It holds somewhat, since HTTP is what made the web possible. However, I agree with you that a tool is not the best metaphor. Perhaps HTTP -> web is the same as TV sets -> TV programming?
Alright, TV, although the upstream bandwidth for TV is so low it is just the barest likeness. I prefer the node/edge analogy of a countryside containing roads and town, since it is more accurate and extensible.... but whatever.
Since we ARE being picky. this is actually incorrect. If it were true, then the web at the moment HTTP was invented (or, rather, implemented) and the web now should be one and the same. besides, there is also HTML with is quite
separate from HTTP,
I stand by it. The Protocol is the Web. The fact of HTML != HTTP is a techy-neat little piece of knowledge, and it's good that you know that, but it has nothing to do with the my point.
You are confusing content with the means to communicate this content. Of course, McLuhan said that the medium is the message, but you shouldn't take it too literally.
I am confusing nothing. You, apparently are confusing what I said with something you thought I said. I did not claim that 'the medium is the message', you did.
Why do you think that "world" means Earth? It could also mean "the whole universe".
What makes you think I think that? I simply asked a question. And for a self-professed 'picky' person, you sure are playing fast and loose with you definitions there, to get 'universe' out of 'world'.... sheesh. Make up your mind; do you want rigour, or not?
The numbers out of context can be decieving. How many hours a week, and how does the weekly net stand up (as a percentage) against, say, average housing cost. Use housing cost for a single-parent family if you want to make it really interesting.
I don't know the answer to the above, and $15/hr may be 'good' in that area, I'm just pointing out that there was a time when $1/day was really good money.... Cost of living is everything when you're talking about salary.
the WWW is not a protocol. It's a collection of pages that can be accessed through that protocol. The difference is the same as between a tool and something made with this tool.
[really really picky] If, as you claim, the WWW is 'a collection of pages that can be accessed through' HTTP, then your tool analogy doesn't hold, since the pages weren't created using HTTP. That's a bit like saying towns (sites) -- connected by roads (cables), carrying signals (vehicles), which contain.... break it on down, it continues to hold as an analogy... -- were created by the roads. In a very broad sense, you could say that the commerce on the road, a sub-set of the traffic on the roads, encouraged people to create towns, etc... but it general, it is more accurate to say, as the previous poster did, that the web is the protocol. There is nothing really incorrect about that statement.
Also, note that if you access those same pages via e.g. gopher/ftp/whatever, you are no longer, strictly speaking, operating within the WWW.
[/really really picky]
And what about those hosts that are off-planet? Are those part of the 'World Wide Web'?
....it wasn't Europeans, it was aliens.... ARPA == Alien Reptile Planetary Aliance.
insert short-term before profit, and you're right. Unfortunately, they seem to forget that the short term may look good,
but the long term can kill you
This is so true. It never ceases to amaze me that so many of the 'suits' can apparently neither a) figure this out logically and practice it, nor b) learn the lesson from failure - their own or some one else's.
I consider this 'near-sightedness' in business to be the Number 1 problem with business for everyone concerned with business. The people who are going after the short term gains and sacrificing the long term are screwing themselves and everybody else; such non-logic seems to be the prime reason given for producing shoddy, overpriced products.
Didn't know this theory was propagating from Harvard, though. Never liked Harvard. Now I know why....
Heard about a famous Harvard MBA the other day... hmmm... what was that name again...
Most interviewers I've talked to seem a lot more interested in the candidate's age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and politics than they are in what the candidate can do. Of course who you know and how you dress is even more important, but if you don't have those down, you even get to the interview.
It was just an example of a threat we face today. I don't have anything in particular against Arabs, just when they start blowing our buildings and citizens up.
And as another example, I don't have anything in particular against bigots... until they try to codify their bigotry into law and policy of a government.
Except that it will allow terrorists and criminals to learn how to bypass it, thus making it ineffective. Which is, I
suppose, what liberals like you want to happen isn't it?
we needn't worry about "the removal of the current oppressive regime"; it will simply wither and die as it becomes less and less relevant, less and less able to cope with the changes the information-based economy wreaks on a daily basis.
While this is a nice thought, what I see is the 'current oppressive regime[s]' (COR) making war on the state of information. Much as I enjoy the idea of ignoring it, it remains a fact that if you let somebody take potshots at you long enough, they will eventually hit you. I agree that new paradigms need to be developed, but I don't think those new systems will ever fully mature as long as their primary focus has to be the legitimization and protection of their existence on such a fundamental level.
Short version: You can't build on a lot until the existing building has been removed.
How's that for constructive? (I might say it was more deconstructive;) Can I wear a gold-toned tinfoil hat now?
Not bad. An excellent beginning. You will be awarded the specially designed copper-mesh beanie (CMB) complete with embedded ethernet port and tcp/ip stack.
CMBs are among the most sought-after of the next generation of peripherals for the Truly and Deeply Paranoid.
Among the many forthcoming applications, there is one in particular being developed (using Perl) that should be available soon. It is called Perl of Wisdom(tm). PoW(tm) is one of the new so-called 'preamble enhancement applications'. In additition to the protection afforded your thoughts by the CMD device (shielding your brainewaves from the various thought manipulation and mind reading technologies now in use), PoW(tm) allows you to quickly and easily remove the disinformation structures imposed on your neuronal networks by your exposure to 'spin' -- e.g. the media. This process is fully programmable to allow you to selectively retain whatever mind-control programming you may deem useful in your career or personal life. Note that a slashdot deconstructor module is also being discussed...
Even if the above is true, it's not very constructive, is it? Between you and me, let's just pretend like the democratic system is not hopelessly fscked up, OK? It makes it easier for me to get out of be in the morning, and it also makes for more interesting conversation and troll-baiting.
While I do appreciate your willingness to sink to my level and your generally uncombative tone, I cannot agree to pretend any longer that the system works. It was those sorts of pretensions which allowed the usurpers to gain power to begin with.
My statement was intended to serve as the basis for constructive conversation concerning the removal of the current oppressive regime that has been controlling the US. If you don't choose to engage that concept, that does not make my statement 'unconstructive'. It simply means you a) don't believe it, or b) are not interested in pursuing it. Is that too serious for your taste?
I will say that the kind of mutually agreed pretentions you suggest (pretend it didn't happen, pretend the government is 'okay', that we are not living in an illegally empowered police state) is to give ones tacit approval of the corruption that infests the former United States.
Truth should not be so lightly dismissed. That amounts to self-censorship in direct opposition to your own self-interest, probably based on fear. No doubt the fear that others will compliment you on the fit of your tinfoil hat....
Huh. I seem to recall the Colonial Tricorner was widely sneered at, too.
200+ years ago, a government was founded on the basis of the idea that rights were retained by the people - "We The People" - making those Indiana schmoes the center of government power.
Actually, Tony, (and it pains me to have to point this out, really it does), there was no Indiana when the Constitution was written, so really it was the shmoes from places like Massachusets and Pennsylvania that became the center of government power. However, I respect and agree with your overall sentiment, there.
You're being trolled by the ACs. Browse at 1 to avoid them, they don't have the balls to use handles, nor the sense to get moderated up.
Anybody who thinks that Big Brother doesn't care doesn't understand why it's called 'Big Brother'...
The American Government's primary function is to preserve the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You seem to be operatiting under the misapprehension that the actual American Govovernment as defined by the Constitution of the United States of America has any damn thing at all to do with the government which has siezed, and currently controls, the United States of America. For convienience, I refer to this current, false government (false because a) it is not representative of the citizenry, and b) it is not legally constituted) as the Amerikan government.
Call it what you want, if you think it has anything at all to do with protecting the Rights of the Citizens to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, then you are a damn fool, living in a dream world -- or have you formed an enclave and re-established the legally constituted government without telling anybody?
Why don't you and your beloved family move to some third world police state, where you will be safe from the chaos that necessarily accompanies freedom?
Heh. You mean like Alabama -- or maybe Arkansas?
Amerika: The a big, strong, healthy, wealthy, 1st-world police state, where chaos is all portion-controlled, free-speech is allowed (except in front of the convention-hall, delegates, or t.v. cameras), and if the Demipublican agenda doesn't spell Freedom to you, then, well, you can just screw off!
Best Buy sells single room window units (Frigidaire) that have timed on/off, digital thermostatic control, and a remote. Less that $200US, last I heard.
For central air, you can get a thermostat that will do what you're talking about ~$100US. Install the thermostat, use it, and replace the old one when you move out.
A much overlooked exercise (imo), is to teach students to use code libraries.
An exercise that I have always found useful and interesting (note that I have never been a high school student, but I get accused of be juvenile a lot), is to write code that execises the API of a code library.
There are lots of good ones (code libraries) out there for things like graphics, mapping, networking, etc etc. Many of them have sources available, and many are availble cross-platform. I would reccomend choosing one that is both. Choosing one that implements a standard of some kind is also good, but probably more complex.
Advantages
The student can use its imagination, but logic logic skills are still required.
The problem is very 'real-world' oriented; most programming these days seems to involve use of libraries of one sort or another.
Requirements are easily identified, therefor success or failure of the project is more easily quantified.
Not platform or language specific; most languages and platforms now have some sort of library mechanism.
Good logical follow-on projects e.g. improve/extend the library without breaking the API.
Teaches good skills e.g. honor the API, work well with other teams, identify dependencies, etc
I'm sure there are others.
Other points
Come up with some coding standards, and make the class adhere to them. It will make your life easier, and help prepare them for the real world. It should also make communication between teams and individuals easier.
In general, I think it is better to teach students how to use a code library first, then teach them how to create libraries after they understand thier use.
I'm sure there is a Slashdot conspiracy and they are secretly compiling a list of contact information of all there readers, for some nefarious Vandover purpose.
It's not slashdot per se, it's M$ corp. They have financed/. thru several blinds in order to keep tabs on the dissident community (non-M$ users).
Everything you post here goes into the dossier they keep on you. The ACs are just trolling to get you to reveal tidbits they can apply data mining techniques to... triangulation, so to speak.
That's the real problem with the M$ anti-trust action: A federal audit of M$ might reveal these databases, whereupon the feds would get warrents to get copies of the data. Since M$ has a major head-start on the feds in the area of user tracking, the feds are way ahead in their profiling efforts, and M$ becomes a defacto part of the government....
It's frightening to see how paranoid people are these days, letting themselves get worked up over necessary development.
A couple observations: 1) People are paranoid because people like you seem to have no regard for things things like personal responsibility, privacy, or the rights of the individual, and 2) if it weren't for the paranoid, you would have already lost the ability to exercise the rights that you aren't quite clueful enough to stand up for yourself. It's not my intention to get into name calling and personal recriminations here, but you are walking a very fine line here.
I don't know if you are an amerikan, but I would point out that there are a whole shitload of people who are now dead because they believed very strongly that the type of thing you are calling 'necesary' is in fact dehumanizing, not the proper province of govt, and should be prevented, even if it meant they die fighting to stop it.
The unfortunate fact is that the constitutional right of the citizen to be secure from unreasonable search (and siezure) no longer holds. You dismiss this as unreasonable paranoia, while amerikans (and some others, actually) who believe in the US constitution (as written) decry the fact that the country has fallen without a shot being fired. Are you sure you won the cold war? Carnivore is the software implementation of what Russia recently tried to implement in hardware...
The FBI is a law enforcement agency. They serve a necessary function: keeping society in order.
You seem to misunderstand the role of law enforcement in a 'free' society. It is not the role of law enforcement to 'keep society in order'; the role of law enforcement is to enforce the law. Period. That's it. That is their only proper function.
Obviously, the FBI needs some kind of tools so that, when they have the proper reasons to, they can apprehend criminals. Carnivore is just one of those tools.
The FBI already has tools sufficient to their job.
There are reasons not to add tools that by definition expand the scope of the job.
Carnivore is an example of the tool defining the job, which is always ineffective compared to choosing a tool based on the job.
The Slashdoterati seem to favor stripping the FBI (and, presumably, other law enforcement agencies) of all its power.
This obviously a flamebait, patently false, and I challenge you to show otherwise. I personally have questions about whether the FBI is legal under the body of US law that fits the constitution, but that is another argument, and do not advocate unilateral removal of the agency. I just think it is something that should be looked at closely.
Sounds great,
So you advocating the disempowerment of the FBI? Does the FBI know you feel that way? Well, I guess they do now...
Obviously, no wants their privacy trampled upon, and I'm not suggesting that the FBI be able to decrypt everyone's e-mail (you do use PGP, right?).
Why not? By the same logic you use to defend Carnivore, if the FBI decypts everyone's email, they might catch a few more lawbreakers, which justifies their violation of your right to privacy.
Or are you saying that individuals have the right to privacy only insofar as they can enforce it themselves? Can you say 'vigilante'? I knew you could...
But to suggest that the FBI not be allowed to take action when they have the mandate to is nothing short of anarchism.
Your premise for this statement has not been proven. That's what this discussion is about. First of all, if the FBI does have such a mandate, from where did they recieve it? Where is said mandate codified? What exactly are the parameters and the scope of this alleged mandate?
They fact is, US law enforcement's mandate is to protect the rights of the citizens. Despite your apparent attempt to disenfrachise the 'Slashdoterati', the fact is that the amerikan users of slashdot are among the citizens from whom any 'mandate' the FBI may receive must originate, and the only mandate the FBI legally has is to protect them, their persons, propery, and privacy. Furthermore, that mandate puts severe constraints on any actions the FBI may take outside the law i.e. the FBI does not get a blanket mandate to violate privacy (the law, remember) in order to fulfill its obligations to the citizens.
You seem to forget that, unless the system is sadly broken, law enforcement works for the citizens who elect the representatives who pass the laws that mandate the desires of the citizens, protect the rights of the individual, etc, etc.
The groups mentioned in this article, such as the American Family Association, are independent groups, comprised mostly of Christian fundamentalists. The same can be said of groups such as the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, and the rest of the right-wing thought police organizations. They are not affiliated with the United States government in any way, with the possible exception of having the support of some right-wing politicians.
While it is true that the right-wing xtian fundies are not presently supported directly or openly by the federal govt, you might want to check into something known as Charitable Choice. It is part of the right-wing agenda which will ultimately have these organizations supported directly by the federal govt.
At this time, the feds are giving monies salvaged from the welfare programs to "church" orgainizations. The monies are intended to allow the 'non-profit' religious organizations to start businesses which, in theory will benefit 'the poor' -- charity.
There are obvious problems with this -- one of the most glaring being that any charity operated as a business will necesarily take their operating costs off the top. In this case, the operating costs include the operation of such organizations as The Christian Coalition and the Family Research Council. This amounts to a direct state subsidy to xtian religious organizations...
Also, you seem to have the relationship between the politicians and the fundies reversed. It is the fundies that run (support) the politicians, not the other way round. The salient point here being that the right-wingers tend to have a lot of money to throw around, which, oddly enough, goes pretty much directly counter to what most peoples perception of fundies, that is, that they are mostly poor.
In fact, the typical right-wing thought policeman harbors extreme hatred towards our government.
This idea is wide-spread, and for good reason. The right-wing fundie community in the US cannot afford to be seen as favorable to the govt. 1) such a perception doesn't fit well with fundamentalist teachings, and 2) "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". The fact is, the govt remains much more favorable to fundie xtian right-wing points of view than it does to, say Green, pagan, or communist POVs.
Recently, the United States government has struck down things such as student-led prayers at school. It has struck down attempts to censor the Internet (remember the Communications Decency Act?
These actions are purely spin control, imo; perception management. These are the things that are getting media play, while the most damaging measures go completely without mainstream coverage. Slashdot itself substantiates this idea. How much of the scarier censorship agenda implementations you see described here make it as far as CNN before being passed into law?
there are some right-wing moralist nuts in our government, but they, like everybody else, are required to operate under the constraints levied by the United States Constitution.
Heh. I hadn't noticed the US congress exercising anything even remotely resembling constitutional constraints, ever, in living memory. In fact, I would say they have done pretty much the opposite, running roughshod over even the most basic constitutional protections.
Saying all Christians are Bible-thumpers who want to rule the lives of others is like saying all blacks are drug-using wife beaters, all Jews are great businessman
Y'know, I have seen this idea expressed before, and I just have to take issue with it. Again.
Xtianity is not comparable to race. You were not born xtian. Xtianity is a choice (no matter how much xtians try to brainwash kids into believing otherwise).
Your belief in Jesus as your personal savior is not the same type of immutable fact that as e.g. an individual's racial background.
If you are discriminated against as a xtian, it is because you failed to execise your intellect. If I am discriminated against on the basis of by racial background, it is not because I chose to accept a corrupt moral code.
Quit whining. You chose your religion, and if people make fun of you for it and persecute you for it, well hey, your bible teaches that they will do that. Suck it up and quit trying to ride on the coattails of people who have suffered persecution for things they had no control over, like the color of their skin.
Stereo-tying of xtians is generally valid because it takes a certain type of person to accept the particular illogic inherent in the xtian system of beliefs (e.g there is only one god, it is male, an benevolent). The same can be said of most religions. E.g. if you were fit the a diferent stereotype, you might believe in a malignant, female diety... This stuff is so obvious. Get a clue.
I suspect some people go as far as threaton to call child protective services on parents who don't conform...
You suspect? Threaten? Bless yer heart, you don't have kids, do you? Or are you outside the US. Sorry, I'm not trying to condescend; I just boggled at the concept.
Many people, esp school administrators, church members, police, neighbors, grandparents, inlaws, etc most certainly DO call child protective services any time a parent's child-rearing doesn't conform to their idea of morality du jour.
For instance, in several states you can be charged with child abuse if there is a child in your car not wearing a seat belt. On the other hand, it remains quite acceptable to enroll your child in an xtian cult that teaches them to believe that a guy with horns and a tail will torture them for all eternity if they have sex outside of marriage.
The same teacher who tells you that Ritalin is good for your child spends a good portion of classroom time convincing your child to tell her that your spouse smokes pot, and will not hesitate to have you locked up, and your children made wards of the state if and when the child does make such an allegation.
In general, institutionalized child abuse (drugging school-children with Ritalin, implementation of programs like W.A.V.E, brainwashing children with religion) are rewarded behaviors, and widely practiced. Meanwhile, non-conformist behavior in parents is punished using the harshest means available, up to an including deadly force.
Try learning to read. I didn't say that America was perfect, just that it sucked less than Europe.
On the contrary, I think once you have learned to read you will find that you went considerably beyond that. You will also find, once you have actually read what you quoted, that I didn't say you claimed your so-called country was perfect. I will say it again, since you obviously missed it the first time: The crux of your argument is "My country, right or wrong."
Since you are weak on reading comprehension, I will explain: It means that you back your countries actions and policies regardless of whether they are right, and regardless of whether or not you believe they are right. That is the basis for pretty much everything you have posted in this thread, whether or not you choose to admit to it. It is understandable that you might wish to deny it, since it is such an obviously sheep-like mentality, but the fact it, your arguments depend from it, directly.
Some of us take don't take our morality from movies.
Liar. You just don't care to admit it.
If you think we give a fuck about the Netherlands or Denmark, you're even more deluded than I thought.
Heh. No, you can rest your fevered little brain. I know better than to think amerikans care about anything past the edges of the tv screens. You have missed the point
You're pretty good at mouthing the party line, aren't you?
I don't know... which party do you imagine that might be? I really think it is you who is mouthing a party line. Republican Party, it sounds like.
For the record, I have no party affiliation. There's a couple that might wish they could claim me, but I have not endorsed any of them, thank you very much.
You don't seem to have noticed, but the Cold War is over. Your side lost. Deal with it.
I understand that to you, being amerikan, it is very important that there be a 'War', and that anyone who doesn't agree with you be on the other 'side', and that you 'win', and that I 'lose'. This is very typical of amerikans, and I don't really hold it against you, but in order that you not look like idiots to the rest of us, it would be in your own best interests of you could learn to think in other terms.
Whether or not your alleged war is over (about as important to me as the Netherlands seems to be to you) the US continues its imperiallistic behavior and attitudes. Your posts here are proof of this.
Well, compared to the pogroms, genocides, serfdom, and murdering in the name of religion prevalent on your continent, I think I'll keep our "sick" culture, thanks.
This is the crux of your argument: "My country, right ot wrong." I've always found that a bit lame, but a lot of amerikan politicians seem to have gotten a lot of mileage out of getting your young men to buy it...
Care to quote the Euro box office figures for Titanic?
[etc] Hah. And the fingures this week? How many amerika films placed? 2? 3? How many amerikan films from the action and horror genres placed? How many amerikan films with non Euro-centric content placed? You argument is lame, and you know it. Else why would you have to reach back to Titanic for your figures?
Face it, amerikan art and entertainment is a wash. You pathetic fucks have no culture.
Well, apparently the movie-goers in France disagree. Sorry about that.
Well, if you think Titanic is culture, you're in worse shape than I thought. Furthermore, a quick glance at the Ecran Noir for this week shows that you are hoist by your own petard. French taste is evidently somewhat better than you insinuate... So you're comparing these atrocities with the violence perpetrated against amerikan children by the entertainment industry? I like it.
You know, most people in this country know the difference between fiction and reality.
I'd be highly ammused to watch you try to prove that one. Start by getting a concensus on the definition of 'reality'.
It is impossible to "perpetrate violence" with a movie.
If you cannot understand the violence inherent in the brainwashing distributed by Hollywood under the guise of 'entertainment', then you are an a victim and an idiot to boot, and we really have no basis for discussion.
The only country mentioned in your original post was "Amerika". I was under the impression that to have a comparision one must have more than one of the entities under consideration. You mentioned no other country, but you did mention "the civilized nations of the world". I'm fascinated. Why don't you name one of these soi-disant "civilized" nations for us.
I bet you are fascinated. Easily entertained, too. Again, you show the typical amerikan weaknesses in your lack of reasoning skills. Trying thinking something through for yourself, for a change. I don't name them because there's really no reason to. Your efforts to defame the rest of the world don't make amerika suck any less. Get used to it.
So tell me, how are we trying to "export" this morality? By making movies and TV shows, then going to Europe (or wherever) and forcing the audience to watch at gunpoint or something?
First you try to claim amerika *is* exporting movies in a big way, then you ask me to prove amerika is exporting morality. Do you see no connexion between morality and art? [I will be charitable and allow the claim that amerikan film and/or tv is Pop Art for the sake of answering that one]
I'll let you try that one before we get into things like american pressure to criminalize marijuana in the netherlands, amerika protests against prostitution in denmark, amerikan destruction of food crops by the introduction of untried genetically modified seed, the amerikan assaults on islamic culture in the mideast, etc, etc, etc. All these are export of culture.
The current planned victim is China. You pathetic amerikan sheep sit over there and cry that it's not happening; "No-no, we are a Democracy," you say, "we must keep the world safe for democracy, even if it means destroying everything else." You have all already been screwed out of anything resembling culture by the Big Wanking Commerical Interests(tm), and you take vindictive pleasure in watching the BWCI's destroy other cultures.
Yeah, until one of your neighbors starts rolling across your border with tanks, or building a few gas chambers, or starts murdering and raping those of a different religion or ethnicity.
You are reciting your rationalizations for your imperialist wars; these are meaningful only to you. Your practice of ascribing to others the motivations which serve your own aggresive nationalistic desires is pretense. Amerikas only agenda is to destroy that which it cannot understand. In fact, your posts here on this subject are a good example of that.
The difference between a wise man and a fool is that the wise man can learn from the fool.
Amerika is a sick culture striving to export it's legislated puritanism worldwide in an effort to justify their own disease
And we're doing a damned good job of it.
Probably not as good as you seem to think, but you are trying real hard.
American entertainment is loved the world over. Including Europe. The Europeans won't admit it, but the box office doesn't lie.
Hah. Yeah right. Care to quote the Euro box office figures for, say Bride of Chuckie? Didn't think so. Jazz music was about the only marketable entertainment product amerika ever produced, and since they've quit making that the m arkets have pretty well dried up. The other two entertainment products that are commonly thought to be popular amerikan exports -- comics and soap operas -- have been usurped by better made products from other nations. Face it, amerikan art and entertainment is a wash. You pathetic fucks have no culture. You're too busy beating the hell out of anybody you don't agree with to do anything else. You haven't even managed to add anything to the practice of sex. You're all too damned afraid of it to do anything with it except use it to sell soap.
By the way, the oh-so-civilized residents of other countries might want to put their own houses in order before condemning the American "culture of violence". Does Sarajevo ring a bell? How about Dachau? The rape of Nanking? The Ukraine under Stalin? The killing fields in Cambodia? Rwanda? The Spanish Inquisition? The Crusades?
So you're comparing these atrocities with the violence perpetrated against amerikan children by the entertainment industry? I like it. Wish I'd thought of it. Yes, I would have to agree, the scale of damage done is similar. I think the amerikan version will be more effective in altering human behavior over the long term, though. Amerika likes to engage in atrocity while calling it 'entertainment', which sells better than 'the spanish inquisition'...
The only incidents of comparable magnitude that happened here are the mistreatment of Native Americans and African slavery, though I've always wondered why the U.S. has to take the full blame for those. The Spanish, French, Dutch, and English did much of that damage long before the United States even existed. America learned its brutality at the knee of its European forebears, though, unlike Europe, we seem to have evolved since then.
If you consider that learning to turn a progressively blinder eye to your own shortcomings is evolution, yes, I suppose you have.
I would also point out that the only reason amerika "won" is that they are better at brutality. In a contest of brutality, the most brutal wins... there's quote about that, but I don't recall it precisely.
Tell ya what... when Europe, Asia, and Africa manage to go a full twenty years (or even ten) without some kind of genocide/government-sponsored mass murder THEN you can start preaching morality to the United States.
Well, first of all, I was comparing nations, not continents or hemispheres; typically amerikan that the concept seems to have gone right over your head.
Secondly, I'll "preach" any damn thing I please to amerika, or anyone else. Isn't that one of the values you so hypocritically mouth to your own citizens: Freedom of Speech?
You, as so many amerikans, apparently believe so strongly in your own righteousness that you feel you are immune to the moral contraints that are necesary to humanity. Amerika is the one trying to export their legislated "morality", their "let the kids see the brains get splattered but make sure everyone is fully clothed" idiocy.
Until then we'll just keep bailing your asses out every time you take a notion to start slaughtering each other.
Somalia. We don't want your 'bail-outs'. News flash, patriot boy: In countries that understand the use of language, US foriegn policy is quite accurrately called "imperialism", to wit
the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly : the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence
It's hard to believe trogs like you still exist, with your 'might-makes-right', hyper-patriotic bullshit. Put your own house in order; the global community doesn't want your mess on their carpets.
The real 3 things amerika does well: Violence, Puritanism, and Spin.
What is with this country? we can't even show nude cartoons on tv, I don't understand why we can't show nude people on prime time. Is it really bad for children to see nudity? I think not, I've been to several European countries where they have nude gameshows on primetime, I don't think it warps the minds of children.
Amerika is a sick culture striving to export it's legislated puritanism worldwide in an effort to justify their own disease. Amerika is a kulture addicted to violence.
Is it any wonder amerikans have to turn to other cultures for arts and entertainment?
What kind of diseased minds concieved the idea that it's okay to show murder on prime time while nudity and sex remains unacceptable?
When was the last time you saw an amerikan prime time television drama that didn't include at least one murder?
Amerikan children are encouraged to watch horror (serial killings), action (maiming, killing, and general carnage as humor), and cops and robbers (plots are thin excuses for random, politically correct violence). They are told that porn (nudity and sex) is bad, and that they must be protected from it.
Is it any wonder that violence is so prevelant in amerikan kulture? Is it any wonder that the civilized nations of the world resist amerika's exportation of the obscenity that passes for entertainment in the US?
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know the answer to the above, and $15/hr may be 'good' in that area, I'm just pointing out that there was a time when $1/day was really good money.... Cost of living is everything when you're talking about salary.
Also, note that if you access those same pages via e.g. gopher/ftp/whatever, you are no longer, strictly speaking, operating within the WWW. [/really really picky]
And what about those hosts that are off-planet? Are those part of the 'World Wide Web'?
I consider this 'near-sightedness' in business to be the Number 1 problem with business for everyone concerned with business. The people who are going after the short term gains and sacrificing the long term are screwing themselves and everybody else; such non-logic seems to be the prime reason given for producing shoddy, overpriced products.
Didn't know this theory was propagating from Harvard, though. Never liked Harvard. Now I know why....
Heard about a famous Harvard MBA the other day... hmmm... what was that name again...
Can I ask which school district?
Most interviewers I've talked to seem a lot more interested in the candidate's age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and politics than they are in what the candidate can do. Of course who you know and how you dress is even more important, but if you don't have those down, you even get to the interview.
Short version: You can't build on a lot until the existing building has been removed.
Not bad. An excellent beginning. You will be awarded the specially designed copper-mesh beanie (CMB) complete with embedded ethernet port and tcp/ip stack.CMBs are among the most sought-after of the next generation of peripherals for the Truly and Deeply Paranoid.
Among the many forthcoming applications, there is one in particular being developed (using Perl) that should be available soon. It is called Perl of Wisdom(tm). PoW(tm) is one of the new so-called 'preamble enhancement applications'. In additition to the protection afforded your thoughts by the CMD device (shielding your brainewaves from the various thought manipulation and mind reading technologies now in use), PoW(tm) allows you to quickly and easily remove the disinformation structures imposed on your neuronal networks by your exposure to 'spin' -- e.g. the media. This process is fully programmable to allow you to selectively retain whatever mind-control programming you may deem useful in your career or personal life. Note that a slashdot deconstructor module is also being discussed...
Should help lower those stress levels, too.
My statement was intended to serve as the basis for constructive conversation concerning the removal of the current oppressive regime that has been controlling the US. If you don't choose to engage that concept, that does not make my statement 'unconstructive'. It simply means you a) don't believe it, or b) are not interested in pursuing it. Is that too serious for your taste?
I will say that the kind of mutually agreed pretentions you suggest (pretend it didn't happen, pretend the government is 'okay', that we are not living in an illegally empowered police state) is to give ones tacit approval of the corruption that infests the former United States.
Truth should not be so lightly dismissed. That amounts to self-censorship in direct opposition to your own self-interest, probably based on fear. No doubt the fear that others will compliment you on the fit of your tinfoil hat....
Huh. I seem to recall the Colonial Tricorner was widely sneered at, too.
You're being trolled by the ACs. Browse at 1 to avoid them, they don't have the balls to use handles, nor the sense to get moderated up.
Anybody who thinks that Big Brother doesn't care doesn't understand why it's called 'Big Brother'...
Call it what you want, if you think it has anything at all to do with protecting the Rights of the Citizens to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, then you are a damn fool, living in a dream world -- or have you formed an enclave and re-established the legally constituted government without telling anybody?
Heh. You mean like Alabama -- or maybe Arkansas?Amerika: The a big, strong, healthy, wealthy, 1st-world police state, where chaos is all portion-controlled, free-speech is allowed (except in front of the convention-hall, delegates, or t.v. cameras), and if the Demipublican agenda doesn't spell Freedom to you, then, well, you can just screw off!
But then, that wasn't what you meant, was it...
For central air, you can get a thermostat that will do what you're talking about ~$100US. Install the thermostat, use it, and replace the old one when you move out.
And yeah, these gadgets do pay for themselves.
An exercise that I have always found useful and interesting (note that I have never been a high school student, but I get accused of be juvenile a lot), is to write code that execises the API of a code library.
There are lots of good ones (code libraries) out there for things like graphics, mapping, networking, etc etc. Many of them have sources available, and many are availble cross-platform. I would reccomend choosing one that is both. Choosing one that implements a standard of some kind is also good, but probably more complex.
Advantages
Other points
Everything you post here goes into the dossier they keep on you. The ACs are just trolling to get you to reveal tidbits they can apply data mining techniques to... triangulation, so to speak.
That's the real problem with the M$ anti-trust action: A federal audit of M$ might reveal these databases, whereupon the feds would get warrents to get copies of the data. Since M$ has a major head-start on the feds in the area of user tracking, the feds are way ahead in their profiling efforts, and M$ becomes a defacto part of the government....
Am I just being paranoid?
I don't know if you are an amerikan, but I would point out that there are a whole shitload of people who are now dead because they believed very strongly that the type of thing you are calling 'necesary' is in fact dehumanizing, not the proper province of govt, and should be prevented, even if it meant they die fighting to stop it.
The unfortunate fact is that the constitutional right of the citizen to be secure from unreasonable search (and siezure) no longer holds. You dismiss this as unreasonable paranoia, while amerikans (and some others, actually) who believe in the US constitution (as written) decry the fact that the country has fallen without a shot being fired. Are you sure you won the cold war? Carnivore is the software implementation of what Russia recently tried to implement in hardware...
You seem to misunderstand the role of law enforcement in a 'free' society. It is not the role of law enforcement to 'keep society in order'; the role of law enforcement is to enforce the law. Period. That's it. That is their only proper function.- The FBI already has tools sufficient to their job.
- There are reasons not to add tools that by definition expand the scope of the job.
- Carnivore is an example of the tool defining the job, which is always ineffective compared to choosing a tool based on the job.
This obviously a flamebait, patently false, and I challenge you to show otherwise. I personally have questions about whether the FBI is legal under the body of US law that fits the constitution, but that is another argument, and do not advocate unilateral removal of the agency. I just think it is something that should be looked at closely. So you advocating the disempowerment of the FBI? Does the FBI know you feel that way? Well, I guess they do now... Why not? By the same logic you use to defend Carnivore, if the FBI decypts everyone's email, they might catch a few more lawbreakers, which justifies their violation of your right to privacy.Or are you saying that individuals have the right to privacy only insofar as they can enforce it themselves? Can you say 'vigilante'? I knew you could...
Your premise for this statement has not been proven. That's what this discussion is about. First of all, if the FBI does have such a mandate, from where did they recieve it? Where is said mandate codified? What exactly are the parameters and the scope of this alleged mandate?They fact is, US law enforcement's mandate is to protect the rights of the citizens. Despite your apparent attempt to disenfrachise the 'Slashdoterati', the fact is that the amerikan users of slashdot are among the citizens from whom any 'mandate' the FBI may receive must originate, and the only mandate the FBI legally has is to protect them, their persons, propery, and privacy. Furthermore, that mandate puts severe constraints on any actions the FBI may take outside the law i.e. the FBI does not get a blanket mandate to violate privacy (the law, remember) in order to fulfill its obligations to the citizens.
You seem to forget that, unless the system is sadly broken, law enforcement works for the citizens who elect the representatives who pass the laws that mandate the desires of the citizens, protect the rights of the individual, etc, etc.
United States Invades Washington DC, Overthrows Totalitarian Regime; film at 11
At this time, the feds are giving monies salvaged from the welfare programs to "church" orgainizations. The monies are intended to allow the 'non-profit' religious organizations to start businesses which, in theory will benefit 'the poor' -- charity.
There are obvious problems with this -- one of the most glaring being that any charity operated as a business will necesarily take their operating costs off the top. In this case, the operating costs include the operation of such organizations as The Christian Coalition and the Family Research Council. This amounts to a direct state subsidy to xtian religious organizations...
Also, you seem to have the relationship between the politicians and the fundies reversed. It is the fundies that run (support) the politicians, not the other way round. The salient point here being that the right-wingers tend to have a lot of money to throw around, which, oddly enough, goes pretty much directly counter to what most peoples perception of fundies, that is, that they are mostly poor.
This idea is wide-spread, and for good reason. The right-wing fundie community in the US cannot afford to be seen as favorable to the govt. 1) such a perception doesn't fit well with fundamentalist teachings, and 2) "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". The fact is, the govt remains much more favorable to fundie xtian right-wing points of view than it does to, say Green, pagan, or communist POVs. These actions are purely spin control, imo; perception management. These are the things that are getting media play, while the most damaging measures go completely without mainstream coverage. Slashdot itself substantiates this idea. How much of the scarier censorship agenda implementations you see described here make it as far as CNN before being passed into law? Heh. I hadn't noticed the US congress exercising anything even remotely resembling constitutional constraints, ever, in living memory. In fact, I would say they have done pretty much the opposite, running roughshod over even the most basic constitutional protections.$0.02
Xtianity is not comparable to race. You were not born xtian. Xtianity is a choice (no matter how much xtians try to brainwash kids into believing otherwise).
Your belief in Jesus as your personal savior is not the same type of immutable fact that as e.g. an individual's racial background.
If you are discriminated against as a xtian, it is because you failed to execise your intellect. If I am discriminated against on the basis of by racial background, it is not because I chose to accept a corrupt moral code.
Quit whining. You chose your religion, and if people make fun of you for it and persecute you for it, well hey, your bible teaches that they will do that. Suck it up and quit trying to ride on the coattails of people who have suffered persecution for things they had no control over, like the color of their skin.
Stereo-tying of xtians is generally valid because it takes a certain type of person to accept the particular illogic inherent in the xtian system of beliefs (e.g there is only one god, it is male, an benevolent). The same can be said of most religions. E.g. if you were fit the a diferent stereotype, you might believe in a malignant, female diety... This stuff is so obvious. Get a clue.
Many people, esp school administrators, church members, police, neighbors, grandparents, inlaws, etc most certainly DO call child protective services any time a parent's child-rearing doesn't conform to their idea of morality du jour.
For instance, in several states you can be charged with child abuse if there is a child in your car not wearing a seat belt. On the other hand, it remains quite acceptable to enroll your child in an xtian cult that teaches them to believe that a guy with horns and a tail will torture them for all eternity if they have sex outside of marriage.
The same teacher who tells you that Ritalin is good for your child spends a good portion of classroom time convincing your child to tell her that your spouse smokes pot, and will not hesitate to have you locked up, and your children made wards of the state if and when the child does make such an allegation.
In general, institutionalized child abuse (drugging school-children with Ritalin, implementation of programs like W.A.V.E, brainwashing children with religion) are rewarded behaviors, and widely practiced. Meanwhile, non-conformist behavior in parents is punished using the harshest means available, up to an including deadly force.
Whatever happened to due process?
Since you are weak on reading comprehension, I will explain: It means that you back your countries actions and policies regardless of whether they are right, and regardless of whether or not you believe they are right. That is the basis for pretty much everything you have posted in this thread, whether or not you choose to admit to it. It is understandable that you might wish to deny it, since it is such an obviously sheep-like mentality, but the fact it, your arguments depend from it, directly.
Liar. You just don't care to admit it. Heh. No, you can rest your fevered little brain. I know better than to think amerikans care about anything past the edges of the tv screens. You have missed the point I don't knowFor the record, I have no party affiliation. There's a couple that might wish they could claim me, but I have not endorsed any of them, thank you very much.
I understand that to you, being amerikan, it is very important that there be a 'War', and that anyone who doesn't agree with you be on the other 'side', and that you 'win', and that I 'lose'. This is very typical of amerikans, and I don't really hold it against you, but in order that you not look like idiots to the rest of us, it would be in your own best interests of you could learn to think in other terms.Whether or not your alleged war is over (about as important to me as the Netherlands seems to be to you) the US continues its imperiallistic behavior and attitudes. Your posts here are proof of this.
I'll let you try that one before we get into things like american pressure to criminalize marijuana in the netherlands, amerika protests against prostitution in denmark, amerikan destruction of food crops by the introduction of untried genetically modified seed, the amerikan assaults on islamic culture in the mideast, etc, etc, etc. All these are export of culture.
The current planned victim is China. You pathetic amerikan sheep sit over there and cry that it's not happening; "No-no, we are a Democracy," you say, "we must keep the world safe for democracy, even if it means destroying everything else." You have all already been screwed out of anything resembling culture by the Big Wanking Commerical Interests(tm), and you take vindictive pleasure in watching the BWCI's destroy other cultures.
You are reciting your rationalizations for your imperialist wars; these are meaningful only to you. Your practice of ascribing to others the motivations which serve your own aggresive nationalistic desires is pretense. Amerikas only agenda is to destroy that which it cannot understand. In fact, your posts here on this subject are a good example of that.The difference between a wise man and a fool is that the wise man can learn from the fool.
I would also point out that the only reason amerika "won" is that they are better at brutality. In a contest of brutality, the most brutal wins... there's quote about that, but I don't recall it precisely.
Well, first of all, I was comparing nations, not continents or hemispheres; typically amerikan that the concept seems to have gone right over your head.Secondly, I'll "preach" any damn thing I please to amerika, or anyone else. Isn't that one of the values you so hypocritically mouth to your own citizens: Freedom of Speech?
You, as so many amerikans, apparently believe so strongly in your own righteousness that you feel you are immune to the moral contraints that are necesary to humanity. Amerika is the one trying to export their legislated "morality", their "let the kids see the brains get splattered but make sure everyone is fully clothed" idiocy.
Somalia. We don't want your 'bail-outs'. News flash, patriot boy: In countries that understand the use of language, US foriegn policy is quite accurrately called "imperialism", to wit It's hard to believe trogs like you still exist, with your 'might-makes-right', hyper-patriotic bullshit. Put your own house in order; the global community doesn't want your mess on their carpets.The real 3 things amerika does well: Violence, Puritanism, and Spin.
Is it any wonder amerikans have to turn to other cultures for arts and entertainment?
What kind of diseased minds concieved the idea that it's okay to show murder on prime time while nudity and sex remains unacceptable?
When was the last time you saw an amerikan prime time television drama that didn't include at least one murder?
Amerikan children are encouraged to watch horror (serial killings), action (maiming, killing, and general carnage as humor), and cops and robbers (plots are thin excuses for random, politically correct violence). They are told that porn (nudity and sex) is bad, and that they must be protected from it.
Is it any wonder that violence is so prevelant in amerikan kulture? Is it any wonder that the civilized nations of the world resist amerika's exportation of the obscenity that passes for entertainment in the US?
Violence is obscene.