I doubt I'm going to change your mind, and at this point I'm not even trying. Still I've gotta ask you a question. You seem to be a pretty reasonable person, so you might actually have some insight here that most people using this argument don't.
How are your actions the "right" thing to do if they have no impact whatsoever? If there is no end, then why continue with the means?
All successful movements have had people in them who were labeled as wackos, loonies, idiots, and all sorts of other names. I'm only a college student, but I've been involved in protests my whole life. I've been interviewed by local media, my picture has been in the paper and my face has been on TV. As a result of this I've gotten death threats, and I know people who have gotten calls in the middle of the night by drunk strangers challenging them to duels (I live in the bible belt). Yet still, despite all of this, I have also had people honestly think about what I have to say and change their minds. I know this because they have told me so. You're not going to be able to change everyone's mind, but you can change some. And the ones you don't change aren't likely to change by you not buying a CD, either.
I urge you to do more than just boycotting the music/movie/gaming industry. If you really want to make a difference, get out there and do it. Hold a sign, march in a protest, throw a brick... I don't care. But whatever you do, don't think that simply not supporting the industries will somehow make an impact, because it won't.
This, of course, is a religious view which I will neither refute nor defend in this forum.
Hah! Unbeliever. As a true FSMer I would gladly give your life for my religion!
RAmen.
He probably wasn't dressed in full pirate regalia when he wrote that, which means he couldn't have claimed to represent Our Noodly Master without committing sacrilege!
Read the papers then http://people.csail.mit.edu/torralba/tinyimages/ Anyone actually look through any of these? I've noticed some... imperfections. More instance, under "greenweed" you can find a picture of a dog on a map of the US. There's also a few pictures that are actually green weeds, but not enough to counter out these two exceptions.
It's interesting to note that the "allergic" people aren't trying to get Wi-Fi out of city hall yet; they're starting with the library system.
I'm sorry, but that is intrinsically counter-intuitive to what a library is; a place to freely access information. Naturally, the internet should be included in this information.
That's the difference between the city doing something that sparks an allergic reaction and a private individual doing the same. I can choose to avoid going near houses which have allergen-flowering plants. I can't avoid going to city hall if I need to do something there. I have to renew my license periodically (and only every other year can you do it online, here), for example. Yes, but if you have irrational fears (and not real allergies) the rest of us shouldn't have to suffer.
I wouldn't be so quick to assume the results of this thing are wrong.
I know this is anecdotal, but I used to know a kid who was an exchange student from China. He was always talking about how crazy American media was for criticizing the Bush administration over the war. He basically saw it as being "treasonous" (his words).
I find it disconcerting that whenever a poll comes out which shows that people who come from totally different cultural backgrounds feel differently than we do about democracy/censorship, everybody starts crying foul play.
I'm not saying that I don't like democracy or the freedom of press; I fuckin' love it. I just don't necessarily think that everybody everywhere has to feel the same way.
From the summary:
Then there's Shawn Nematbakhsh who was a little too eager to prove a point about the electronic balloting system that the University of California employed to hold student council elections, by writing a script that cast 800 votes for a fictitious candidate named American Ninja. This sounds like a man who I can respect. American Ninja is a stupid name (I would have gone with "George W. Bush"), but at least he was making a point, and putting his neck on the line for a good cause. In fact, had he not been mentioned in the summary, I probably wouldn't have read the article.
From the article:
Enter Shawn Nematbakhsh, computer science undergraduate at the University of California. Was he eager -- perhaps a bit too eager -- to make a point about the electronic balloting system that the university employed to hold student council elections, when he cast 800 votes for a fictitious candidate named American Ninja? Sadly, no.
"I really wasn't making any point at all," Nematbakhsh admits, debunking news reports to the contrary. "It was a senior prank, a silly thing." This makes me sad. I mean, here we had somebody who appeared to be fighting the good fight, when in reality he was just mind-fucking people.
Now, can you people please read TFA before submitting a story? I mean, is it really that hard? Really???
I wasn't trying to make anyone feel sympathetic to the pope, I was just saying that it's not like he willingly joined it. I mean, you're really holding it against some teenager that he wasn't ready to die as a statement against fascism? Really???
Oh, and that bit about him not deserving to be "the leading follower of Jesus Christ in the world"? Jesus was probably just a dude with a pretty good set of laws. Or maybe he didn't even exist... either way, I see no reason why following him should be such an honor.
I'm making fair criticisms. Benedict (before becoming pope) suggested that cases of child molestation within the catholic church be covered up.
Also, this pope (as well as those that came before him) have had a strong anti-condom policy. These policies have been proven to fail horribly in preventing STDs and babies.
Wasn't the Hitler Youth basically just pre-war Germany's version of the Boy Scouts anyway? Pretty much every kid was in the Hitler Youth.
... including, apparently, the Pope.
Go figure.
Listen; I'm an atheist, and I understand why people hate the pope. After all, he's probably responsible for a hell of a lot children being molested and teenagers giving birth to unwanted children.
That being said, the Nazi deal just doesn't stick. He was basically forced into the Hitler Youth, and he ran away when they tried to enlist him in the army.
So please, can we just stay on target and let this stupid argument die here?
In GTA, you have free will. You can stay at home, go to work, maybe as a taxi driver?, drive to church on sundays, and never hurt anyone. That Jack Thompson becomes a criminal thug with disregard for the law and life, shows more about him than the game. I'm sorry, but this is terrible logic.
The game was designed to let you kill, steal, etc. Also, I don't know if ol' JT has even played GTA; he's probably just basing his view of it off of what other people do in it.
That's not to say that he isn't a total douche, or that GTA should be banned (or whatever), it's just that your reasoning is failed.
I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but your son is a real asshole.
Also, I believe that he has an object roughly the size of baseball bat crammed up his ass, seeing as this is the only possible way that he could be this fucking annoying. I suggest that you get it removed as soon as possible (if not for his sake, than for for ours).
I would wish you a happy mothers day, but I think this a probably a time of mourning for you, as you must constantly be reminded of the terrible choice you made in not having an abortion.
Hacks for stealing cable service have existed for decades now, and were very much illegal. And why shouldn't they be? A better question is, why should they be? If something exists on my property, then I'm going to do whatever the hell I want with it. If the cable company doesn't like this, then they need to figure out a way to make money in another fashion.
Similarly, Starbucks is sending out a Wi-Fi signal which goes out beyond their property line. If they want to regulate what people do in Starbucks, thats cool. But when I'm sitting across the street and I still get a signal, I'm taking it, whether they like it or not.
Slashdot Mirror
I doubt I'm going to change your mind, and at this point I'm not even trying. Still I've gotta ask you a question. You seem to be a pretty reasonable person, so you might actually have some insight here that most people using this argument don't.
How are your actions the "right" thing to do if they have no impact whatsoever? If there is no end, then why continue with the means?
Thanks,
-Justin
All successful movements have had people in them who were labeled as wackos, loonies, idiots, and all sorts of other names. I'm only a college student, but I've been involved in protests my whole life. I've been interviewed by local media, my picture has been in the paper and my face has been on TV. As a result of this I've gotten death threats, and I know people who have gotten calls in the middle of the night by drunk strangers challenging them to duels (I live in the bible belt). Yet still, despite all of this, I have also had people honestly think about what I have to say and change their minds. I know this because they have told me so. You're not going to be able to change everyone's mind, but you can change some. And the ones you don't change aren't likely to change by you not buying a CD, either.
I urge you to do more than just boycotting the music/movie/gaming industry. If you really want to make a difference, get out there and do it. Hold a sign, march in a protest, throw a brick... I don't care. But whatever you do, don't think that simply not supporting the industries will somehow make an impact, because it won't.
Best of luck,
-Justin
This, of course, is a religious view which I will neither refute nor defend in this forum.
Hah! Unbeliever. As a true FSMer I would gladly give your life for my religion!
RAmen.
He probably wasn't dressed in full pirate regalia when he wrote that, which means he couldn't have claimed to represent Our Noodly Master without committing sacrilege!
http://people.csail.mit.edu/torralba/tinyimages/ Anyone actually look through any of these? I've noticed some... imperfections. More instance, under "greenweed" you can find a picture of a dog on a map of the US. There's also a few pictures that are actually green weeds, but not enough to counter out these two exceptions.
The PDF linked to is named "nipsrecognitionbysciencealignment.pdf"
So... the are using it to identify nipples?
It's interesting to note that the "allergic" people aren't trying to get Wi-Fi out of city hall yet; they're starting with the library system.
I'm sorry, but that is intrinsically counter-intuitive to what a library is; a place to freely access information. Naturally, the internet should be included in this information.
To all ya have been joking about tin foil hats:
Watch the video in TFA. One of the people who's suing actually has special siding on his house and car to protective from the evil elctro-wavez!!!
maybe they haven't heard of the sun
Yes they have, but they call it the day-star and it burns them.
Actually... http://allergies.about.com/od/urticariahives/a/solarurticaria.htmApparently they are allergic to it as well.
I liked the SNES version way more than the Genesis one. It didn't have a sword, but the actual game play was way better.
I wouldn't be so quick to assume the results of this thing are wrong.
I know this is anecdotal, but I used to know a kid who was an exchange student from China. He was always talking about how crazy American media was for criticizing the Bush administration over the war. He basically saw it as being "treasonous" (his words).
I find it disconcerting that whenever a poll comes out which shows that people who come from totally different cultural backgrounds feel differently than we do about democracy/censorship, everybody starts crying foul play.
I'm not saying that I don't like democracy or the freedom of press; I fuckin' love it. I just don't necessarily think that everybody everywhere has to feel the same way.
I mean "malicious", not "stupid". He definitely did something stupid.
Here's a link to a post I just made
Shawn Nematbakhsh may not have done anything stupid, but he didn't do anything heroic, either
From the article: Enter Shawn Nematbakhsh, computer science undergraduate at the University of California. Was he eager -- perhaps a bit too eager -- to make a point about the electronic balloting system that the university employed to hold student council elections, when he cast 800 votes for a fictitious candidate named American Ninja? Sadly, no.
"I really wasn't making any point at all," Nematbakhsh admits, debunking news reports to the contrary. "It was a senior prank, a silly thing." This makes me sad. I mean, here we had somebody who appeared to be fighting the good fight, when in reality he was just mind-fucking people.
Now, can you people please read TFA before submitting a story? I mean, is it really that hard? Really???
Of Course Zebra Stripes Help!
If they didn't, lions would be way fatter!
I wasn't trying to make anyone feel sympathetic to the pope, I was just saying that it's not like he willingly joined it. I mean, you're really holding it against some teenager that he wasn't ready to die as a statement against fascism? Really???
Oh, and that bit about him not deserving to be "the leading follower of Jesus Christ in the world"? Jesus was probably just a dude with a pretty good set of laws. Or maybe he didn't even exist... either way, I see no reason why following him should be such an honor.
I'm making fair criticisms. Benedict (before becoming pope) suggested that cases of child molestation within the catholic church be covered up.
Also, this pope (as well as those that came before him) have had a strong anti-condom policy. These policies have been proven to fail horribly in preventing STDs and babies.
Either debunk me, or move on.
How did this get modded flamebait? I thought it was actually a pretty good point...
... including, apparently, the Pope.
Go figure.
Listen; I'm an atheist, and I understand why people hate the pope. After all, he's probably responsible for a hell of a lot children being molested and teenagers giving birth to unwanted children.That being said, the Nazi deal just doesn't stick. He was basically forced into the Hitler Youth, and he ran away when they tried to enlist him in the army.
So please, can we just stay on target and let this stupid argument die here?
The game was designed to let you kill, steal, etc. Also, I don't know if ol' JT has even played GTA; he's probably just basing his view of it off of what other people do in it.
That's not to say that he isn't a total douche, or that GTA should be banned (or whatever), it's just that your reasoning is failed.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but your son is a real asshole.
Also, I believe that he has an object roughly the size of baseball bat crammed up his ass, seeing as this is the only possible way that he could be this fucking annoying. I suggest that you get it removed as soon as possible (if not for his sake, than for for ours).
I would wish you a happy mothers day, but I think this a probably a time of mourning for you, as you must constantly be reminded of the terrible choice you made in not having an abortion.
Sincerely,
-Strauss Zelnick
I seriously got modded "+5 Insightful" for this? I mean, really? That's just too funny...
... since when do MIT students get quickies?
Or any sex, for that matter?
Similarly, Starbucks is sending out a Wi-Fi signal which goes out beyond their property line. If they want to regulate what people do in Starbucks, thats cool. But when I'm sitting across the street and I still get a signal, I'm taking it, whether they like it or not.