I never said it was impossible, only unlikely, and that it takes far more luck than skill. Luck without skill will get you millions, skill without luck won't. I know this may be hard to accept because it would require you to change your self image, and probably your ideas about free will and individuality. You may never believe me, because your experiences have never forced you to question your assumptions, but please understand that many people's experiences have been different from yours, and they have just as hard of a time believing you when you say that if they make good choices as a child/young adult despite bad role models, they can succede.
Many people who aren't as fortunate as you find that kind of attitude demeaning of their whole life experience, as if you are blaming them for their shitty circumstances and saying "If only you had made better choices, you would be successful. You have no one to blame but yourself."
He's stopped linking to his damned blog, so he's not getting undeserved hits. I too was kinda pissed when every third story was a piquepaille post, where he reprinted stories from other sources nearly verbatim interspersed with random pointless comments, but he's not doing that anymore, so what's the big deal?
You don't get it. The median household income in the US was $43,318 in 2003. Half of all households make less than that. Many people in the US are barely scraping by with both parents working, often more than one job each. This is not their fault, either. They are not lazy, and not all of them are stupid. They are just unlucky. We have built a system that accepts this reality in exchange for the ability of a few to make outrageous amounts of money. This isn't about people making bad financial choices and whining about being forced into living beyond their means. This is about people having no choice but to live beyond their means, because their means are so small.
One of the major privileges of being a part of the dominant culture is that you never have to question your assumptions. People in the dominant culture assume that anyone can do what they did. People in subordinate and marginalized cultures know this is not true. They are forced by hard reality to question their assumptions. For instance, I'm guessing that you believe you got where you are through hard work and smart choices, and anyone in the US can do the same. Well, if you grew up poor, or a minority, or both, you hear the same thing. But reality shows you otherwise. Minorities and poor people see others like them working hard and making the smartest choices they can given their circumstances, yet still failing.
I know this flies in the face of the idea of individualism. It seems to imply that we have a responsiblity for the system we create and the effects that system has on others. It also implies that our choices impact more than just ourselves. Luckily, one of the other privileges of being a part of the dominant culture is that you can simply dismiss theories such as this. In fact your culture gives you an indoctrination and training in exactly how to dismiss them and how to make the less fortunate feel as if all their problems are their fault.
The state has evry right to redistribute wealth. Wealth is created by societies, not individuals. If there were only one person on earth, there would be no need for an economic system. Private property is created by the state. Without the threat of state sanctioned violence, there would be nothing keeping me from using what you claim is yours alone. Private property is created by social contract, and that contract comes with responsibilities.
Well, to be fair, this was years ago. 1998, actually. And no, they didn't really give me a body cavity search or anything, but it was a huge hassle. Actually, my story has nothing to do with this one, really. It's kinda what you would expect to happen if trying to buy a ticket and fly without an ID, even pre 9/11. It's Friday. I've had too much coffee. My office has no air conditioning. I thought posting something like that would be amusing. I'm sorry.:(
At what point did you read into this that I said Sony was going to replace things like video boards and soundcards? I certainly didn't write that. Even RAM upgrades will be bad. It's been tried in the past, RAM upgrades for consoles, and failed miserably. Game developers will only develop for the base system, because no one is going to buy the upgrades, because game developers will only develop for the base system.
By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself. No, no, no it's just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day, they'll take root - I don't know. You try, you do what you can. Kill yourself. Seriously though, if you are, do. Aaah, no really, there's no rationalisation for what you do and you are Satan's little helpers. Okay - kill yourself - seriously. You are the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No this is not a joke, you're going, "there's going to be a joke coming," there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn filling the world with bile and garbage. You are fucked and you are fucking us. Kill yourself. It's the only way to save your fucking soul, kill yourself. Planting seeds. I know all the marketing people are going, "he's doing a joke... there's no joke here whatsoever. Suck a tail-pipe, fucking hang yourself, borrow a gun from a Yank friend - I don't care how you do it. Rid the world of your evil fucking makinations. Machi... Whatever, you know what I mean. I know what all the marketing people are thinking right now too, "Oh, you know what Bill's doing, he's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market, he's very smart." Oh man, I am not doing that. You fucking evil scumbags! "Ooh, you know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar. That's a big dollar. A lot of people are feeling that indignation. We've done research - huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scum-bags! Quit putting a godamm dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet! "Ooh, the anger dollar. Huge. Huge in times of recession. Giant market, Bill's very bright to do that." God, I'm just caught in a fucking web. "Ooh the trapped dollar, big dollar, huge dollar. Good market - look at our research. We see that many people feel trapped. If we play to that and then separate them into the trapped dollar..." How do you live like that? And I bet you sleep like fucking babies at night, don't you?" "What didya do today honey?" "Oh, we made ah, we made ah arsenic a childhood food now, goodnight." [snores]"Yeah we just said you know is your baby really too loud? You know," [snores] "Yeah, you know the mums will love it." [snores] Sleep like fucking children, don't ya, this is your world isn't it?
Try buying a new ticket after having your ID and ticket stolen. Try getting on a plane as a scruffy but white late twenty something with a one way ticket and no ID. Let's just call the process "Hours and hours of non-consensual fun," and leave it at that.
Because they aren't interested in fighting a losing battle against large scale pirates. They are fighting a battle against fair use and alternative media. Their ultimate goal is to charge you every time you watch or listen to any media anywhere in the world. Those pictures of your kid's birthday? Gonna have to be licensed through someone in order to prove they aren't pirated.
I picture these fucktards in Snidely Whiplash outfits twirling their mustaches and shouting, "You must pay the rent!"
Way to dodge the real issue. The NSA shouldn't be spying on US citizens. The potential for abuse far outweighs the potential to stop terrorism. The Federal Government has a proven history of abusing things like this. Sorry to sound callous, but the rights of hundreds of millions of US citizens not to have their freedoms taken away trump the rights of twenty kids not to get shot up by their classmates.
Um, really? So I can put a camera at curb level and look up women's skirts? I can follow you around everywhere you go in public vieotaping you without your permission? Glad I don't live where you live, here in the USA we still have a few rights to privacy left.
What is the point? Do they think terrorists are going to be putting up MySpace profiles? No, this is about finding and suppressing people who question the government. This isn't about terrorists, its about peace activists, environmentalists, socialists, libertarians, and anyone else not satisfied with the status quo. Think COINTELPRO. This has no purpose other than facilitating the suppression of dissent. To quote from the wikipedia page:
According to Brian Glick, in War at Home, COINTELPRO used a broad array of methods, including:
1. "Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents." [3]
2. "Psychological Warfare From the Outside: The FBI and police used myriad other "dirty tricks" to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists." [4]
3. "Harassment Through the Legal System: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, 'investigative' interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters."
4. "Extralegal Force and Violence: The FBI and police threatened, instigated, and themselves conducted break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and beatings. The object was to frighten dissidents and disrupt their movements. In the case of radical Black and Puerto Rican activists (and later Native Americans), these attacks--including political assassinations--were so extensive, vicious, and calculated that they can accurately be termed a form of official 'terrorism.'". [5]
This is scary. Just because this information is out there doesn't mean the government should datamine it or act on it. Even in public, one has a reasonable assumption that one won't be stalked or spied upon. Besides, this is a complete waste of resources that could go to doing soemthign effective to fight terrorism. But the powers that be honestly don't want that. If you are selling security, you have to make sure people feel insecure.
Boo the fuck hoo for the backbone providers, who built most of their backbones with my tax dollars. Or didn't you know that? The bastards run their lines over our public property, with money from our pockets, then charge us for the privilege of using what should be our lines, then charge us again in the form of extra charges to content providers outside their network. Net neutrality was the way things used to be, when the greedy bastards signed the effing contracts that let them get their cushy government sponsored monopoluies, and now they want to reneg on the deal. Fuck them and fuck the free market that lets wealth get concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Adam Smith, get your damn invisible hand out of my back pocket!
Well, I meant speed issues, like some games won't run on the base system kinda thing. But many people have pointed out that's not likely what they mean, it will be peripherals and perhaps, at most, RAM that gets upgraded and all developers will still shoot for the low end. Or as another poster pointed out, there could be yearly (or so) base configurations to shoot for, so for instance, "Elder Scrolls 6: The Laginator" could be targeted at the PS3-09. That would still be a bitch, because I don't want to spend another $100 or whatever just to play a game.
I lived in Crete for a year. I visited London for a month. I know more than most Americans do about Europe. I despise Bush. I fear for where my country is going and have tried my damndest to do something about it. I wasn't trivializing Wales. I made a bad pun, nothing to do with trivialising Wales, to be honest, I was trying to make fun of ignorant Americans who probably don't even have a clue that there is a place named Wales somewhere in the world. So please get off your high horse before I start making fun of your country's world renowned love of sheep, and how you all have tails. Oh wait, that's Cornishmen, sorry.;)
Seriously dumb move, Sony. One of the things gamers and developers both like about consoles is that they aren't computers. The hardware isn't a moving target. You know your game is going to play the same on every console out there. No incompatability issues.
Argh. What arrogance and stupidity. What's next, the executives of Sony all line up and moon us?
That's right, reply to the poor Christian man's innocent comment with a post about threesomes and lapdances. Betcha he's sinning in his heart right now just thinking about it. You've probably doomed an innocent Christian to hell, are you happy now?
And for the record, a sandwich pretty much implies two guys. That's not what most guys picture when they think of threesomes.
I'm sorry. Gosh you Brits are touchy. Haha, no, Not only do I know about Wales, I also know you get horribly offended being called British. Seriously, I'd love to visit someday, make a tour of England, Scotland, & Wales. I wasn't trying to put you down, really!
Are you 100% sure you replied to the right thread? GP was ranting about google censoring right wing blogs. I agree with you about the monopolies, etc. but way to make a complete non-sequiter.
Would you? Because that's essentially what you are asking these people to do, to let others use their property to espouse views they don't agree with. Is it censorship? Sure. Is it bad? Only if private property is bad. Censorship and freedom of speech are two different but related issues.
It was a little blurb of an editorial, and plenty of people never read the editorials, but it managed to get the point across very clearly, spelling out why this is bad for Internet users, and urging them to contact their representatives.
So, no, it's not just here. Mainstream citizens care about their Internet and will fight against those who would take it away. Remember the Great Modem Tax Scare? It wasn't geeks spreading that myth, it was average citizens. I had to explain to more than one relative that this wasn't true.
I've had more than one non-geek ask me about "this whole net-neutrality thing." I tell them it's a real issue, and suggest that if they want the Internet to remain free, they should do something about it, like write their representatives.
Slashdot Mirror
I never said it was impossible, only unlikely, and that it takes far more luck than skill. Luck without skill will get you millions, skill without luck won't. I know this may be hard to accept because it would require you to change your self image, and probably your ideas about free will and individuality. You may never believe me, because your experiences have never forced you to question your assumptions, but please understand that many people's experiences have been different from yours, and they have just as hard of a time believing you when you say that if they make good choices as a child/young adult despite bad role models, they can succede.
Many people who aren't as fortunate as you find that kind of attitude demeaning of their whole life experience, as if you are blaming them for their shitty circumstances and saying "If only you had made better choices, you would be successful. You have no one to blame but yourself."
He's stopped linking to his damned blog, so he's not getting undeserved hits. I too was kinda pissed when every third story was a piquepaille post, where he reprinted stories from other sources nearly verbatim interspersed with random pointless comments, but he's not doing that anymore, so what's the big deal?
It is still based on fear: fear of not being sexually desireable. "Buy this NOW or you will NEVER get laid!"
You don't get it. The median household income in the US was $43,318 in 2003. Half of all households make less than that. Many people in the US are barely scraping by with both parents working, often more than one job each. This is not their fault, either. They are not lazy, and not all of them are stupid. They are just unlucky. We have built a system that accepts this reality in exchange for the ability of a few to make outrageous amounts of money. This isn't about people making bad financial choices and whining about being forced into living beyond their means. This is about people having no choice but to live beyond their means, because their means are so small.
One of the major privileges of being a part of the dominant culture is that you never have to question your assumptions. People in the dominant culture assume that anyone can do what they did. People in subordinate and marginalized cultures know this is not true. They are forced by hard reality to question their assumptions. For instance, I'm guessing that you believe you got where you are through hard work and smart choices, and anyone in the US can do the same. Well, if you grew up poor, or a minority, or both, you hear the same thing. But reality shows you otherwise. Minorities and poor people see others like them working hard and making the smartest choices they can given their circumstances, yet still failing.
I know this flies in the face of the idea of individualism. It seems to imply that we have a responsiblity for the system we create and the effects that system has on others. It also implies that our choices impact more than just ourselves. Luckily, one of the other privileges of being a part of the dominant culture is that you can simply dismiss theories such as this. In fact your culture gives you an indoctrination and training in exactly how to dismiss them and how to make the less fortunate feel as if all their problems are their fault.
The state has evry right to redistribute wealth. Wealth is created by societies, not individuals. If there were only one person on earth, there would be no need for an economic system. Private property is created by the state. Without the threat of state sanctioned violence, there would be nothing keeping me from using what you claim is yours alone. Private property is created by social contract, and that contract comes with responsibilities.
Not me, I just had a movement this morning.
Seriously, though, most Slashdotters are probably too young to know Alice's Restaurant
Well, to be fair, this was years ago. 1998, actually. And no, they didn't really give me a body cavity search or anything, but it was a huge hassle. Actually, my story has nothing to do with this one, really. It's kinda what you would expect to happen if trying to buy a ticket and fly without an ID, even pre 9/11. It's Friday. I've had too much coffee. My office has no air conditioning. I thought posting something like that would be amusing. I'm sorry. :(
At what point did you read into this that I said Sony was going to replace things like video boards and soundcards? I certainly didn't write that. Even RAM upgrades will be bad. It's been tried in the past, RAM upgrades for consoles, and failed miserably. Game developers will only develop for the base system, because no one is going to buy the upgrades, because game developers will only develop for the base system.
I second that "you make me sick" comment.
Try buying a new ticket after having your ID and ticket stolen. Try getting on a plane as a scruffy but white late twenty something with a one way ticket and no ID. Let's just call the process "Hours and hours of non-consensual fun," and leave it at that.
Because they aren't interested in fighting a losing battle against large scale pirates. They are fighting a battle against fair use and alternative media. Their ultimate goal is to charge you every time you watch or listen to any media anywhere in the world. Those pictures of your kid's birthday? Gonna have to be licensed through someone in order to prove they aren't pirated.
I picture these fucktards in Snidely Whiplash outfits twirling their mustaches and shouting, "You must pay the rent!"
Way to dodge the real issue. The NSA shouldn't be spying on US citizens. The potential for abuse far outweighs the potential to stop terrorism. The Federal Government has a proven history of abusing things like this. Sorry to sound callous, but the rights of hundreds of millions of US citizens not to have their freedoms taken away trump the rights of twenty kids not to get shot up by their classmates.
Um, really? So I can put a camera at curb level and look up women's skirts? I can follow you around everywhere you go in public vieotaping you without your permission? Glad I don't live where you live, here in the USA we still have a few rights to privacy left.
This is scary. Just because this information is out there doesn't mean the government should datamine it or act on it. Even in public, one has a reasonable assumption that one won't be stalked or spied upon. Besides, this is a complete waste of resources that could go to doing soemthign effective to fight terrorism. But the powers that be honestly don't want that. If you are selling security, you have to make sure people feel insecure.
Boo the fuck hoo for the backbone providers, who built most of their backbones with my tax dollars. Or didn't you know that? The bastards run their lines over our public property, with money from our pockets, then charge us for the privilege of using what should be our lines, then charge us again in the form of extra charges to content providers outside their network. Net neutrality was the way things used to be, when the greedy bastards signed the effing contracts that let them get their cushy government sponsored monopoluies, and now they want to reneg on the deal. Fuck them and fuck the free market that lets wealth get concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Adam Smith, get your damn invisible hand out of my back pocket!
Well, I meant speed issues, like some games won't run on the base system kinda thing. But many people have pointed out that's not likely what they mean, it will be peripherals and perhaps, at most, RAM that gets upgraded and all developers will still shoot for the low end. Or as another poster pointed out, there could be yearly (or so) base configurations to shoot for, so for instance, "Elder Scrolls 6: The Laginator" could be targeted at the PS3-09. That would still be a bitch, because I don't want to spend another $100 or whatever just to play a game.
I lived in Crete for a year. I visited London for a month. I know more than most Americans do about Europe. I despise Bush. I fear for where my country is going and have tried my damndest to do something about it. I wasn't trivializing Wales. I made a bad pun, nothing to do with trivialising Wales, to be honest, I was trying to make fun of ignorant Americans who probably don't even have a clue that there is a place named Wales somewhere in the world. So please get off your high horse before I start making fun of your country's world renowned love of sheep, and how you all have tails. Oh wait, that's Cornishmen, sorry. ;)
Seriously dumb move, Sony. One of the things gamers and developers both like about consoles is that they aren't computers. The hardware isn't a moving target. You know your game is going to play the same on every console out there. No incompatability issues.
Argh. What arrogance and stupidity. What's next, the executives of Sony all line up and moon us?
That's right, reply to the poor Christian man's innocent comment with a post about threesomes and lapdances. Betcha he's sinning in his heart right now just thinking about it. You've probably doomed an innocent Christian to hell, are you happy now?
And for the record, a sandwich pretty much implies two guys. That's not what most guys picture when they think of threesomes.
I'm sorry. Gosh you Brits are touchy. Haha, no, Not only do I know about Wales, I also know you get horribly offended being called British. Seriously, I'd love to visit someday, make a tour of England, Scotland, & Wales. I wasn't trying to put you down, really!
Q. What do you call a cow with two legs shorter than the other two?
A. Lean Beef!
Q. What do you call a cow with no legs?
A. Ground Beef!
Q. What do you call a cow that has just had an abortion?
A. Decaffeinated!
Q. What do you call a bull masturbating?
A. Beef Straganoff!
Are you 100% sure you replied to the right thread? GP was ranting about google censoring right wing blogs. I agree with you about the monopolies, etc. but way to make a complete non-sequiter.
They must use hands free headsets. Damn, I knew whales were smart, but this is amazing.
Would you? Because that's essentially what you are asking these people to do, to let others use their property to espouse views they don't agree with. Is it censorship? Sure. Is it bad? Only if private property is bad. Censorship and freedom of speech are two different but related issues.
It was a little blurb of an editorial, and plenty of people never read the editorials, but it managed to get the point across very clearly, spelling out why this is bad for Internet users, and urging them to contact their representatives.
So, no, it's not just here. Mainstream citizens care about their Internet and will fight against those who would take it away. Remember the Great Modem Tax Scare? It wasn't geeks spreading that myth, it was average citizens. I had to explain to more than one relative that this wasn't true.
I've had more than one non-geek ask me about "this whole net-neutrality thing." I tell them it's a real issue, and suggest that if they want the Internet to remain free, they should do something about it, like write their representatives.