It's too bad the population of the US doesn't want to go back to this model
Speak for yourself. I, for one, think this is one of the best things we could do. It would clear up that pesky "ambiguity" of the 2nd amendment being some kind of contrived collective right. After all, if everyone is a member of the militia, then everyone has the right to bear arms.
Huzzah, now every show will be Firefly: a bland thematic drama, but set in space! Just think of the variety that is possible! Firefly is a western... but set in space, we also could have one that is a medical show... set in space!, one that is a sketch comedy... SET IN SPACE!... one that is a mobster show... SET IN SPACE!!! It's all so brilliant!
Anyone want to lay fiver down that says the term "SyFy" won't get associated with crap in a few years?
The powers that be seem to think it's the name and not the content. Boy, will their faces be red!
And I'll be taking fivers all the way to the bank! Well, I would be, except I don't particularly trust the banks right now, since the powers that also be kind of fell asleep at the switch. In God, we trust. All others pay cash.
He added that when new executives join the network, they usually ask if it has ever thought about changing the name.
New executives are stupid.
When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you'd text it," Mr. Howe said. "It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.
Feel cooler, maybe, but not actually cooler. Yes, yes, change the name. Make it easier to "text". Now that's "cutting-edge".
What the fuck is "SyFy" suppose to mean anyway - SciFi for people who lisp?
God-damn marketing morons.
Wouldn't this be a bit like Microsoft changing the name of Windows to MS/Linux because they want to appeal to Open-source users?
Not that the scifi (oops, I mean syfy) channel has had much to do with SciFi for a very long time, but I think it makes rather terrible sense to change your official name to match the usage of/make it easier for such an assinine medium as SMS TXT.
In other news, has anyone else noticed that the cartoon network has been showing more and more live action fare, and less of the animated stuff? Even Adult Swim is mostly crap these days. And they hardly even show new stuff that's any good. And none of the cartoons I used to watch it for. Thundercats Ho!
Thank you. I always assumed the tech crowd tended to be democrats. You know, with its relations to California and tendency to higher education it seems natural. But judging by this (and other) articles and the way things get modded, I have to come to one of two conclusions: Either the tech crowd isn't as democrat as I thought, or the non-democrat techies abuse their modding privileges more then the democrat techies. I'm not making accusations, I'm just saying those are the only two explanations I can think of. I'll try not to go so far as to extrapolate my assumption to the political world in general.
Looks like I'm going to burn all my karma on this article. Sigh.
You may not have thought of a third possibility: That the geek/tech crowd is actively hostile towards both the republicans AND democrats, since they both seem to working against our interests every chance they get. This is to say nothing of liberal vs conservative, which are completely different animals. There really is very little distinction between republican and democrat, if you look at it, and that's why there's so little HOPE(tm) for CHANGE(tm).
"As an aside, the US is only two states away from a constitutional convention. I recommend we get two more states on board and try to retake some power from the federal government. It's already far more powerful than intended."
If this is true (big IF), I think nothing would make me happier. Could you please post where you got this information from. I'm usually on top of all things political in the USA and this one has flown under the radar.
Seems to be mentioned on a lot of blogs, rather than mainstream news. That makes me take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps the states are calling conventions on different points. I thought I read something like that, and the 32 figure is over the balanced budget amendment (of course, the constitution could be tossed or revised in other ways).
This is a pretty slow process, and happens at the state level, so I'm not shocked the national news has missed it. This magical 32 number keeps coming up, so I'm guessing there's something to it. I can't confirm it without some help, though. Any thoughts on who would potentially know?
not only does he have to prove the statement was false
Then he's already lost. If I say you're a kitten huffer, can you prove you aren't?
Point well made.
In most civil proceedings in the US, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.
I potentially can. Let's say there's a conclusive test. or some obvious effect from kitten huffing. Then yes.
OTOH, Let's say I really am a kitten huffer, and a test would prove it. I certainly don't want to provide that evidence in court (or maybe there's no test to provide conclusive evidence either way). But I don't think that the defendant can prove I am, either. I can still attack him.
If I can prove you weren't expressing an opinion, then I probably have a judgement against you.
Let's say you were parroting something you read by AC on slashdot. Maybe you thought it was funny. But I can prove you didn't have a good faith reason to believe it was true. Bam. I win again.
Potentially there exists a tort of false light. This sort of thing might allow me to attack the defendant based on something that isn't technically false, but is misleading, was malicious, and causes damage. The fact that my kitten huffing is unprovable might very well fall under something like this.
Stop randomly arguing points that you have no idea of. All the States of the USA are part of the United States of America, so by your (non) argument, I guess they have no autonomy of their own either then?
The States don't quite have full autonomy, and they haven't since the Civil War (a poor name for it, too). The Federal gov't doesn't exercise explicit control, as that would be unconstitutional. However, it gets what it wants via the tax system (16th amendment): It dangles (federal taxpayer) money in front of the states (usually highway funding), and says "if you don't pass a law requiring/prohibiting such-and-such behavior, we won't give you any money."
As an aside, the US is only two states away from a constitutional convention. I recommend we get two more states on board and try to retake some power from the federal government. It's already far more powerful than intended.
I am still crossing my fingers that some low level person who has access to the documents will have the bravery, forethought, and knowledge to carefully leak them to Wikileaks.
Why wait? If this is being kept so tip-top secret from us, and it is going to be applied to us, it must not be a good thing for us. The only logical conclusion is to fight it tooth and nail. I recommend you call your senator (not mail or email!) Get the bastard on the phone and ask how they feel about ACTA, and tell them not to vote for it. Record the conversation and send it off to the local TV station.
Unless it is a toll road which Microsoft owns completely, there is nothing wrong with using public money to build the road.
Of course, it may be public...but when point A and point B are both on Microsoft's campus, the only people who will get any practical use out of this will be those going from Microsoft Campus A to Microsoft Campus B.
Do you really expect joe blow to get a lot of use out of this connector? It's not even a hyperspace bypass.
Lack of documentation only chains you more to a developer. It makes it that much harder for someone else to maintain the code base.
So let me get this straight:
If I conveniently don't document my code, I hereby increase my job security, because it'll make it harder to shitcan me because the other developers won't have a clue what I did because there's no documentation. Sweet, all I have to do is make it more expensive for them to shitcan me than keep me. It's pure brilliance!
There's an upside to this. At least you can visually keep track of an object floating around at 65,000ft. If it can see you, you can see it. Don't expect this thing to operate in any kind of stealth mode.
Probably better this than a spy satellite, which is hard to keep track of without having ephemeral orbital data.
If something is truthful, then it isn't libel! It's only libel if the statements are false!
Let's say I start a rumor by writing about person X looking for the glory hole at the airport and he sues me. Now, if it turns out he really was looking for the glory hole, then it isn't libel! It's the truth!
If person X is a politician or other public figure, not only does he have to prove the statement was false (the burden is on the plaintiff in civil cases), he also has to prove I did it with malicious intent. And if he really was looking for the glory hole, it's still not libel, even if I maliciously spread the truth!
I feel bad for the guy, but I don't agree with the ruling. Either there's something the article doesn't tell us about his case, or it's really bad decision-making and needs to be overturned at a higher level.
If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. -- Henry Ford
National security has become a thing used to protect illusionary profits, rather than real people. The solution is obvious: If our government is making treaties without the consent of the governed, then we should convene congress in our respective states and vote to remove from the constitution the power of the Federal Congress to make treaties without the consent and approval of the state legislatures. Of course, with as soft as the population has gotten lately and so indifferent to the affairs of its government, such a call to action is all but futile...
Perhaps you've been hearing the rumblings of secession of states again as of late? Because I have.
I mean, are you considered in the 47% if you're a few planck-lengths off?
No, you get an automatic fail for being dimensionally inconsistent.
I wasn't being inconsistent.
surface_area_covered_by_water_in_planck_lengths_squared / surface_area_of_Earth_n_planck_lengths_squared = the percentage of Earth covered by water.
Also, what are we calling the surface? Is it just the approximate sphereoid that most dry land is on, or are we considering things like the ocean floors as surface, and water just sits on top of that? Either way, that difference is probably negligable.
That's the stuff. Of course, I suspect it works similarly to an electrostatic metal shell. An outside magnetic field induces a magnetic flux in the mu-metal shell, attenuating the field inside. Of course, this is likely to generate heat as the magnetic field tries to perform work on the shell.
I could be wrong. I didn't really study magnetism very much.
It isn't a fact at all in fact. I don't think we can say we know everything that is left to know about high energy physics except the big Higgs.
Nah, when they find H, they'll start looking for something else. That is, if they find H. There's no guarantee the model that predicts it is even correct. That's what experimental physics is all about. And usually the answer to your question is another question.
Slashdot Mirror
Knife. Crime.
Is blown way out of proportion by the UK media.
After knives, will England ban pointy things to prevent crime with pointy things?
It's too bad the population of the US doesn't want to go back to this model
Speak for yourself. I, for one, think this is one of the best things we could do. It would clear up that pesky "ambiguity" of the 2nd amendment being some kind of contrived collective right. After all, if everyone is a member of the militia, then everyone has the right to bear arms.
Huzzah, now every show will be Firefly: a bland thematic drama, but set in space! Just think of the variety that is possible! Firefly is a western... but set in space, we also could have one that is a medical show... set in space!, one that is a sketch comedy... SET IN SPACE!... one that is a mobster show... SET IN SPACE!!! It's all so brilliant!
Sounds like Spaceballs you're describing there.
Anyone want to lay fiver down that says the term "SyFy" won't get associated with crap in a few years?
The powers that be seem to think it's the name and not the content. Boy, will their faces be red!
And I'll be taking fivers all the way to the bank! Well, I would be, except I don't particularly trust the banks right now, since the powers that also be kind of fell asleep at the switch. In God, we trust. All others pay cash.
From TFA:
New executives are stupid.
Feel cooler, maybe, but not actually cooler. Yes, yes, change the name. Make it easier to "text". Now that's "cutting-edge".
What the fuck is "SyFy" suppose to mean anyway - SciFi for people who lisp? God-damn marketing morons.
Wouldn't this be a bit like Microsoft changing the name of Windows to MS/Linux because they want to appeal to Open-source users?
Not that the scifi (oops, I mean syfy) channel has had much to do with SciFi for a very long time, but I think it makes rather terrible sense to change your official name to match the usage of/make it easier for such an assinine medium as SMS TXT.
In other news, has anyone else noticed that the cartoon network has been showing more and more live action fare, and less of the animated stuff? Even Adult Swim is mostly crap these days. And they hardly even show new stuff that's any good. And none of the cartoons I used to watch it for. Thundercats Ho!
Syfy wouldn't be pronounced sigh-fie, it would be sigh-fee, like Dolly, or murky. If they spelled it "SyFi", it would work.
If you were an Iowa State fan, you could get away with "Cy Fie!"
Methinks the submitter of this were a few days early with his April Fools joke.
Maybe it's actually April 1st, and it's you whose clock is set back two weeks?
That'll solve everything except Doppelgangers.
Or identical twins.
It's a trap!
He's going to send you a pretend summons!
Thank you. I always assumed the tech crowd tended to be democrats. You know, with its relations to California and tendency to higher education it seems natural. But judging by this (and other) articles and the way things get modded, I have to come to one of two conclusions: Either the tech crowd isn't as democrat as I thought, or the non-democrat techies abuse their modding privileges more then the democrat techies. I'm not making accusations, I'm just saying those are the only two explanations I can think of. I'll try not to go so far as to extrapolate my assumption to the political world in general.
Looks like I'm going to burn all my karma on this article. Sigh.
You may not have thought of a third possibility: That the geek/tech crowd is actively hostile towards both the republicans AND democrats, since they both seem to working against our interests every chance they get. This is to say nothing of liberal vs conservative, which are completely different animals. There really is very little distinction between republican and democrat, if you look at it, and that's why there's so little HOPE(tm) for CHANGE(tm).
"As an aside, the US is only two states away from a constitutional convention. I recommend we get two more states on board and try to retake some power from the federal government. It's already far more powerful than intended."
If this is true (big IF), I think nothing would make me happier. Could you please post where you got this information from. I'm usually on top of all things political in the USA and this one has flown under the radar.
Seems to be mentioned on a lot of blogs, rather than mainstream news. That makes me take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps the states are calling conventions on different points. I thought I read something like that, and the 32 figure is over the balanced budget amendment (of course, the constitution could be tossed or revised in other ways).
Here, here, and here, though slightly less credible.
This is a pretty slow process, and happens at the state level, so I'm not shocked the national news has missed it. This magical 32 number keeps coming up, so I'm guessing there's something to it. I can't confirm it without some help, though. Any thoughts on who would potentially know?
Then he's already lost. If I say you're a kitten huffer, can you prove you aren't?
Point well made.
In most civil proceedings in the US, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.
I potentially can. Let's say there's a conclusive test. or some obvious effect from kitten huffing. Then yes.
OTOH, Let's say I really am a kitten huffer, and a test would prove it. I certainly don't want to provide that evidence in court (or maybe there's no test to provide conclusive evidence either way). But I don't think that the defendant can prove I am, either. I can still attack him.
If I can prove you weren't expressing an opinion, then I probably have a judgement against you.
Let's say you were parroting something you read by AC on slashdot. Maybe you thought it was funny. But I can prove you didn't have a good faith reason to believe it was true. Bam. I win again.
Potentially there exists a tort of false light. This sort of thing might allow me to attack the defendant based on something that isn't technically false, but is misleading, was malicious, and causes damage. The fact that my kitten huffing is unprovable might very well fall under something like this.
Too bad the TV station is probably owned by someone on the tip-top secret ACTA list and will probably squash the story like a bug.
Sugarcoat it so the talking heads think it's some kind of treaty that doesn't think of the children.
Stop randomly arguing points that you have no idea of. All the States of the USA are part of the United States of America, so by your (non) argument, I guess they have no autonomy of their own either then?
The States don't quite have full autonomy, and they haven't since the Civil War (a poor name for it, too). The Federal gov't doesn't exercise explicit control, as that would be unconstitutional. However, it gets what it wants via the tax system (16th amendment): It dangles (federal taxpayer) money in front of the states (usually highway funding), and says "if you don't pass a law requiring/prohibiting such-and-such behavior, we won't give you any money."
As an aside, the US is only two states away from a constitutional convention. I recommend we get two more states on board and try to retake some power from the federal government. It's already far more powerful than intended.
I am still crossing my fingers that some low level person who has access to the documents will have the bravery, forethought, and knowledge to carefully leak them to Wikileaks.
Why wait? If this is being kept so tip-top secret from us, and it is going to be applied to us, it must not be a good thing for us. The only logical conclusion is to fight it tooth and nail. I recommend you call your senator (not mail or email!) Get the bastard on the phone and ask how they feel about ACTA, and tell them not to vote for it. Record the conversation and send it off to the local TV station.
Unless it is a toll road which Microsoft owns completely, there is nothing wrong with using public money to build the road.
Of course, it may be public...but when point A and point B are both on Microsoft's campus, the only people who will get any practical use out of this will be those going from Microsoft Campus A to Microsoft Campus B.
Do you really expect joe blow to get a lot of use out of this connector? It's not even a hyperspace bypass.
Lack of documentation only chains you more to a developer. It makes it that much harder for someone else to maintain the code base.
So let me get this straight:
If I conveniently don't document my code, I hereby increase my job security, because it'll make it harder to shitcan me because the other developers won't have a clue what I did because there's no documentation. Sweet, all I have to do is make it more expensive for them to shitcan me than keep me. It's pure brilliance!
Looks like my $10 pair of gloves beats their $420,000 fingerprinting device.....
Me: 1,275 DHS: 0
Putting my hands in my pockets for free beats their $420,000 device.
There's an upside to this. At least you can visually keep track of an object floating around at 65,000ft. If it can see you, you can see it. Don't expect this thing to operate in any kind of stealth mode.
Probably better this than a spy satellite, which is hard to keep track of without having ephemeral orbital data.
The article title:
Libel Suits OK Even If Libel Is Truthful
is blatantly silly.
If something is truthful, then it isn't libel! It's only libel if the statements are false!
Let's say I start a rumor by writing about person X looking for the glory hole at the airport and he sues me. Now, if it turns out he really was looking for the glory hole, then it isn't libel! It's the truth!
If person X is a politician or other public figure, not only does he have to prove the statement was false (the burden is on the plaintiff in civil cases), he also has to prove I did it with malicious intent. And if he really was looking for the glory hole, it's still not libel, even if I maliciously spread the truth!
I feel bad for the guy, but I don't agree with the ruling. Either there's something the article doesn't tell us about his case, or it's really bad decision-making and needs to be overturned at a higher level.
You're going to need to cite proof of this because I can't find anything on the tubes about an "Equal Opportunity Amendment."
He's referring to the Equal Rights Amendment (the ERA).
If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. -- Henry Ford
National security has become a thing used to protect illusionary profits, rather than real people. The solution is obvious: If our government is making treaties without the consent of the governed, then we should convene congress in our respective states and vote to remove from the constitution the power of the Federal Congress to make treaties without the consent and approval of the state legislatures. Of course, with as soft as the population has gotten lately and so indifferent to the affairs of its government, such a call to action is all but futile...
Perhaps you've been hearing the rumblings of secession of states again as of late? Because I have.
No, you get an automatic fail for being dimensionally inconsistent.
I wasn't being inconsistent.
surface_area_covered_by_water_in_planck_lengths_squared / surface_area_of_Earth_n_planck_lengths_squared = the percentage of Earth covered by water.
Also, what are we calling the surface? Is it just the approximate sphereoid that most dry land is on, or are we considering things like the ocean floors as surface, and water just sits on top of that? Either way, that difference is probably negligable.
Mu metal?
That's the stuff. Of course, I suspect it works similarly to an electrostatic metal shell. An outside magnetic field induces a magnetic flux in the mu-metal shell, attenuating the field inside. Of course, this is likely to generate heat as the magnetic field tries to perform work on the shell.
I could be wrong. I didn't really study magnetism very much.
It isn't a fact at all in fact. I don't think we can say we know everything that is left to know about high energy physics except the big Higgs.
Nah, when they find H, they'll start looking for something else. That is, if they find H. There's no guarantee the model that predicts it is even correct. That's what experimental physics is all about. And usually the answer to your question is another question.