The GOP recently pushed forward a bill that would make it harder for people declaring bankruptcy to get out of credit card debt.
Then to find that there is a direct connection between the GOP and Mastercard.
It's still somewhat of a sensible policy, if you look into how much the average American owes on his credit cards, and think about what would happen if large numbers of said average Americans started bankruptcying their way out of paying that back.
'Course, the policy that's *really* needed is something to keep the average American from getting into that debt. But *nobody's* gonna lobby for that. Not the businesses that are making the sales that are running the card up, and not the credit-card companies that are chowing down on the interest. Sigh.
Heck, if you want to take it all the way back around to the topic at hand, you could blame Mastercard for Columbine. I mean, heck, it's this rampant consumerism, fed by easy credit, that results in the need for two-income families, ergo latchkey children, ergo the whole breakdown in moral fiber that leads to things like Columbine. Yeah, that's the ticket. (Ha ha, only serious.)
Anyways, I can't believe that joker pleaded the 5th in a civil suit. WTF is up with that?
The Fifth Amendment covers civil suits so that you can't incriminate yourself (that'd be on criminal charges, separate from the civil suit) while under oath. Sometimes you have to choose between losing a civil suit and being charged with a crime. Which brings us to the question: Geez, what criminal acts would he have had to admit to to answer the question(s)?
I sold all of my cards to a local dealer, and actually made quite a profit when it was all said and done. Then I blew most of the money on a 3DO and games
Bummer. I sold my cards and bought a house.
(I was a playtester for... uh... whatever the early-on mostly-artifacts set was. They ignored our suggestions, but paid us in cases of cards. Woohoo.)
Fair use considers the nature and size of the work, though. If the work is only three lines long, and you meet all the other criteria, you can legitimately quote all three lines, if that's what you needed to do.
It's not as if there's a specific limit ("no more than N%") set.
That may have been true 6 years ago, but Yahoo! is much too large now to be run by a team that small.
Whatever size their team is, it's *still* too small. It took them two years to get a link changed, and then it only got changed because I finally took down the forwarding page (that said something like "You got here because of Yahoo, who is horribly out of date. Use Google next time").
Looks like the guy who actually posted his stories to usenet got off scotch-free.
I don't know if any scotch was involved, but it doesn't look like he got off scot-free. He has already settled, that's all. Now, it could have been for a trivial amount (blood from a turnip, after all), but it doesn't say that one way or t'other.
Being reachable by phone is a thing I rely on when I can't be with my kids.
Speaking as a parent *and* someone who finds public cellphone use rude, I'd have to side with the other guy. If you don't trust your babysitter, you hadn't ought to leave your kids with them in the first place, and if you aren't leaving an alternate number anyway (or at least the name of the movie theater, restaurant, etc.) then you're not being terribly responsible yourself... what if your battery suddenly went flat?
Should a blocking device be employed in a location without notifying me
Whatever makes you think they wouldn't notify you? Some theaters already have big signs telling you to turn the things off; I see no reason why they wouldn't tell you *they* were turning it off for you. ('Sides which, I well imagine they'd *have* to, for the same reasons they put up "Microwave In Use" signs... someone, somewhere, *might* have a pacemaker sensitive to it.)
A company doesn't NEED a reason to fire you; they only provide a reason as to prevent them from being sued.
Even in the US, this varies from state to state. And even in states (such as Kansas) that require a "reason," the law may still be somewhat toothless (you can sue here, but IIRC all you're entitled to is unemployment insurance benefits, which the company probably didn't contest anyway).
(Speaking of dissing former employers, I once worked for a company whose handbook stated that you could be fired for sleeping on the job, fighting, or doing something illegal. A lawyer I showed it to got a kick out of that particular line, because, as he pointed out, by stating that, the employer had limited himself to those reasons... and had also limited himself to firing you. So he couldn't fire you for not doing your job, as long as you didn't fall asleep. And you could embezzle all the company funds, and he couldn't take you to court (civil, anyhow) to get his money back. Duh.)
Yeah. Fortunately, they let the webmaster use a text link instead. No way for Amazon to track (except the folks who click through), no doesn't-match-my-color-scheme graphic, no annoying "Hello YourName" stuff.
If I use this, I'm definitely going the text link route.
My point is that eventually, the monetary drain of running a website with no income is gonna shut sites down.
Depends on the purpose of the site. I've been running the Phoenyx (PBeM/Internet roleplaying) for fifteen years last December. Its web site has always come out of my pocket, and always will. Yeah, it's a monetary drain, but I know people with more expensive hobbies.
Doesn't need a neural net for that. Gal up in Northwest area got busted for giving her significant other a batch of pot-laced brownies... to take to the crew lounge and share.
That sort of thing makes the FAA very unhappy. Not to mention the airline, since the guys can't fly until they test clean...
Actually, I'm reasonably certain the 757 still is hydraulic. You'll hear a lot of Boeing pilots grumbling about Airbus' fly-by-wire. There have been cases of planes (Boeings, not sure which 7x7) landed "manually," via hydraulics only. Takes one guy down on the floor hauling on the pedals with all his strength, but it's better than nothing.
Oh, and one more thing... a "jumbo jet" is a 747. Despite the higher number, a 757 is relatively dinky. Single-aisle, and all.
Re:Interesting Moderation
on
The Challenger
·
· Score: 2
There seems to be some sort of bug in the way the moderation is calculated
Also a "bug" in the way some browsers' keystrokes work. If I try to submit a form via the keyboard, instead of by mousing down and clicking the button, I usually manage to change the selection in the box before I do so. So maybe the one Funny person didn't even mean to set the moderation that way.
(I also end up with all the selection boxes disappearing. Time to scrap IE4, I guess.)
But, in this day and age, how much of a company's behavior is actually controlled by the lawyers?
Lots.
Next time I have lunch with my ex-co-workers over at the bank, I'm going to ask them why the "got cash?" signs on their cash dispensers (nee ATM's) got replaced with "get cash!" on one side and just "cash?" on the other. I suspect they didn't get a nastygram from whichever dairy organization holds the trademark (which I'm in violation of, by the way, having a burp cloth on which the baby's grandma embroidered "got milk?" next to a pacifier...), but rather from their own lawyers.
I participated in a Girl Scout Bake-Off (go ahead, make your lame jokes about "Are they made with real Girl Scouts?") many, many years ago. Not prior to 1949, I'll grant, but still.
Heck, Sun can call me in as a witness. I can probably still come up with my non-winning cake recipe...
If someone's faced with the choice between MacDonalds and telemarketing, let them chose the golden arches.
Telemarketing pays better than McDonald's. Telemarketing is generally evening work, which means wife can work when husband comes home to watch the kids. Telemarketing is frequently done by people who can't be on their feet all day. Many telemarketing companies provide on-site daycare.
My home town, sadly, is one of the big telemarketing capitals of the US. It's not pleasant work, but for the people working there, it really is better than the alternatives.
However, in the US the junk mailers get a better rate than everyone else since the 1st class mail subsidizes the junk mail.
Actually, it's t'other way 'round. The junk mail subsidizes the first-class. Bulk mail gets a "better" rate because all the labor-intensive stuff is already done: it's pre-sorted, pre-coded, and whatever. This subsidizes the postal employee who has to spend ten minutes deciphering your Great-Aunt Hilda's spidery handwriting on the Christmas card she sends you every year.
Slashdot Mirror
Sometimes, they seed weblog submissions, too.
Then to find that there is a direct connection between the GOP and Mastercard.
It's still somewhat of a sensible policy, if you look into how much the average American owes on his credit cards, and think about what would happen if large numbers of said average Americans started bankruptcying their way out of paying that back.
'Course, the policy that's *really* needed is something to keep the average American from getting into that debt. But *nobody's* gonna lobby for that. Not the businesses that are making the sales that are running the card up, and not the credit-card companies that are chowing down on the interest. Sigh.
Heck, if you want to take it all the way back around to the topic at hand, you could blame Mastercard for Columbine. I mean, heck, it's this rampant consumerism, fed by easy credit, that results in the need for two-income families, ergo latchkey children, ergo the whole breakdown in moral fiber that leads to things like Columbine. Yeah, that's the ticket. (Ha ha, only serious.)
The Fifth Amendment covers civil suits so that you can't incriminate yourself (that'd be on criminal charges, separate from the civil suit) while under oath. Sometimes you have to choose between losing a civil suit and being charged with a crime. Which brings us to the question: Geez, what criminal acts would he have had to admit to to answer the question(s)?
Bummer. I sold my cards and bought a house.
(I was a playtester for... uh... whatever the early-on mostly-artifacts set was. They ignored our suggestions, but paid us in cases of cards. Woohoo.)
It's not as if there's a specific limit ("no more than N%") set.
Whatever size their team is, it's *still* too small. It took them two years to get a link changed, and then it only got changed because I finally took down the forwarding page (that said something like "You got here because of Yahoo, who is horribly out of date. Use Google next time").
Bah.
I don't know if any scotch was involved, but it doesn't look like he got off scot-free. He has already settled, that's all. Now, it could have been for a trivial amount (blood from a turnip, after all), but it doesn't say that one way or t'other.
Speaking as a parent *and* someone who finds public cellphone use rude, I'd have to side with the other guy. If you don't trust your babysitter, you hadn't ought to leave your kids with them in the first place, and if you aren't leaving an alternate number anyway (or at least the name of the movie theater, restaurant, etc.) then you're not being terribly responsible yourself... what if your battery suddenly went flat?
Should a blocking device be employed in a location without notifying me
Whatever makes you think they wouldn't notify you? Some theaters already have big signs telling you to turn the things off; I see no reason why they wouldn't tell you *they* were turning it off for you. ('Sides which, I well imagine they'd *have* to, for the same reasons they put up "Microwave In Use" signs... someone, somewhere, *might* have a pacemaker sensitive to it.)
Planetarion get signal! (For great justice.)
Thank you. That's the only reason I read the comments on this 'un...
(Apparently I'm insufficiently nerdy.)
Even in the US, this varies from state to state. And even in states (such as Kansas) that require a "reason," the law may still be somewhat toothless (you can sue here, but IIRC all you're entitled to is unemployment insurance benefits, which the company probably didn't contest anyway).
(Speaking of dissing former employers, I once worked for a company whose handbook stated that you could be fired for sleeping on the job, fighting, or doing something illegal. A lawyer I showed it to got a kick out of that particular line, because, as he pointed out, by stating that, the employer had limited himself to those reasons... and had also limited himself to firing you. So he couldn't fire you for not doing your job, as long as you didn't fall asleep. And you could embezzle all the company funds, and he couldn't take you to court (civil, anyhow) to get his money back. Duh.)
Geek compound?
I'm having this sudden mental image of Perl Whirl 2002, a submarine, and some torpedos...
I know, spelling flames are lame and all, but I can't figure out what this was supposed to be. Mongolian? I'm missing the reference, apparently.
Yeah. Fortunately, they let the webmaster use a text link instead. No way for Amazon to track (except the folks who click through), no doesn't-match-my-color-scheme graphic, no annoying "Hello YourName" stuff.
If I use this, I'm definitely going the text link route.
Depends on the purpose of the site. I've been running the Phoenyx (PBeM/Internet roleplaying) for fifteen years last December. Its web site has always come out of my pocket, and always will. Yeah, it's a monetary drain, but I know people with more expensive hobbies.
Actually, the "b" stands for "believed." As it "Believed to be false, but you can't prove a negative."
That sort of thing makes the FAA very unhappy. Not to mention the airline, since the guys can't fly until they test clean...
Oh, and one more thing... a "jumbo jet" is a 747. Despite the higher number, a 757 is relatively dinky. Single-aisle, and all.
Also a "bug" in the way some browsers' keystrokes work. If I try to submit a form via the keyboard, instead of by mousing down and clicking the button, I usually manage to change the selection in the box before I do so. So maybe the one Funny person didn't even mean to set the moderation that way.
(I also end up with all the selection boxes disappearing. Time to scrap IE4, I guess.)
Lots.
Next time I have lunch with my ex-co-workers over at the bank, I'm going to ask them why the "got cash?" signs on their cash dispensers (nee ATM's) got replaced with "get cash!" on one side and just "cash?" on the other. I suspect they didn't get a nastygram from whichever dairy organization holds the trademark (which I'm in violation of, by the way, having a burp cloth on which the baby's grandma embroidered "got milk?" next to a pacifier...), but rather from their own lawyers.
Heck, Sun can call me in as a witness. I can probably still come up with my non-winning cake recipe...
Telemarketing pays better than McDonald's. Telemarketing is generally evening work, which means wife can work when husband comes home to watch the kids. Telemarketing is frequently done by people who can't be on their feet all day. Many telemarketing companies provide on-site daycare.
My home town, sadly, is one of the big telemarketing capitals of the US. It's not pleasant work, but for the people working there, it really is better than the alternatives.
Actually, it's t'other way 'round. The junk mail subsidizes the first-class. Bulk mail gets a "better" rate because all the labor-intensive stuff is already done: it's pre-sorted, pre-coded, and whatever. This subsidizes the postal employee who has to spend ten minutes deciphering your Great-Aunt Hilda's spidery handwriting on the Christmas card she sends you every year.
Two more words: "corporate goodwill." It's a balancing act, but goodwill goes on the balance sheet too.
Yabbut the claims are too long for a Slash comment. Hence the link (ugly URL and all).
You could go get the claims yourself and summarize them for us, instead of just complaining about being ignored.