If you want to meet people the likes of which you've probably never met before... learn their language.
If you want any interesting travel experiences... learn a different language
-Christian
Most literate people now speak English, either as a first or second tongue. The Internet has of course aided in the spread of English. Thus, this gadget would be of limited utility. If you want to communicate with someone, use English.
First of all... the person you are replying to was most likely making a little joke. Translations with babelfish can be quite humorous... in fact, I believe there are many pages out there that have translations of humorous and possibly even offensive (mis)translations.
Second... I really disagree with your assertion that the US looks down on people for speaking poorly more than ANY other "industrialized" country in the world. Don't you seem so worldly?
France (notably Parisians) has a terrible reputation for being snobby and uncivil towards those who do not speak French properly... even towards those that have tried for years to learn their language.
Look at it this way... English with an accent sounds cool. If I hear a woman speaking with a Spanish or French or German or justaboutanyother accent... I think it's sexy. I don't think I'm alone there. My entire family is Argentine... and they speak with funny accents... people like it! However, when we go over there, and the natives hear how my family members' accents have changed, or how off my accent is, they laugh and make jokes and DEFINITELY notice. Now, as for those who aren't Argentine trying to speak the language... it sounds ugly... and tons of people think so. It's almost as if Spanish only sounds good if a native speaks it... with no real accent... again, I do not believe I'm alone here... especially among the natives.
This device is likely to rock. I'd love to be able to get along better in any non-English speaking place... it'd also be nice to hear what people were saying about you, too. Also, I'm sure that there'd be tons and tons of mildly humorous webpages and late night talk show host skits with slightly messed up translations when it makes it to market.
One more thing, want good chances to get hard looks in just about any other country besides the US? Talk like a loud American. Yes, just the accent brings about bad looks and conversations about lousy US foreign policy. Go tell them those folks they're xenophobic and prejudiced and lighten while you're at it you damn hippy.
The drugs that the US government is trying so hard to stop are destructive, causing people to turn into crooks, wife-beaters, and murderous theves.
Totally untrue. Are you crazy? Someone smoking some pot in their apartment is potentially even less harmful than burning a CD! Also, no habitual drug user that I know is a violent, harmful, or bad person at all! Do you honestly believe that the war on drugs is only on cocaine and heroin? There are literally hundreds of outlawed drugs that pose little if any threat to anyone.
Don't believe what the government says about their drug war. It's about as true as the record company argument saying that they're looking out for the interests of their artists.
The drugs that the US government is trying so hard to stop are destructive, causing people to turn into crooks, wife-beaters, and murderous theves.
Totally untrue. Are you crazy? Someone smoking some pot in their apartment is potentially even less harmful than burning a CD! Also, no habitual drug user that I know is a violent, harmful, or bad person at all! Do you honestly believe that the war on drugs is only on cocaine and heroin? There are literally hundreds of outlawed drugs that pose little if any threat to anyone.
Don't believe what the government says about their drug war. It's about as true as the record company argument saying that they're looking out for the interests of their artists.
I guess the challenge is still open... failed Apache installations on Solaris last week still have me hopping mad.
The thought of many distributions of everything supporting dselect-like stuffs makes my eyes tear up with delight and excitement. I may eventually challenge people to come down here and give me hugs or something. Uh... or not:)
I've looked everywhere... can't find anything current. Most info on Xanadu stops at about September 1999. Hell, I even submitted an "Ask Slashdot" about it.
Had no idea that some people hated it so much (see first reply to "What about Xanadu"). Is it really that crappy? Damn, and I thought that it would rock and it would change a bunch of stuff or something.
Do you guys think that they'll be using Bluetooth for this type of stuff in the future? I'd much rather wait for that.
I guess I could wait for a brain/computer interface, too... but wouldn't it be cooler if all your desktop peripherals were wireless... and running on the same standard?
Hold on... you can't just throw a bunch of your mp3s on Napster and expect them to be downloaded!
Have the artists you're talking about taken the extra step and told EVERYONE to search for them on Napster?
You can't just put a website on the web and expect hits... you have to let people know it's there, right?
Also, maybe the band is getting a lot of listens online... but they don't know... like how you can't track what people are downloading on Napster. And maybe very few of those who do download their music bother to write to them about it.
i started buying cds about 7 years ago... and of the hundreds of cds that now have, i reckon that about 40 were purchased new. seriously.
the rest were purchased as used cds.
how come these anti-napster bastards don't lay off of the best thing since the web browser and start trying to attack the dealing of used cds. i would definitely like that... they'd lose so much faster. kind of like how garth brooks did in his similar campaign a while back.
oh yeah, let me also mention that many of the cds at used cd places are promotional copies of albums that record industry types immediately sell to a used cd place.
so... whether just about everyone i knows gets their music on cd or from napster... the record companies aren't getting shit... yet they're still around.
Ok, I've heard as much talk about violent video games corrupting our poor children as anyone can handle. I'm sure many of you can agree... unless you absolutely enjoy watching those dimwits on TV talking about it... as I sometimes do.
But here's one thing I've never seen mentioned. Maybe someone can point me to an article, but let's say you're a deranged or depressed or alienated kid. You hate everyone at school. Maybe people make fun of you all the time. Maybe you don't exactly fit in. There's some jerks in some of your classes that you could easily live life without. Maybe you've even relished the thought of killing them. Maybe you've planned it out... in a fantasy scenario or something.
Next, you start hearing about some kid at another high school shooting up a bunch of his classmates and getting famous for it. Maybe it shocks you at first, but then you may be excited. Someone else actually had enough and went for it.
Now, I'm asking you guys to imagine this: if you had these hateful thoughts and you see someone killing at school... isn't it possible that watching these actions on the news or whatever would motivate you to do the same? Sure, violent video games, movies, blah blah blah. But student types are very impressionable, and if you saw that other people were doing it and gaining total notoriety and successfully killing assholes at school... well... isn't that a more immediate, likely cause?
That killing at school became a sick trend? A horrifying "fad"?
Guys, this is nothing new. I think I read this in Popular Science or something many years ago. I definitely remember asking a professor about it at UC Santa Cruz in 1994. He told me about how it can only watch upwards and so on.
in the book, windows are made of diamond.
imagine anything that needs to be clear and hard being made of diamond!
also diamond edged sharp stuff (besides drills... like a microscopic diamond edged buzzsaw on a knife sized blade).
diamond imacs instead of lucite?;)
(:christian:)
don't act like such a victim like there are no latinos involved in these "unitedstatesian" endeavors. plus, take a nice look at what latinos do to each other. i'd say south and central american governments do a much better job of screwing over their own populations than we have the time for. i wouldn't take it all personally anyway... if south america was all chinese people, people in our government would be screwing them over too every once in a while.
Slashdot Mirror
maaan ... what a prick!
give your introducer a break!
-Christian
We'll darken their hearts with violent video games.
If you want any interesting travel experiences ... learn a different language
-Christian Most literate people now speak English, either as a first or second tongue. The Internet has of course aided in the spread of English. Thus, this gadget would be of limited utility. If you want to communicate with someone, use English.
Second ... I really disagree with your assertion that the US looks down on people for speaking poorly more than ANY other "industrialized" country in the world. Don't you seem so worldly?
France (notably Parisians) has a terrible reputation for being snobby and uncivil towards those who do not speak French properly ... even towards those that have tried for years to learn their language.
Look at it this way ... English with an accent sounds cool. If I hear a woman speaking with a Spanish or French or German or justaboutanyother accent ... I think it's sexy. I don't think I'm alone there. My entire family is Argentine ... and they speak with funny accents ... people like it! However, when we go over there, and the natives hear how my family members' accents have changed, or how off my accent is, they laugh and make jokes and DEFINITELY notice. Now, as for those who aren't Argentine trying to speak the language ... it sounds ugly ... and tons of people think so. It's almost as if Spanish only sounds good if a native speaks it ... with no real accent ... again, I do not believe I'm alone here ... especially among the natives.
This device is likely to rock. I'd love to be able to get along better in any non-English speaking place ... it'd also be nice to hear what people were saying about you, too. Also, I'm sure that there'd be tons and tons of mildly humorous webpages and late night talk show host skits with slightly messed up translations when it makes it to market.
One more thing, want good chances to get hard looks in just about any other country besides the US? Talk like a loud American. Yes, just the accent brings about bad looks and conversations about lousy US foreign policy. Go tell them those folks they're xenophobic and prejudiced and lighten while you're at it you damn hippy.
-Christian
Totally untrue. Are you crazy? Someone smoking some pot in their apartment is potentially even less harmful than burning a CD! Also, no habitual drug user that I know is a violent, harmful, or bad person at all! Do you honestly believe that the war on drugs is only on cocaine and heroin? There are literally hundreds of outlawed drugs that pose little if any threat to anyone.
Don't believe what the government says about their drug war. It's about as true as the record company argument saying that they're looking out for the interests of their artists.
-Christian
Totally untrue. Are you crazy? Someone smoking some pot in their apartment is potentially even less harmful than burning a CD! Also, no habitual drug user that I know is a violent, harmful, or bad person at all! Do you honestly believe that the war on drugs is only on cocaine and heroin? There are literally hundreds of outlawed drugs that pose little if any threat to anyone.
Don't believe what the government says about their drug war. It's about as true as the record company argument saying that they're looking out for the interests of their artists.
-Christian
sure, you may be able to install linux or god-knows-what on one of those damn things ... but if a visor+keyboard does the trick ... why go there?
what are you talking about, seriously?
-Christian
ThinkOutside designed the product.
-Christian
-Christian
http://www.satanicpanic.com
I guess the challenge is still open ... failed Apache installations on Solaris last week still have me hopping mad.
The thought of many distributions of everything supporting dselect-like stuffs makes my eyes tear up with delight and excitement. I may eventually challenge people to come down here and give me hugs or something. Uh ... or not :)
-Christian
Had no idea that some people hated it so much (see first reply to "What about Xanadu"). Is it really that crappy? Damn, and I thought that it would rock and it would change a bunch of stuff or something.
Speaking of which, anyone heard any news on that darned Xanadu's progress?
I guess I could wait for a brain/computer interface, too ... but wouldn't it be cooler if all your desktop peripherals were wireless ... and running on the same standard?
-Christian
Have the artists you're talking about taken the extra step and told EVERYONE to search for them on Napster?
You can't just put a website on the web and expect hits ... you have to let people know it's there, right?
Also, maybe the band is getting a lot of listens online ... but they don't know ... like how you can't track what people are downloading on Napster. And maybe very few of those who do download their music bother to write to them about it.
-Christian
i started buying cds about 7 years ago ... and of the hundreds of cds that now have, i reckon that about 40 were purchased new. seriously.
the rest were purchased as used cds.
how come these anti-napster bastards don't lay off of the best thing since the web browser and start trying to attack the dealing of used cds. i would definitely like that ... they'd lose so much faster. kind of like how garth brooks did in his similar campaign a while back.
oh yeah, let me also mention that many of the cds at used cd places are promotional copies of albums that record industry types immediately sell to a used cd place.
so ... whether just about everyone i knows gets their music on cd or from napster ... the record companies aren't getting shit ... yet they're still around.
-Christian
But here's one thing I've never seen mentioned. Maybe someone can point me to an article, but let's say you're a deranged or depressed or alienated kid. You hate everyone at school. Maybe people make fun of you all the time. Maybe you don't exactly fit in. There's some jerks in some of your classes that you could easily live life without. Maybe you've even relished the thought of killing them. Maybe you've planned it out ... in a fantasy scenario or something.
Next, you start hearing about some kid at another high school shooting up a bunch of his classmates and getting famous for it. Maybe it shocks you at first, but then you may be excited. Someone else actually had enough and went for it.
Now, I'm asking you guys to imagine this: if you had these hateful thoughts and you see someone killing at school ... isn't it possible that watching these actions on the news or whatever would motivate you to do the same? Sure, violent video games, movies, blah blah blah. But student types are very impressionable, and if you saw that other people were doing it and gaining total notoriety and successfully killing assholes at school ... well ... isn't that a more immediate, likely cause?
That killing at school became a sick trend? A horrifying "fad"?
(:christian:)
BFD
-Christian
in the book, windows are made of diamond. imagine anything that needs to be clear and hard being made of diamond! also diamond edged sharp stuff (besides drills ... like a microscopic diamond edged buzzsaw on a knife sized blade).
diamond imacs instead of lucite? ;)
(:christian:)
You have the Genome
Return to base
don't act like such a victim like there are no latinos involved in these "unitedstatesian" endeavors. plus, take a nice look at what latinos do to each other. i'd say south and central american governments do a much better job of screwing over their own populations than we have the time for. i wouldn't take it all personally anyway ... if south america was all chinese people, people in our government would be screwing them over too every once in a while.