Absolutely - It being the case that probably the most relevant battle being fought in the US (and perhaps the World) right now is that for the rights of Corporations vs Individuals, it's rather disheartening to see a post on/. which so grievously misses the differentiation between the two moderated up so high. Ouch.
Sexist? What? Because someone was moderated down? This is Slashdot, as others have said. Everyone gets hammered on some level at some point. It's a basic facet of posting here; Simply keep your pile of salt handy when reading raw content.
Speaking to the "Sexism" issue, I don't know that I've ever particularly known or cared about the sex of a given poster. As much as the sexual anonymity of the net has been turned into something of an cliched aphorism over the past years, it still holds quite true for many. Seriously. The only time this becomes an issue, of course, is when the subject matter is directly related to some sexual dichotomy, discrepancy, or similar issue where input from one sex or the other is particularly valued.
Granted, this whole thread is pretty off-topic, but I guess I just don't follow. To Patricia, whoever "she" is, I'm sorry that you percieve yourself as being unfairly persecuted, but I'd argue that it's really not something to get worked up about. Just keep posting, as many others have been doing for years. Also keep in mind that while the moderation system does generally work rather well to get a percentage of quality posts to 4+, there are times when it fails and a number of posts remain below that threshold; Don't take it as a personal offense when this happens to you for whatever reason.
I'd echo serious words of warning to those looking to do business with Easybuy2000.com. I ordered a player well over two months ago, and have yet to recieve anything other than consistent headaches.
Initially I was supposed to be on the list of those being shipped a player before May 15th (This was when they had supply problems). I recieved nothing.
After contacting them, I was assured that my order would be shipped ASAP. This of course never happened, and the past month or so has essentially been a continual game of trying to figure out where my player is. Fairly absurd.
It's not even necessarily that I'm having problems recieving a product from them, it's that I'm having problems getting anything even resembling a straight answer. They lie right up front, stating that my player's been shipped (3 times at last count), and then rescind that statement when it becomes obvious that it's not going to show up.
Please be careful when dealing with this place. I know that others have indeed recieved a product, so they at least have _something_ available, but I am also aware that I am far from the only person to have had such horrendous experiences with what looks to be a merchant with dubious integrity at best.
The comment that people may tend to "find the boundary between work and play increasingly blurred" rings rather oddly when stated in such a negative context, at least to my mind.
It's unfortunate that the situation that has evolved in this (the USA) and other countries is one wherein the vast majority of individuals view their employment as a burden or as a task which must be performed without much of a sense of enjoyment in order to survive. One sees this sentiment echoed all across popular culture, where the weekend is hailed as a glorious promised land of "free time" and respite from whatever coal mine folks are subjected to during the week. This pair of dichotomies, one temporal (week/weekend) and one personal (work/play), is an entity that I'd call both negative and unnecessary in nearly all cases.
Of course, Jon was likely mentioning this because of his understanding that many of those involved in various tech jobs embody said sentiments. Still...Looked upon with only a slight prismatic twist, this could be seen to be a positive trend as opposed to the converse. If there is indeed a more widespread trend toward blurring between work and play, the available options naturally gravitate further in the direction of two extremes: Either find work which truly fits what you consider something akin to play, and brings you fulfillment and enjoyment, or become further trapped in the sense that one must cling fervently to whatever time one can find to escape from the work that it forced upon them.
I suppose it really boils down to a fairly fundamental part of existence. That is, find something that helps you to learn, grow, and hopefully exist comfortably; Then structure your life so that there need not be a dichotomy which forces you away from that entity on a regular basis. Plenty have solved this particular puzzle, and I doubt one would find many of them viewing a "blurring between work and play" to be anything but a positive change. In fact, such a blurring is probably generally enacted in the first place by the people in question, as opposed to some outside force acting upon them.
What about folks here? Do many of you embrace this dichotomy in your personal life, or do you tend to view your employment as simply an extension of your overall existence? One could naturally follow into a discussion of the myriad dualistic ideas that have found their way into tacit use in Western culture (either explicitly or implicitly), but this particular facet is one which can be both acutely and broadly damaging to those upon whom it is forced and by whom it is accepted.
While I consider Serial Experiments Lain to be on the top of my list as far as depth and complexity go, Eva is right up there as well. 27 episodes, with movies and an alternate ending as well. The ending crafted for the original series was something of a letdown after the amazing buildup; I found the alternate far more suitable. I've yet to meet anyone who's had anything negative to say about Eva after watching the entire series to its conclusion.
If you're interested in samurai-era Japan I would also suggest Rurouni Kenshin. Focus on the 4-part OVA, and chew on pieces of the massive series as you see fit before watching the movie. Personally I haven't seen much of the series, but the OVA itself is spectacular.
There are of course others, but being a "casual" aficionado of high-quality anime these few stick out as being particularly well-done.
Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.
The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.
There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.
Slashdot Mirror
Absolutely - It being the case that probably the most relevant battle being fought in the US (and perhaps the World) right now is that for the rights of Corporations vs Individuals, it's rather disheartening to see a post on /. which so grievously misses the differentiation between the two moderated up so high. Ouch.
Sexist? What? Because someone was moderated down? This is Slashdot, as others have said. Everyone gets hammered on some level at some point. It's a basic facet of posting here; Simply keep your pile of salt handy when reading raw content.
Speaking to the "Sexism" issue, I don't know that I've ever particularly known or cared about the sex of a given poster. As much as the sexual anonymity of the net has been turned into something of an cliched aphorism over the past years, it still holds quite true for many. Seriously. The only time this becomes an issue, of course, is when the subject matter is directly related to some sexual dichotomy, discrepancy, or similar issue where input from one sex or the other is particularly valued.
Granted, this whole thread is pretty off-topic, but I guess I just don't follow. To Patricia, whoever "she" is, I'm sorry that you percieve yourself as being unfairly persecuted, but I'd argue that it's really not something to get worked up about. Just keep posting, as many others have been doing for years. Also keep in mind that while the moderation system does generally work rather well to get a percentage of quality posts to 4+, there are times when it fails and a number of posts remain below that threshold; Don't take it as a personal offense when this happens to you for whatever reason.
Initially I was supposed to be on the list of those being shipped a player before May 15th (This was when they had supply problems). I recieved nothing.
After contacting them, I was assured that my order would be shipped ASAP. This of course never happened, and the past month or so has essentially been a continual game of trying to figure out where my player is. Fairly absurd.
It's not even necessarily that I'm having problems recieving a product from them, it's that I'm having problems getting anything even resembling a straight answer. They lie right up front, stating that my player's been shipped (3 times at last count), and then rescind that statement when it becomes obvious that it's not going to show up.
Please be careful when dealing with this place. I know that others have indeed recieved a product, so they at least have _something_ available, but I am also aware that I am far from the only person to have had such horrendous experiences with what looks to be a merchant with dubious integrity at best.
It's unfortunate that the situation that has evolved in this (the USA) and other countries is one wherein the vast majority of individuals view their employment as a burden or as a task which must be performed without much of a sense of enjoyment in order to survive. One sees this sentiment echoed all across popular culture, where the weekend is hailed as a glorious promised land of "free time" and respite from whatever coal mine folks are subjected to during the week. This pair of dichotomies, one temporal (week/weekend) and one personal (work/play), is an entity that I'd call both negative and unnecessary in nearly all cases.
Of course, Jon was likely mentioning this because of his understanding that many of those involved in various tech jobs embody said sentiments. Still...Looked upon with only a slight prismatic twist, this could be seen to be a positive trend as opposed to the converse. If there is indeed a more widespread trend toward blurring between work and play, the available options naturally gravitate further in the direction of two extremes: Either find work which truly fits what you consider something akin to play, and brings you fulfillment and enjoyment, or become further trapped in the sense that one must cling fervently to whatever time one can find to escape from the work that it forced upon them.
I suppose it really boils down to a fairly fundamental part of existence. That is, find something that helps you to learn, grow, and hopefully exist comfortably; Then structure your life so that there need not be a dichotomy which forces you away from that entity on a regular basis. Plenty have solved this particular puzzle, and I doubt one would find many of them viewing a "blurring between work and play" to be anything but a positive change. In fact, such a blurring is probably generally enacted in the first place by the people in question, as opposed to some outside force acting upon them.
What about folks here? Do many of you embrace this dichotomy in your personal life, or do you tend to view your employment as simply an extension of your overall existence? One could naturally follow into a discussion of the myriad dualistic ideas that have found their way into tacit use in Western culture (either explicitly or implicitly), but this particular facet is one which can be both acutely and broadly damaging to those upon whom it is forced and by whom it is accepted.
While I consider Serial Experiments Lain to be on the top of my list as far as depth and complexity go, Eva is right up there as well. 27 episodes, with movies and an alternate ending as well. The ending crafted for the original series was something of a letdown after the amazing buildup; I found the alternate far more suitable. I've yet to meet anyone who's had anything negative to say about Eva after watching the entire series to its conclusion.
If you're interested in samurai-era Japan I would also suggest Rurouni Kenshin. Focus on the 4-part OVA, and chew on pieces of the massive series as you see fit before watching the movie. Personally I haven't seen much of the series, but the OVA itself is spectacular.
There are of course others, but being a "casual" aficionado of high-quality anime these few stick out as being particularly well-done.
Though it's perhaps a bit beyond this particular application, check out Nomadic Research Labs. This is Steven K Roberts' page, the fellow who created his Behemoth bike years back and travelled rather widely with it.
The technomad resources list might be the most useful part of the site in this case, but overall there's a lot to explore. Steve's been doing this for years, and has been extremely willing to offer assistance to other technomads in training throughout the years.
There also exists a Technomads mailing list for those who are interested. The traffic's pretty slight, but there have been some decent discussions of the issues involved over the years, and a reasonable number of the members of the wearable community are subscribed (and ostensibly interested in the field) as well.