a new approach if they want to steal another election. You can only hit a mule between the eyes so many times before it figures out what the baseball bat is for.
And then, of course, the people you work for will start using all those little off-the-books tricks like suggestions about advancement, sudden "discipline problems" after 15 years of stellar service, hints about needing to "rationalize staffing levels" and such to make damned sure not only that you use the drug, but that you give all that extra time you'll have available to the company.
Thanks for the idea. If things come to pass the way I fear they will, I'll start sending suggestions to some of our law faculties and see if I can get them interested.
I guess you've heard a little about the situation in Canada. Our PM is currently auditioning for Blair's old position as Bush's lapdog, and his minority government was planning to sneak through a bill that probably would have given the RIAA everything it wanted, even though we've been paying a blank media tax for years that was supposed to compensate artists for lost sales. Because of public outrage, the bill hasn't been brought forward yet. Supposedly, time has suddenly been found for "consultation" with somebody besides the music and movie industries.
You guys down there might finally find out what an angry Canadian looks like. The last time a government tried something like this, the minister in charge lost his cabinet post, then his seat in the next election. We don't have capital punishment, even for scumbag politicians, or it might have been worse.
like the RIAA stepped in something squishy right over the top of their shoe, and they're at that point where they're praying it's just mud, and afraid to look down.
How did they ever get caught pulling their crap at a university with a whole faculty devoted to making lawyers? Can't you just see it...all those sweet little law students looking hopefully up at them, like a school of piranha that have learned how when their owner taps on the tank, a pork chop will be along shortly?
it's going to take somebody to crack the time limit and make it possible to keep the movies forev...oh, never mind. Some little smartass just did it.