Bad parenting is no longer limited to the uneducated, drug-addicted set. Now geeks can neglect their children too. Why spend your time parenting when you can sit your kid in front of a TV or computer so you have time to yourself? Why walk in the next room to talk to your kid and see what they're up to, when you can just an IM and forget it?
See, the thing is, parents today want to live the same lives they did before they made babies. They treat their children like adults, regardless of age, so that the parents can continue enjoying adult things.
I explain this just so you don't wonder about it when you notice a plethora of kids under 6 years of age watching Return of the King, Last Samurai and Cold Mountain.
Being in the bed with the baby is great -- if you're sleeping. I believe the rest of us handle your situation by placing the baby in a portable crib or rocker after we've gotten up and are going about our day.
If we want to talk to the wife, we walk in the other room. The last thing parents with a newborn need is to spend lest face-to-face time. It puts more strain on an already stressed situation.
No, I can't say I've ever considered raising a family in a home where it's easier to type a message to them than to speak to them. I would never subject my kids to such an environment.
The family household is first, and foremost, the place you learn and strengthen your communication skills. I'm sure 10 years from now we'll know all the CONs of diverting most of our face-to-face communication to instant messaging. It will surely strain all form of communication, from retail customer service to inter-office discussions. We already bitch about working in cubicles. Now we want to make our childrens' rooms cubicles too? How utterly sad.
Why talk to people when you can type to them? There are so many things that trouble me about a family that communicates by IM that I don't know where to begin. So I won't. I think I'll go find someplace to cry.
Ha! How is my message flamebait? I've pissed off one or two moderators who target every one of my messages. Here you go, mark this one flamebait too, if you have any mod points left.
More importantly, they only need to press one DVD for the average movie. The extra content they pack into DVDs weighs heavily on the crap side (crap = marketing). The LOTR box set could have been 2 DVDs instead of 4. As if we really believe the actor's lives during the shooting mimicked the characters they acted. Uh huh. How cheesy.
I wasn't talking about iTunes. I know nothing about iTunes. However, if iTunes requires me to use *its own* software to manipulate the audio file, I want nothing to do with it. I'll only support file formats that are commonly accessible and modifiable from a range of open source software.
Here's the issue. When MP3 becomes outdated, I'm certain I'll have many choices for software that will convert to the next standard. I have no such guarantees with proprietary formats exclusive to a single company.
Why didn't I use iTunes? Because I did what the average person did. I went to my regular online store (Amazon) and accepted the referral service. My bottom line, though, is that I want an audio file that has no strings attached. The ability to burn the file to CD is still forboden in my book if it comes with strings attached. The day I have to use a specific media player or media burner for content is the day I stop using that content. Yep, I know what that means. Copyright fanatics will make me a better person as I'll be living most of my life offline, outside of popular culture. I admire people who do that now as they are immeasurably happier than average folk.
I wanted to buy a book on tape as a Christmas present for my offline mother, but I didn't want to pay for express shipping to receive it in time. Amazon.com referred me to an online download at Audible.com. "Great," I thought, "I'll buy an MP3 file and burn it to CD."
I rushed into the purchase without reading the fine print. I didn't realize I was buying a proprietary "MP3 quality" recording and not an actual MP3 file. I didn't realize I had to download Audible.com software to listen to and manipulate the audio file.
The audio software failed to recognize my CD burner, so I requested and received a refund. I was miffed at not having an MP3 file and the prospect of spending time with a tech support person to route around a problem that wouldn't exist if I had been given an MP3 file to begin with.
As luck would have it, I bought the book on *CD* from the manufacturer for only $2 more, plus $6 standard shipping, and it arrived today.
It's just Hollywood trolling. Corporate whores want to suck every last dollar our of a sucky trilogy.
Move on. There's nothing to see here folks.
Splitting hairs
on
USB Menorah
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Not to split hairs or anything, but plenty of Jewish people wouldn't touch a USB menorah because they forego use of electronics on holy days. Also, no one lights menorahs during Hanukkah. They're called hannukiahs. A menorah has a completely different spiritual meaning and was kept lit in the Jerusalem temple. People like hannukiahs at home.
I took a moderator beating the last time I brought up the iPod battery ruckus. Flamebait for pointing out valid flaws, gotta love Mac moderators. Finally Big Media has caught on to this Big Problem and the flock can't ignore the problem any longer.
The amount of spyware and low browser security settings on PCs shocks me. I see this every holiday when I visit relatives. It boggles my mind to realize millions of victims are blindly surfing the web without any knowledge of what they're really doing.
Ahhh, see, I don't have to worry about which MP3 player will still be in widespread use a decade from now. If it uses commonly available batteries, I need only worry that the batteries are still available.
Repairing a broken player is a concern, but I expect none of today's players will be easily repairable in 10 years, unless you do it yourself. To that end, a non-hard drive player may be more durable.
Sorry, your conscience doesn't get off the hook. It's completely fair to compare your Ipod to any electronic device. I buy a product for long-term durability. So long as digital music will be usable, I want my player to play it. The only thing that would stop me would be a worldwide format change. Even then, I know people who still use vinyl and cassette tapes (and one who swears by 8-track).
A device with so many battery-related concerns is a deal killer. I know before purchase that it's not going to meet my durability concerns. Whereas, I can expect my rechargeable batteries to last me 10 years or more.
Maybe -- MAYBE -- your product would be better if the average consumer (without Internet research) could access the battery compartment, at least so people aren't inclined to toss their player and buy a new one, or ship it somewhere for "refurbishing." Packing materials make up 70% of our overburdened landfills and the last thing I'll support is needless shipping waste. And yes, that means I don't support Amazon either. E-commerce has ushered in a new era of extreme waste. We went from hopes of bulk purchasing through brick 'n' mortar stores to having everything snail mailed to us individually.
Except I'll have no trouble using my player 10 years from now, while it's dubious at best to expect support for your product to continue. Purely from an environmental standpoint, I couldn't purchase what is essentially a throw-away product.
Think you won't be using the player 10 years from now? I have a 15-year-old tape player and 10-year-old CD player, and of course a roundtable.
Oh, and to clarify, in a normal digital music player batteries are stored behind a sliding piece of plastic. You pop the cover off and exchange the old batteries for new ones and slide the cover back on. The whole process takes about 30 seconds. You don't have to send your player back to the manufacturer or download instructions and purchase third-party batteries on the web. Plus, you can use those same batteries in literally millions of other electronic devices. Give this new world a try. You might like it.
I'll take AA batteries I can buy at any grocery store, pharmacy, or gas station over batteries I have to research online to find a "third party" for and also download instructions on how to install said batteries. Stupid flamebaiter? Think again about who is stupid.
Slashdot Mirror
Bad parenting is no longer limited to the uneducated, drug-addicted set. Now geeks can neglect their children too. Why spend your time parenting when you can sit your kid in front of a TV or computer so you have time to yourself? Why walk in the next room to talk to your kid and see what they're up to, when you can just an IM and forget it?
See, the thing is, parents today want to live the same lives they did before they made babies. They treat their children like adults, regardless of age, so that the parents can continue enjoying adult things.
I explain this just so you don't wonder about it when you notice a plethora of kids under 6 years of age watching Return of the King, Last Samurai and Cold Mountain.
Being in the bed with the baby is great -- if you're sleeping. I believe the rest of us handle your situation by placing the baby in a portable crib or rocker after we've gotten up and are going about our day.
If we want to talk to the wife, we walk in the other room. The last thing parents with a newborn need is to spend lest face-to-face time. It puts more strain on an already stressed situation.
Yeah, face-to-face communication has nothing to do with raising kids! What planet are you from?
No, I can't say I've ever considered raising a family in a home where it's easier to type a message to them than to speak to them. I would never subject my kids to such an environment.
Thanks for your biggotry, but I'm an atheist. Silly me, I believe in talking to my kids face-to-face. How old fashioned, huh?
The family household is first, and foremost, the place you learn and strengthen your communication skills. I'm sure 10 years from now we'll know all the CONs of diverting most of our face-to-face communication to instant messaging. It will surely strain all form of communication, from retail customer service to inter-office discussions. We already bitch about working in cubicles. Now we want to make our childrens' rooms cubicles too? How utterly sad.
Why talk to people when you can type to them? There are so many things that trouble me about a family that communicates by IM that I don't know where to begin. So I won't. I think I'll go find someplace to cry.
Ha! How is my message flamebait? I've pissed off one or two moderators who target every one of my messages. Here you go, mark this one flamebait too, if you have any mod points left.
More importantly, they only need to press one DVD for the average movie. The extra content they pack into DVDs weighs heavily on the crap side (crap = marketing). The LOTR box set could have been 2 DVDs instead of 4. As if we really believe the actor's lives during the shooting mimicked the characters they acted. Uh huh. How cheesy.
Yeah, it sounds affordable until they announce the price of the battery.
I wasn't talking about iTunes. I know nothing about iTunes. However, if iTunes requires me to use *its own* software to manipulate the audio file, I want nothing to do with it. I'll only support file formats that are commonly accessible and modifiable from a range of open source software.
Here's the issue. When MP3 becomes outdated, I'm certain I'll have many choices for software that will convert to the next standard. I have no such guarantees with proprietary formats exclusive to a single company.
Yeah, I'm not saying Audible.com is bad for everyone. If you don't mind the strings attached, that's fine.
Why didn't I use iTunes? Because I did what the average person did. I went to my regular online store (Amazon) and accepted the referral service. My bottom line, though, is that I want an audio file that has no strings attached. The ability to burn the file to CD is still forboden in my book if it comes with strings attached. The day I have to use a specific media player or media burner for content is the day I stop using that content. Yep, I know what that means. Copyright fanatics will make me a better person as I'll be living most of my life offline, outside of popular culture. I admire people who do that now as they are immeasurably happier than average folk.
I wanted to buy a book on tape as a Christmas present for my offline mother, but I didn't want to pay for express shipping to receive it in time. Amazon.com referred me to an online download at Audible.com. "Great," I thought, "I'll buy an MP3 file and burn it to CD."
I rushed into the purchase without reading the fine print. I didn't realize I was buying a proprietary "MP3 quality" recording and not an actual MP3 file. I didn't realize I had to download Audible.com software to listen to and manipulate the audio file.
The audio software failed to recognize my CD burner, so I requested and received a refund. I was miffed at not having an MP3 file and the prospect of spending time with a tech support person to route around a problem that wouldn't exist if I had been given an MP3 file to begin with.
As luck would have it, I bought the book on *CD* from the manufacturer for only $2 more, plus $6 standard shipping, and it arrived today.
It's just Hollywood trolling. Corporate whores want to suck every last dollar our of a sucky trilogy.
Move on. There's nothing to see here folks.
Not to split hairs or anything, but plenty of Jewish people wouldn't touch a USB menorah because they forego use of electronics on holy days. Also, no one lights menorahs during Hanukkah. They're called hannukiahs. A menorah has a completely different spiritual meaning and was kept lit in the Jerusalem temple. People like hannukiahs at home.
I took a moderator beating the last time I brought up the iPod battery ruckus. Flamebait for pointing out valid flaws, gotta love Mac moderators. Finally Big Media has caught on to this Big Problem and the flock can't ignore the problem any longer.
> Who doesn't go to Blockbuster?
Anyone who likes porn doesn't go to Blockbuster. Get your friends a good porn web site subscription instead.
Don't sweat it. That link goes to a news article.
The amount of spyware and low browser security settings on PCs shocks me. I see this every holiday when I visit relatives. It boggles my mind to realize millions of victims are blindly surfing the web without any knowledge of what they're really doing.
Ahhh, see, I don't have to worry about which MP3 player will still be in widespread use a decade from now. If it uses commonly available batteries, I need only worry that the batteries are still available.
Repairing a broken player is a concern, but I expect none of today's players will be easily repairable in 10 years, unless you do it yourself. To that end, a non-hard drive player may be more durable.
Sorry, your conscience doesn't get off the hook. It's completely fair to compare your Ipod to any electronic device. I buy a product for long-term durability. So long as digital music will be usable, I want my player to play it. The only thing that would stop me would be a worldwide format change. Even then, I know people who still use vinyl and cassette tapes (and one who swears by 8-track).
A device with so many battery-related concerns is a deal killer. I know before purchase that it's not going to meet my durability concerns. Whereas, I can expect my rechargeable batteries to last me 10 years or more.
Maybe -- MAYBE -- your product would be better if the average consumer (without Internet research) could access the battery compartment, at least so people aren't inclined to toss their player and buy a new one, or ship it somewhere for "refurbishing." Packing materials make up 70% of our overburdened landfills and the last thing I'll support is needless shipping waste. And yes, that means I don't support Amazon either. E-commerce has ushered in a new era of extreme waste. We went from hopes of bulk purchasing through brick 'n' mortar stores to having everything snail mailed to us individually.
Except I'll have no trouble using my player 10 years from now, while it's dubious at best to expect support for your product to continue. Purely from an environmental standpoint, I couldn't purchase what is essentially a throw-away product.
Think you won't be using the player 10 years from now? I have a 15-year-old tape player and 10-year-old CD player, and of course a roundtable.
Oh, and to clarify, in a normal digital music player batteries are stored behind a sliding piece of plastic. You pop the cover off and exchange the old batteries for new ones and slide the cover back on. The whole process takes about 30 seconds. You don't have to send your player back to the manufacturer or download instructions and purchase third-party batteries on the web. Plus, you can use those same batteries in literally millions of other electronic devices. Give this new world a try. You might like it.
Yeah, here's the estimate: $10 for two rechargeable batteries to last me the next 5 years. If I want to splurge for two sets of batteries, $20.
I'll take AA batteries I can buy at any grocery store, pharmacy, or gas station over batteries I have to research online to find a "third party" for and also download instructions on how to install said batteries. Stupid flamebaiter? Think again about who is stupid.