Sounds like a great attitude for making yourself unhappy in your job and/or becoming unemployed.
I agree with you, employers can't enforce the enthusiasm and company loyalty that promotes better productivity, but they can certainly chip away at it by taking away things.
I've been hearing a lot of people making comments that the story in Avatar is not a new story
Any literature teacher will tell you there are no new stories and haven't been for centuries.
A great work is a great great work by virtue of how well the story is told. ( Good writing, good acting, good script, etc )
Shakespeare is often given as an example. None of his plots were original but his works are still valued centuries later.
That being said Avatar is not Shakespeare. It is showcase for next generation special effects like Star Wars or Jurassic Park. Movies like that are rarely enjoyable once you are no longer impressed by the effects......they don't have anything else.
I don't see the message of the film as a problem. You can't have a story without a message. People don't like political messages in their entertainment if they disagree with the politics. Doesn't matter if you are a conservative or a liberal. Everybody reacts like that, few are honest about it.
I think the message in Avatar is a good message to be repeated. Too much of the world operates on the ideas of justice being the will of the stronger and history being written by the victor. I believe that embedding messages like Avatar's in entertainment will encourage respect for all people, whether or not they can bomb the hell out of you.
The one thing I found annoying about the Y2K coverage was most "journalists" going on about how the whole issues, was not an issue.
Did it ever occur to these news "professionals" that many problems were patched, *quietly* before they could break?
Many of the COBOL computer systems with the Y2K issue belonged to large, established, mainstream organizations.....many of them financial institutions. They probably wouldn't want a story in the new about how they bought a defective system that they are still using 30 years later and way past the point when they should have replaced it.
The sad thing is that many Americans don't care about these rights. They are aliterate ( choosing not to read ) so they don't regularly enjoy and value these rights => they will not fight for them.
Ironically, the ebook readers with gadget appeal will get some people reading.
I'm about as anti-ebook as they come, but I have to admit that they are coming and will likely be here to stay. The focus should shift to protecting our rights.
We should:
1. Write to ebook companies asking them for open and compatible formats
2. Support open source ebook projects
3. Demand protection against electronic updates of text ( "Dude, Lincoln was the first -- read your history ebook again, I don't care if you read it yesterday, look at it today ).
4. Contact our representatives & ebook companies demanding the right to keep content and to lend it to people.
Like I wrote, I think these things are inevitable at this point. I'm going to keep buying and using paper books as well as supporting paper libraries to the last moment to safeguard a permanent record of facts.
One reason why many, not all, engineers are conservative:
1. Regardless of what they do, people believe they are doing the right thing 2. Engineers are people 3. Engineers want to believe they are doing the right thing 4. Engineers need jobs/money. 5. Most, not all, engineering jobs are associated with the military ( in the US ) 6. Republicans do more business with companies that build military hardware 7. Republican policy/tendencies create more engineering jobs and money for engineers. 8. => People who like engineering tend to be republican.
In other words, people's views shift with who writes their paychecks.
I don't mean to offend you profplump, but your comment is a perfect example of the type of superficial, black and white only thinking mentioned as a general trait among engineers as a group.
You don't seem to have considered the possibility that I am no longer a student and that I have additional backgrounds:
1. I have a computer science degree and I have been a programmer for 10 years 2. I was a graduate Philosophy Of Science student 3. I had other majors which required me to take physics, chemistry and advanced
math classes.
In regards to #3 I met many engineering students in those classes and lived with a few in my dorm.
The obvious point: Terrorists need people with money and people with the skills to make bombs.
Not much room for English or Journalism majors at the Al Quedia training camp.
The communication skills from those disciplines are useful, but the Islamic terrorists already have the SUV/Saudi Arabian funded clerics taking care of brain washing and recruitment.
I would agree that engineers, as a group, ( networking types too ), tend to have those traits.
So what?
Every profession and grouping of humans has a set of traits that are dominant in that group. All of those traits are dominant in that group for reasons, some good and some not so flattering.
I'm happy that with this Nigerian terrorist that the media is emphasizing his wealthy and privileged background.
I was disappointed that the wealthy, privileged, backgrounds of Osama Bin Laden and almost all of the 19 9/11 hijackers were not emphasized more.
As with Marxism, Islamic terrorism is not about the poor rising up against oppressors.
It is about is about rich people with unresolved issues telling the poor what to think and egging them on to take actions that really don't help the poor...........exactly the complaint that these self appointed "vanguard activists" have.
I remember a few months ago some local government tried to require job applicants to turn over their Facebook and other such similar logins. Obscure situation.....until it became the buzz in the blogosphere. The resulting public embarrassment and censure got the local government to scrap that policy.
I remember a few months ago some local government tried to require job applicants to turn over their Facebook and other such similar logins. Obscure situation.....until it became the buzz in the blogosphere. The resulting public embarrassment and censure got the local government to scrap that policy.
Scientific experiments have shown that many animals killed for food, leather and fur are as intelligent as some of the smarter dogs we love. The next time you see a news piece about what the Chinese and Asians do to dogs and get disgusted remember that. We do the same to animals who have just as much intelligence and capacity to suffer.
I am one of those people who is against fur completely. No need to be puzzled, it is fairly simple. We think it sucks that an animal who wants to live is killed ( humanely or not ) for absolutely no need.
BTW, the standard of care for livestock animals is FAR LOWER and MUCH more cruel than fur animals. Animals that are too sick to even stand up are carried into slaughter houses. That is one of the reasons why you see so many meat recalls.
Painless methods of killing animals is an improvement, but it is still killing them and for no need.
Would you prefer to be killed humanely or not be killed at all?
Would prefer for animals that are very similar to your pets to be killed humanely or not be killed at all?
Now look at why they are being killed.
To help prevent hunger? No. To help test a drug that will save someone's life? No. To provide needed clothing where there are no other choices. No. To provide fashionable clothing where there are no other choices. No.
To provide fashionable clothing for absolutely no need at all, just because someone wants it? Yes.
I agree with you and I don't eat animal products myself.
IMHO, changing a diet is one thing. It is much more involved than simply choosing not to wear fur or leather. It is often simply a matter of choosing one jacket over another or one pair of shoes of another. It is not a big deal and it eliminates so much cruelty.
Do you what a "hippy" is. I bet you, like most people do not. You probably define "hippy" as anyone who isn't a mindless consumer or someone who has long unkempt hair ( making many people on slash dot "hippies" ).
My hair is probably shorter than yours. I wear up to date clothing. Work a normal job and socialize with normal people.
I just don't see the point in inflicting pain on and killing animals that have a rich inner life similar to my pets.
If that makes me a hippy, feel free to be an ignoramus and label me at will.
I saw a documentary years ago. After the British pulled out of India they abandoned many pedigreed, pure bred dogs to fend for themselves. After a few generations the dogs started to look like dingos or wolves.
Breeding animals sucks.
I have met so many wonderful animals who have so many health problems as the result of breeding.
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds like a great attitude for making yourself unhappy in your job and/or becoming unemployed.
I agree with you, employers can't enforce the enthusiasm and company loyalty that promotes better productivity, but they can certainly chip away at it by taking away things.
I've been hearing a lot of people making comments that the story in Avatar is not a new story
Any literature teacher will tell you there are no new stories and haven't been for centuries.
A great work is a great great work by virtue of how well the story is told.
( Good writing, good acting, good script, etc )
Shakespeare is often given as an example. None of his plots were original but his works are still valued centuries later.
That being said Avatar is not Shakespeare. It is showcase for next generation special effects like Star Wars or Jurassic Park. Movies like that are rarely enjoyable once you are no longer impressed by the effects......they don't have anything else.
I don't see the message of the film as a problem. You can't have a story without a message. People don't like political messages in their entertainment if they disagree with the politics. Doesn't matter if you are a conservative or a liberal. Everybody reacts like that, few are honest about it.
I think the message in Avatar is a good message to be repeated. Too much of the world operates on the ideas of justice being the will of the stronger and history being written by the victor. I believe that embedding messages like Avatar's in entertainment will encourage respect for all people, whether or not they can bomb the hell out of you.
That can only lead to good things.
I think the only other place on Earth that is creating or trying to create blasphemy laws in the year 2010 is the Islamic world.
The one thing I found annoying about the Y2K coverage was most "journalists" going on about how the whole issues, was not an issue.
Did it ever occur to these news "professionals" that many problems were patched, *quietly* before they could break?
Many of the COBOL computer systems with the Y2K issue belonged to large, established, mainstream organizations.....many of them financial institutions. They probably wouldn't want a story in the new about how they bought a defective system that they are still using 30 years later and way past the point when they should have replaced it.
The news must be slow to report on an event that didn't happen 10 years ago.
Or one proprietary DRM format becomes dominant -- the microsoft word of e-books, the authors publish to that and say screw you to everyone else.
AND.....we still have the other threats
The sad thing is that many Americans don't care about these rights. They are aliterate ( choosing not to read ) so they don't regularly enjoy and value these rights => they will not fight for them.
Ironically, the ebook readers with gadget appeal will get some people reading.
I'm about as anti-ebook as they come, but I have to admit that they are coming and will likely be here to stay. The focus should shift to protecting our rights.
We should:
1. Write to ebook companies asking them for open and compatible formats
2. Support open source ebook projects
3. Demand protection against electronic updates of text ( "Dude, Lincoln was the first -- read your history ebook again, I don't care if you read it yesterday, look at it today ).
4. Contact our representatives & ebook companies demanding the right to keep content and to lend it to people.
Like I wrote, I think these things are inevitable at this point. I'm going to keep buying and using paper books as well as supporting paper libraries to the last moment to safeguard a permanent record of facts.
Buy a copy of Visual Slick Edit for Linux.
One reason why many, not all, engineers are conservative:
1. Regardless of what they do, people believe they are doing the right thing
2. Engineers are people
3. Engineers want to believe they are doing the right thing
4. Engineers need jobs/money.
5. Most, not all, engineering jobs are associated with the military ( in the US )
6. Republicans do more business with companies that build military hardware
7. Republican policy/tendencies create more engineering jobs and money for engineers.
8. => People who like engineering tend to be republican.
In other words, people's views shift with who writes their paychecks.
I don't mean to offend you profplump, but your comment is a perfect example of the type of superficial, black and white only thinking mentioned as a general trait among engineers as a group.
You don't seem to have considered the possibility that I am no longer a student and that I have additional backgrounds:
1. I have a computer science degree and I have been a programmer for 10 years
2. I was a graduate Philosophy Of Science student
3. I had other majors which required me to take physics, chemistry and advanced
math classes.
In regards to #3 I met many engineering students in those classes and lived with a few in my dorm.
The obvious point: Terrorists need people with money and people with the skills to make bombs.
Not much room for English or Journalism majors at the Al Quedia training camp.
The communication skills from those disciplines are useful, but the Islamic terrorists already have the SUV/Saudi Arabian funded clerics taking care of brain washing and recruitment.
When I was in college I was amazed at how politically naive and how conservative Engineering students were.
Many of them were better at things like puzzles or math than I was, but man, I could sell them the Brooklyn bridge.
To be fair, a lot of it has to do with who writes or who will write your paycheck.
That is true for everyone in every profession.
I did meet engineering students who were liberal and or non-superficial thinkers. Interestingly they all got out of the profession eventually.
....and the disclaimer. I'm not an engineer. I am a professional programmer who started out with a liberal arts background.
I would agree that engineers, as a group, ( networking types too ), tend to have those traits.
So what?
Every profession and grouping of humans has a set of traits that are dominant in that group. All of those traits are dominant in that group for reasons, some good and some not so flattering.
I'm happy that with this Nigerian terrorist that the media is emphasizing his wealthy and privileged background.
I was disappointed that the wealthy, privileged, backgrounds of Osama Bin Laden and almost all of the 19 9/11 hijackers were not emphasized more.
As with Marxism, Islamic terrorism is not about the poor rising up against oppressors.
It is about is about rich people with unresolved issues telling the poor what to think and egging them on to take actions that really don't help the poor...........exactly the complaint that these self appointed "vanguard activists" have.
I remember a few months ago some local government tried to require job applicants to turn over their Facebook and other such similar logins. Obscure situation.....until it became the buzz in the blogosphere. The resulting public embarrassment and censure got the local government to scrap that policy.
To that end here is the URL for the contact page of Apex:
http://www.apextgi.com/contactus.php
Let them know what you think.
Anyone have the contact information for the judge or the relevant agency of the NJ state government?
Good point.
I remember a few months ago some local government tried to require job applicants to turn over their Facebook and other such similar logins. Obscure situation.....until it became the buzz in the blogosphere. The resulting public embarrassment and censure got the local government to scrap that policy.
Scientific experiments have shown that many animals killed for food, leather and fur are as intelligent as some of the smarter dogs we love. The next time you see a news piece about what the Chinese and Asians do to dogs and get disgusted remember that. We do the same to animals who have just as much intelligence and capacity to suffer.
Anspen;
I am one of those people who is against fur completely. No need to be puzzled, it is fairly simple. We think it sucks that an animal who wants to live is killed ( humanely or not ) for absolutely no need.
BTW, the standard of care for livestock animals is FAR LOWER and MUCH more cruel than fur animals. Animals that are too sick to even stand up are carried into slaughter houses. That is one of the reasons why you see so many meat recalls.
I am a vegan dumbass. Probably longer than you have been alive.
Painless methods of killing animals is an improvement, but it is still killing them and for no need.
Would you prefer to be killed humanely or not be killed at all?
Would prefer for animals that are very similar to your pets to be killed humanely or not be killed at all?
Now look at why they are being killed.
To help prevent hunger? No.
To help test a drug that will save someone's life? No.
To provide needed clothing where there are no other choices. No.
To provide fashionable clothing where there are no other choices. No.
To provide fashionable clothing for absolutely no need at all, just because someone wants it? Yes.
Misextentialist;
I agree with you and I don't eat animal products myself.
IMHO, changing a diet is one thing. It is much more involved than simply choosing not to wear fur or leather. It is often simply a matter of choosing one jacket over another or one pair of shoes of another. It is not a big deal and it eliminates so much cruelty.
Anonymous Coward;
Do you what a "hippy" is. I bet you, like most people do not. You probably define "hippy" as anyone who isn't a mindless consumer or someone who has long unkempt hair ( making many people on slash dot "hippies" ).
My hair is probably shorter than yours. I wear up to date clothing. Work a normal job and socialize with normal people.
I just don't see the point in inflicting pain on and killing animals that have a rich inner life similar to my pets.
If that makes me a hippy, feel free to be an ignoramus and label me at will.
I saw a documentary years ago. After the British pulled out of India they abandoned many pedigreed, pure bred dogs to fend for themselves. After a few generations the dogs started to look like dingos or wolves.
Breeding animals sucks.
I have met so many wonderful animals who have so many health problems as the result of breeding.
Just leave the animals alone.