I read the Reuters article about that kid yesterday. My favorite quote was something along the lines of "I can't believe that with all of the laws since 9/11 it's still this easy for a 16 year old to get out of the country." That's just it, blame the government for your poor parenting. (What the hell should the government care about people leaving the country anyway? It's the ones coming in that they need to worry about.) She also mentioned that her daughter seemed OK with the fact that she never had a boyfriend -- more evidence of a clueless parent. I wish I could find the link to the article.
Sometimes the best schools are in the more exclusive areas. Sometimes those areas become a more exclusive area simply by the fact that they are a better place to live and so many people want to move there. Greater demand means higher prices. My office is located in an area like that.
The fact is that there are so many variables in any decision that it's hard to generalize one way or another. I see houses on my way to work that are selling for ~$500,000 and they are smaller than the house I grew up in. Why do people move here? Because the schools are good. Because the crime is low. And maybe because they work out here and don't enjoy the long commute. (And around here a long commute is a given - when school is in session and when my shift doesn't start until 8, it takes me about 1.5 hours to drive 18 miles to work.) There are always trade-offs. It's too easy to quickly and simply dismiss somebody else's decisions instead of trusting that they are able to make them on their own.
Here's an idea: educate your kids well and then trust them to make a wise decision. You can prevent many bad things from happening just by being well educated. I've never seen where keeping your kids on a leash can do anything but harm them. I can name half a dozen people off the top of my head whose parents kept them on a short leash and who practically broke down the first time they left home and were left to fend for themselves. Similarly, I can name an equal number of "leash kids" who never strayed too far from home.
I can understand wanting to be protective of your kids. They are your responsibility and you probably love them to death. But eventually they have to learn to make their own decisions and their own mistakes. Better to let them do that while they still live at home and have your support, no?
Re:Really, is this so much of a challenge?
on
Fashion in Space?
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· Score: 1
It has been suggested that a married couple (I think their names were Mark Lee and Jan Davis) who went up on STS-47 in 1992 did indeed have sex on the space shuttle, but I don't know that anybody's ever confirmed this. NASA has been, understandably, tight lipped on the prospect.
Actually, when I google my name, it comes up with another gentleman from my home state who has published some sort of book of poetry.
It also turns out that there is a gay porn star with my name.
The first thing I found that was actually attributable to me was a petition I signed back in 2001 to port Half-life to Linux. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad.
(Although I guess it's better than Googling my AIM screen name which, among other things, comes up with a post on Arstechnica where I ask a pointed and informed question about some sort of acid -- I'm sure to be on a terrorism watch list now.:-P)
Dude. Drivers are bad enough in two dimensions. Do you really want to give the average driver another dimension to play with?
The same goes for web. Half of the web is bad enough (adverts, your average geocities site); do you really want to give the amateur web developer access to 3D tools?
(Shit. I think I just unwittingly made a car analogy.)
I find it ammusing how the conservative news sources love to complain endlessly about liberal news sources. And yet, I rarely see the reverse. In fact, it's not just the news sources, my dad and grandfather, both hard core republicans, love to constantly complain about how liberal CNN is. Yet neither of them can offer me any hardcore proof.
Furthremore, half of the article to which you link is a rehash of a different WND article, much of which seems rather dubious in nature:
Last June, a conservative book publisher said Google rejected his ad for a book critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton while continuing to accept anti-Bush themes.
WND makes this claim, and yet does not procede to back it up with hard evidence of Google continuing to accept anti-Bush themes. How about some evidence instead of useless whining?
While I whole hartedly agree with questioning a company's motivations (as well as our governments, but that's another topic for later), I would like to see some hard evidence.
That said, I applaud Sergi's decision and announcement in this matter. I highly value the ability of people to look back and re-evaluate possibly questionable decisions. What really impresses me, however, is when people are willing to step up to the plate and say "yes, that was a bad decision and I am trying to rectify that." Too often in the corporate world these days, nobody will step up and take the blame, and that just makes me sick. I despise people who are unwilling to face the consequences of their actions and instead try to push the blame on other people. (Along those lines, I think Ken Lay and Jeffery Skilling need to be taken out back and shot, but that probably wouldn't solve much.)
They remind me of the office full of middle aged women I work with. They hate their jobs and they hate their lives, so what do they do? Complain about everything. Especially where technology is concerned. I actually had somebody ask me if I could lubricate their keyboard because the space bar squeaks. WTF!
And for the record, all of the new Dell keyboards squeak. It's a design flaw.
Well, I don't know about you, but whenever I get a computer to work on, the first thing I do is search for for users pr0n. I then make sure to carefully copy all of the good stuff to my own computer.
Sadly enough, I still can't compete with one of my friends who had to buy an 80GB external drive to back up his pr0n before formatting his computer the last time.
Would you have asked to take it home before reading this story?
Nope, becuase I wouldn't have taken my computer to them in the first place. That said, the average computer user is completely ignorant about the actual innards of a computer, let alone how to wipe a drive clean (if their computer would even pass POST and allow them to boot off a floppy). Heck, they may not even be aware that there are discreet parts in the computer, one of which stores all of your data. To many people, the innards of a PC are most likely viewed as some sort of amorphous collection of "stuff" that makes the computer work.
You know, I was going to make a crack about those of us that chose to live near unstable water sources -- New Orleans. "Occasionally" may be a little polite, though. I seem to remember at least one day that I tried to go to work, only finding that part of Earhart was closed off due to flooding in Harahan, backtracked to take Cleary to Earhart only to find that Cleary was closed due to a bridge washing out, etc.
But if you are still there, you're a bigger man (woman? - I don't know) than I am. I plan to stay away for a least a few years more. Of course the lack of a job or home there kind of help my decision somewhat.
I remember reading something about this CD back in 1996 or 1997, but the information was somewhat vague and I couldn't find it anywhere. Thank God for the internet and Amazon.
Actually, I can think of a reason. If, like me, you are a fan of the film but have yet to see the original theatrical release and have been unable to find a copy of it anywhere, a set like this is perfect. I was born in 1981, and wasn't introduced to the movie until waaaay later. Since then, the only copy that seems available is the director's cut. I'm excited to actually, finally, be seeing the original cut as well.
Now, if only they will release the soundtrack. Vangelis did a wonderful job composing and his music sets the mood of the film just as much as the visuals do, but there never was an official release of the music from the film. (I do, however, have an LP with the music arranged for and performed by... I think it's the San Francisco Philharmonic.)
Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind. What scares me about that are the few roads that I have to travel on which do have 55mph speed limits and are free of congestion.
The unfortunate fact is that on occasion I have to visit sites other than my home site. This requires a car. Not to mention occasionally bringing work home with me. Granted this is a worst case scenario, but it is hard to fit the odd desktop machine in a backpack. It boils down to one of those situations where 95% of the time those events don't occur, but if those sorts of situations do occur and I can't handle them, then I get in trouble with the bosses.
I think that most appealing solution is probalby to get a motorcycle. That way I can travel to the far away job sites easily. I can also split lanes and maneouver around traffic when in congestion (illegal, but tacitly approved around here). As for occasionally bringing work home with me... well, I could always return later in my car and pick up whatever equipment I may need.
45 Minutes really isn't that bad for commute time. I communte an hour and a half both ways every day. That's to go only 18 miles. Congestion around here is so bad that I tend to average about 12 miles an hour. On a good day (IE when I have to go in at 3AM to reset a server or something) it will only take me about 25 minutes.
Consider yourself lucky that you only commute 45 minutes. I lose 3 hours every day in commute time. I would give anything to have those 3 hours of my life back. If I could, I would take public transportation just so that I could have that time to be productive. Unfortunately, commuting is just a way of life.
Really? Wow. That's, uh, rather disconcerting to me. I mean, I do of course reimage any new PC I get in this office, but I am disturbed by the thought that Dell could be installing "spyware" on my PCs from the factory. That poses some big concerns for me and the security of my network. Especially seeing as the client I am assigned to right now is in the healthcare industry where we have to abide by HIPPA laws.
The next time I get a batch of machines in, I'll have to take a look at them before I image them.
Cool. I'll check it out if I can find it. I think the biggest thing that Fusion Frenzy had going for it was its simplicity - the way it provided instructions before each game and only ever really used one or two buttons. Man, now I'm wishing that FF was Live! enabled so that I could get with some of my old college buddies and play it again.
I'll definitley give Deathrow a look if I can find it though. Thanks.
Slashdot Mirror
I read the Reuters article about that kid yesterday. My favorite quote was something along the lines of "I can't believe that with all of the laws since 9/11 it's still this easy for a 16 year old to get out of the country." That's just it, blame the government for your poor parenting. (What the hell should the government care about people leaving the country anyway? It's the ones coming in that they need to worry about.) She also mentioned that her daughter seemed OK with the fact that she never had a boyfriend -- more evidence of a clueless parent. I wish I could find the link to the article.
Sometimes the best schools are in the more exclusive areas. Sometimes those areas become a more exclusive area simply by the fact that they are a better place to live and so many people want to move there. Greater demand means higher prices. My office is located in an area like that.
The fact is that there are so many variables in any decision that it's hard to generalize one way or another. I see houses on my way to work that are selling for ~$500,000 and they are smaller than the house I grew up in. Why do people move here? Because the schools are good. Because the crime is low. And maybe because they work out here and don't enjoy the long commute. (And around here a long commute is a given - when school is in session and when my shift doesn't start until 8, it takes me about 1.5 hours to drive 18 miles to work.) There are always trade-offs. It's too easy to quickly and simply dismiss somebody else's decisions instead of trusting that they are able to make them on their own.
What country is this and how hard is it to get a green card?
Here's an idea: educate your kids well and then trust them to make a wise decision. You can prevent many bad things from happening just by being well educated. I've never seen where keeping your kids on a leash can do anything but harm them. I can name half a dozen people off the top of my head whose parents kept them on a short leash and who practically broke down the first time they left home and were left to fend for themselves. Similarly, I can name an equal number of "leash kids" who never strayed too far from home.
I can understand wanting to be protective of your kids. They are your responsibility and you probably love them to death. But eventually they have to learn to make their own decisions and their own mistakes. Better to let them do that while they still live at home and have your support, no?
It has been suggested that a married couple (I think their names were Mark Lee and Jan Davis) who went up on STS-47 in 1992 did indeed have sex on the space shuttle, but I don't know that anybody's ever confirmed this. NASA has been, understandably, tight lipped on the prospect.
Link (One of many out there): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-47
Actually, when I google my name, it comes up with another gentleman from my home state who has published some sort of book of poetry.
:-P)
It also turns out that there is a gay porn star with my name.
The first thing I found that was actually attributable to me was a petition I signed back in 2001 to port Half-life to Linux. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad.
(Although I guess it's better than Googling my AIM screen name which, among other things, comes up with a post on Arstechnica where I ask a pointed and informed question about some sort of acid -- I'm sure to be on a terrorism watch list now.
...financing?
Dude. Drivers are bad enough in two dimensions. Do you really want to give the average driver another dimension to play with?
The same goes for web. Half of the web is bad enough (adverts, your average geocities site); do you really want to give the amateur web developer access to 3D tools?
(Shit. I think I just unwittingly made a car analogy.)
Hotmail
Joe Sixpack -- four digit Slashdot id -- the cognitive dissonance is too much, I can't survi
;)
What'll really blow your mind is when you realize that his UID is actually 5 digits.
Furthremore, half of the article to which you link is a rehash of a different WND article, much of which seems rather dubious in nature:
WND makes this claim, and yet does not procede to back it up with hard evidence of Google continuing to accept anti-Bush themes. How about some evidence instead of useless whining?
While I whole hartedly agree with questioning a company's motivations (as well as our governments, but that's another topic for later), I would like to see some hard evidence.
That said, I applaud Sergi's decision and announcement in this matter. I highly value the ability of people to look back and re-evaluate possibly questionable decisions. What really impresses me, however, is when people are willing to step up to the plate and say "yes, that was a bad decision and I am trying to rectify that." Too often in the corporate world these days, nobody will step up and take the blame, and that just makes me sick. I despise people who are unwilling to face the consequences of their actions and instead try to push the blame on other people. (Along those lines, I think Ken Lay and Jeffery Skilling need to be taken out back and shot, but that probably wouldn't solve much.)
I wonder if the model will look anything like this: Inflatable Church
As another Tulanian, I have to say: "L S who?"
They remind me of the office full of middle aged women I work with. They hate their jobs and they hate their lives, so what do they do? Complain about everything. Especially where technology is concerned. I actually had somebody ask me if I could lubricate their keyboard because the space bar squeaks. WTF!
And for the record, all of the new Dell keyboards squeak. It's a design flaw.
"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink"
:)
It's been ages since I last read that poem. Thanks for the link.
Well, I don't know about you, but whenever I get a computer to work on, the first thing I do is search for for users pr0n. I then make sure to carefully copy all of the good stuff to my own computer.
Sadly enough, I still can't compete with one of my friends who had to buy an 80GB external drive to back up his pr0n before formatting his computer the last time.
His My Documments folder fit on one CD.
Would you have asked to take it home before reading this story?
Nope, becuase I wouldn't have taken my computer to them in the first place. That said, the average computer user is completely ignorant about the actual innards of a computer, let alone how to wipe a drive clean (if their computer would even pass POST and allow them to boot off a floppy). Heck, they may not even be aware that there are discreet parts in the computer, one of which stores all of your data. To many people, the innards of a PC are most likely viewed as some sort of amorphous collection of "stuff" that makes the computer work.
You know, I was going to make a crack about those of us that chose to live near unstable water sources -- New Orleans. "Occasionally" may be a little polite, though. I seem to remember at least one day that I tried to go to work, only finding that part of Earhart was closed off due to flooding in Harahan, backtracked to take Cleary to Earhart only to find that Cleary was closed due to a bridge washing out, etc.
But if you are still there, you're a bigger man (woman? - I don't know) than I am. I plan to stay away for a least a few years more. Of course the lack of a job or home there kind of help my decision somewhat.
Scarily enough, when I first read your post, I read "Cripes" as "Creampies".
I don't think those are felonies, though.
Whoops. Looks like I missed the 1994 CD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002IZM/sr=8-4 /qid=1149088709/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-0102808-4723838?_ encoding=UTF8
I remember reading something about this CD back in 1996 or 1997, but the information was somewhat vague and I couldn't find it anywhere. Thank God for the internet and Amazon.
Actually, I can think of a reason. If, like me, you are a fan of the film but have yet to see the original theatrical release and have been unable to find a copy of it anywhere, a set like this is perfect. I was born in 1981, and wasn't introduced to the movie until waaaay later. Since then, the only copy that seems available is the director's cut. I'm excited to actually, finally, be seeing the original cut as well.
Now, if only they will release the soundtrack. Vangelis did a wonderful job composing and his music sets the mood of the film just as much as the visuals do, but there never was an official release of the music from the film. (I do, however, have an LP with the music arranged for and performed by... I think it's the San Francisco Philharmonic.)
Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind. What scares me about that are the few roads that I have to travel on which do have 55mph speed limits and are free of congestion.
The unfortunate fact is that on occasion I have to visit sites other than my home site. This requires a car. Not to mention occasionally bringing work home with me. Granted this is a worst case scenario, but it is hard to fit the odd desktop machine in a backpack. It boils down to one of those situations where 95% of the time those events don't occur, but if those sorts of situations do occur and I can't handle them, then I get in trouble with the bosses.
I think that most appealing solution is probalby to get a motorcycle. That way I can travel to the far away job sites easily. I can also split lanes and maneouver around traffic when in congestion (illegal, but tacitly approved around here). As for occasionally bringing work home with me... well, I could always return later in my car and pick up whatever equipment I may need.
45 Minutes really isn't that bad for commute time. I communte an hour and a half both ways every day. That's to go only 18 miles. Congestion around here is so bad that I tend to average about 12 miles an hour. On a good day (IE when I have to go in at 3AM to reset a server or something) it will only take me about 25 minutes.
Consider yourself lucky that you only commute 45 minutes. I lose 3 hours every day in commute time. I would give anything to have those 3 hours of my life back. If I could, I would take public transportation just so that I could have that time to be productive. Unfortunately, commuting is just a way of life.
Really? Wow. That's, uh, rather disconcerting to me. I mean, I do of course reimage any new PC I get in this office, but I am disturbed by the thought that Dell could be installing "spyware" on my PCs from the factory. That poses some big concerns for me and the security of my network. Especially seeing as the client I am assigned to right now is in the healthcare industry where we have to abide by HIPPA laws.
The next time I get a batch of machines in, I'll have to take a look at them before I image them.
Cool. I'll check it out if I can find it. I think the biggest thing that Fusion Frenzy had going for it was its simplicity - the way it provided instructions before each game and only ever really used one or two buttons. Man, now I'm wishing that FF was Live! enabled so that I could get with some of my old college buddies and play it again.
I'll definitley give Deathrow a look if I can find it though. Thanks.