At some point, continued watching of network television programming causes so much atrophy of brain tissue that people lose even the ability to recall what sucks and what doesn't, so like moths they dance around towards whatever flickering light catches their ever fleeting attention span.
In other words, 99.999% of most programming is horrible, formulaic, brain-sucking crap that is indistinguishable from the intersperced commercials (except the commercials have more character development and plot).
There's nothing wrong with a spirited debate on the issues; there's nothing wrong with parody.
There does seem to be something wrong when rather than address the issues, various factions seek to pigeonhole their opposition with name-calling in order to detract from the substance of the issues.
There does seem to be something wrong when a person gets sued for expressing an opinion, in parody form or not.
In Michael Moore's new book, "Dude, Where's My Country" he goes into details of how liberal the country actually is according to established definitions. It's a very good read for anyone who wants to be enlightened on this controversial issue.
A detailed study released by the Program on International Policy at the University of Maryland leaves little doubt as to the truth in this matter. But don't let yourself be confused by facts; keep drinking the kool-aid.
The whole "Fair and Balanced" bit is largely a troll designed to irritate liberals
That's a shallow explanation and not valid. The rationale behind the, "Fair and Balanced" flag Fox waves is based on the simple power of suggestion. It's a basic tenet of advertising. Psychological studies show that if you tell someone something over and over, they will accept it as fact regardless of whether it's true or not.
That's a very good point. I notice that very little emphasis has been placed on people targeting their senators and representatives. The tendency of Americans to blame the president or his administration for bad legislation is one of the problems. People should be letting their Congressmen know that if they support bills that aren't in their interests, they won't be elected -- it's not just the administration's fault.
I would like to see a device that has the capacity of transferring emotions and feelings to others in a very specific, targeted manner. A veritable "Empathy Player"; not a drug; not a VR device, but a way to capture someone's emotions and share them.
One problem I see with our society is the ongoing reduction of empathy and understanding we have for others. If there was an ability to show someone what another person's happiness or frustration was actually like, we all might have a much better understanding (and tolerance) for each other. Art aspires to do this in an abstract way, but imagine the possibilities if we could make someone else understand what we're going through in a very direct manner?
Does anybody really feel that they are being more accurately targetted these days?
My friend in an apartment got a telephone soliciation selling vinyl siding; I am constantly bombarded with inappropriate solicitations. It seems the promise of technology was to allow more astute use of the tools and information at hand to tailor advertisement to those who have an interest, but has anyone actually experienced this?
My experience has indicated that while the data and technology is available to allow for more targeted marketing, people in the industry feel that the indiscriminate "bulk approach" is more productive. This would be consistent with the realization that we are becoming more and more desensitized to suggestion, and more suggestion and promotional invasion is needed to transmit the same message nowadays. So is the use of technology and information truly beneficial in the future of marketing?
The worst side-effect of these bogus patents will be the general dilution of the all patents as a perceived means of protecting intellectual property.
Every time a company tried to claim IP ownership of some obviously derivative or mundane process, it discredits the system as a whole and makes it worthless.
Patents will be perceived as useful to the protection of IP as an MBA is indicative of business acumen.
I think the geeks have always been in charge (though I think "nerd" is a more appropriate characterization). It's just that for awhile, during the dot-com-boom, a bunch of MBAs showed up and snowjobbed management with their magical doublespeak skills and ran the companies foolish enough to drink their kool-aid into the ground.
Meanwhile, the many solid companies with a solid foundation of technical talent who maintained control over their ventures just plugged on. With all the FOD out of the way, they look like they're new when they're not.
The government rolled over when George Bush became President. Can anyone think of one positive accomplishment of this President?
Don't hate the playa, hate the game. Our illustrious administration has many accomplishments that they undoubtedly think are positive:
* Attacked and took over two countries. * Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury. * Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history. * Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period. * Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market. * First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner. * First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record. * First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history. * After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history. * Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history. * In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job. *Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history. * Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period. * Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history. * Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television. * Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history. * Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. * Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have. * Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans. * Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. * Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history. * My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history. * Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her). * First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt. * Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world. * First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation. * Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States. * Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history. * First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission. * First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board. * Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history. * Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. * Withdrew from the World Court of Law. * Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. * First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections). * All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. * My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). * Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history. * First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation
The way to beat microsoft is to consistently build better products. Products that do things Microsofts don't, offer choices Microsoft won't, or provide economies that Microsoft can't are the key to dislodging them.
I agree, but when future patches of Microsoft's OS or releases of new hardware deliberately cripple or make these "better products" cease to be supported or function properly, that crosses the line.
When you truly create a better product, and Microsoft bundles a competitive product for FREE with their next software release, it's hard to compete. When you do have a better product and Microsoft funds a legal effort to discredit the integrity of your product founded on unstable premises, that's not competition. When you're trying to develop a superior product and the overlord of the OS refuses to release information on the platform needed to make your product compatible, that's not fair competition.
This is not a level playing field where the best product wins. So your argument is weak.
various authorities in favor of deregulation point to the plethora of competition in their markets. A true testimonial to the benevolence of large multinational corporations:
Cox Cable shows industry executives the diversity of the marketplace via a poignant slide show depicting 37 year old Milton Lagrois offering his own Cable TV service (currently consisting of one channel "views of my fish tank" but soon to expand) to all 3 tenants of the local apartment complex in Topeka, KS.
Clear Channel Communications dismisses any claim to local market domination by hilighting the diversity of programming in their many markets, including as Clear Channel describes, the "wildly successful station KRBT in Butte Montana featuring 24-hour updates of traffic conditions on County Highway 17".
Insiders at the Justice Department's antitrust division remain confident that competition in the marketplace will continue to thrive.
They didn't get find for sending spam per se, they got fined for sending spam with specific characteristics - specifically spam with forged headers, no opt-out, and routed through a bunch of hacked computers.
What really irks me is that they were nailed on the most innocuous of charges: mail labelling, when they broke into third-party computers, which is a much more serious transgression, and according to the USA Patriot Act, a potential capital crime.
The Slimp3 looks interesting BUT I visited the web site and there's no phone number or e-mail... very weird.
It seems like a quality product but its exact function isn't well described. I hate marketing-speak like this:
The SLIMP3 (Slim-'pE-'thrE) Network Music Player is a revolutionary approach to digital music playback. It frees your digital music from your computer so it can be enjoyed throughout your home.
What the f*ck does that mean? Why can't you folks say something like, "it connects to your stereo and decodes music stored on your computer via a network connection". I'm guessing it does this - I don't know - there are no pictures of the reverse of the damn unit on the site that I could find. I still don't exactly know what the hell the damn thing does technically.. aside from turning my previously dismal life into a wonderful nirvana of pleasure.
Word to all you people marketing products... try giving us a decent description, and not making us dive into 100 pages of FAQs just to figure out how your product works!
Very interesting... not that "the game is broken" because I don't really think the game is broken. I think SWG is a victim of its own ambition.
SWG is so realistic, it's actually just as mundane, tedious, political and intimidating as in real life! But that's the problem. People want to log into a fantasy world and be king of the mountain, and if everyone is king of the mountain, then what's the point of playing.
I can't disagree with any of your criticisms. I am amused however, because today's generation of ADHD kids don't have the patience and want instant gratification with the next generation of MMORPGs, and there's a paradox of trying to make a game immersive but also delivering the instant reward/motivation that keep people coming back.
I agree, SWG isn't terribly playable right now, but that's mainly because the game was designed as a backdrop world where the players would create an unparalled amount of content as opposed to following a script. If the game cannot attract the base amount, it will fail. It will be very interesting to see if: a) the game can mature so as to be playable and b) if SOE and Lucas have the patience to let this "Star Trek" be recognized for its genius before they cancel it.
Crafting is like an online scavenger hunt. Some game designers seem to feel that the more useless objects that drop off mobs and can be player-created the more "real" a game is. So one key element of most MMORPGs now are the zillions of weird items, body parts, and other components that you can pick up and do something with. Most of the time you sell this junk or you "combine" it in a container or device to create another item.
The concept of crafting sounds neat at first, but all it does it put you on a wild goose chase and give you carpal tunnel syndrome. And after all the trouble, the product you've created is worth less than the value of its components.
Companies have to find the guts to actually hold other companies accountable for their making spam and fraud possible. They're the ones bearing the burden, and they're the only ones who actually have a significant cluestick to weild. If UUNet, AT&T, AOL and the RBOCs decided to cut off the enablers, those slimy hosting services and undisciplined problem children would either have to shape up or disappear.
You don't get it do you?
UUNet, AT&T and other providers PROFIT FROM SPAM because they sell bandwidth. The cluestick needs to be bonked on people who don't understand the dynamics of this situation and therefore waste time with ineffective solutions.
If they actually manage to employ something like this, we should know if there is anyone on the plane we board that has bypassed security. I don't mind going through security and the hassel, but I do NOT want to fly on a plane that has anyone carrying one of these cards that has bypassed security. It's our right to know.
Slashdot Mirror
At some point, continued watching of network television programming causes so much atrophy of brain tissue that people lose even the ability to recall what sucks and what doesn't, so like moths they dance around towards whatever flickering light catches their ever fleeting attention span.
In other words, 99.999% of most programming is horrible, formulaic, brain-sucking crap that is indistinguishable from the intersperced commercials (except the commercials have more character development and plot).
Remember -- just because an organization with acronym produces it doesn't mean it's true.
I see the difference between our perspectives on this issue:
ME: I read the report and looked at the methodology and found it to be detailed, thoughtful, thorough and informative.
YOU: couldn't get past the acronym
I couldn't agree with you more.
There's nothing wrong with a spirited debate on the issues; there's nothing wrong with parody.
There does seem to be something wrong when rather than address the issues, various factions seek to pigeonhole their opposition with name-calling in order to detract from the substance of the issues.
There does seem to be something wrong when a person gets sued for expressing an opinion, in parody form or not.
In Michael Moore's new book, "Dude, Where's My Country" he goes into details of how liberal the country actually is according to established definitions. It's a very good read for anyone who wants to be enlightened on this controversial issue.
A detailed study released by the Program on International Policy at the University of Maryland leaves little doubt as to the truth in this matter. But don't let yourself be confused by facts; keep drinking the kool-aid.
The whole "Fair and Balanced" bit is largely a troll designed to irritate liberals
That's a shallow explanation and not valid. The rationale behind the, "Fair and Balanced" flag Fox waves is based on the simple power of suggestion. It's a basic tenet of advertising. Psychological studies show that if you tell someone something over and over, they will accept it as fact regardless of whether it's true or not.
Interesting that you call a potential assault on someone's First Amendment rights, "leftwing bias".
That's a very good point. I notice that very little emphasis has been placed on people targeting their senators and representatives. The tendency of Americans to blame the president or his administration for bad legislation is one of the problems. People should be letting their Congressmen know that if they support bills that aren't in their interests, they won't be elected -- it's not just the administration's fault.
According to Gallup, 67% of people believe in ghosts.
Those polls don't prove anything, except most people are ignorant. You don't need a poll to figure that out.
SEC. 362. Slashdot comments regarding USA Patriot Act:
(1) replace all instances of 'SCO' with 'Ashcroft' in paragraphs 3-4 of comment posted under topic 11 on 03/13/03, subsection 2
(2) by inserting after the item relating to section 309 the following new item:
'FUD'
(3) previous statement in section IV is amended by adding at the end the following:
'begone civil liberties'
I would like to see a device that has the capacity of transferring emotions and feelings to others in a very specific, targeted manner. A veritable "Empathy Player"; not a drug; not a VR device, but a way to capture someone's emotions and share them.
One problem I see with our society is the ongoing reduction of empathy and understanding we have for others. If there was an ability to show someone what another person's happiness or frustration was actually like, we all might have a much better understanding (and tolerance) for each other. Art aspires to do this in an abstract way, but imagine the possibilities if we could make someone else understand what we're going through in a very direct manner?
Does anybody really feel that they are being more accurately targetted these days?
My friend in an apartment got a telephone soliciation selling vinyl siding; I am constantly bombarded with inappropriate solicitations. It seems the promise of technology was to allow more astute use of the tools and information at hand to tailor advertisement to those who have an interest, but has anyone actually experienced this?
My experience has indicated that while the data and technology is available to allow for more targeted marketing, people in the industry feel that the indiscriminate "bulk approach" is more productive. This would be consistent with the realization that we are becoming more and more desensitized to suggestion, and more suggestion and promotional invasion is needed to transmit the same message nowadays. So is the use of technology and information truly beneficial in the future of marketing?
I don't see what's the big deal. Doesn't Microsoft develop/support software for the Mac? It's not like they were running Unix.
You obviously need to patent this right away.
I'm not talking about circuits on paper. I mean the process of threatening an engineer. Quick before Amazon does.
The worst side-effect of these bogus patents will be the general dilution of the all patents as a perceived means of protecting intellectual property.
Every time a company tried to claim IP ownership of some obviously derivative or mundane process, it discredits the system as a whole and makes it worthless.
Patents will be perceived as useful to the protection of IP as an MBA is indicative of business acumen.
I think the geeks have always been in charge (though I think "nerd" is a more appropriate characterization). It's just that for awhile, during the dot-com-boom, a bunch of MBAs showed up and snowjobbed management with their magical doublespeak skills and ran the companies foolish enough to drink their kool-aid into the ground.
Meanwhile, the many solid companies with a solid foundation of technical talent who maintained control over their ventures just plugged on. With all the FOD out of the way, they look like they're new when they're not.
The government rolled over when George Bush became President. Can anyone think of one positive accomplishment of this President?
Don't hate the playa, hate the game. Our illustrious administration has many accomplishments that they undoubtedly think are positive:
* Attacked and took over two countries.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
* Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
* In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
*Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
* Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
* My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
* Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her).
* First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
* First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
* Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
* Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
* Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
* First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
* All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
* My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
* Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation
The way to beat microsoft is to consistently build better products. Products that do things Microsofts don't, offer choices Microsoft won't, or provide economies that Microsoft can't are the key to dislodging them.
I agree, but when future patches of Microsoft's OS or releases of new hardware deliberately cripple or make these "better products" cease to be supported or function properly, that crosses the line.
When you truly create a better product, and Microsoft bundles a competitive product for FREE with their next software release, it's hard to compete. When you do have a better product and Microsoft funds a legal effort to discredit the integrity of your product founded on unstable premises, that's not competition. When you're trying to develop a superior product and the overlord of the OS refuses to release information on the platform needed to make your product compatible, that's not fair competition.
This is not a level playing field where the best product wins. So your argument is weak.
various authorities in favor of deregulation point to the plethora of competition in their markets. A true testimonial to the benevolence of large multinational corporations:
Cox Cable shows industry executives the diversity of the marketplace via a poignant slide show depicting 37 year old Milton Lagrois offering his own Cable TV service (currently consisting of one channel "views of my fish tank" but soon to expand) to all 3 tenants of the local apartment complex in Topeka, KS.
Clear Channel Communications dismisses any claim to local market domination by hilighting the diversity of programming in their many markets, including as Clear Channel describes, the "wildly successful station KRBT in Butte Montana featuring 24-hour updates of traffic conditions on County Highway 17".
Insiders at the Justice Department's antitrust division remain confident that competition in the marketplace will continue to thrive.
They didn't get find for sending spam per se, they got fined for sending spam with specific characteristics - specifically spam with forged headers, no opt-out, and routed through a bunch of hacked computers.
What really irks me is that they were nailed on the most innocuous of charges: mail labelling, when they broke into third-party computers, which is a much more serious transgression, and according to the USA Patriot Act, a potential capital crime.
...when the headline reads, "Spammer sent to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison."
The Slimp3 looks interesting BUT I visited the web site and there's no phone number or e-mail... very weird.
It seems like a quality product but its exact function isn't well described. I hate marketing-speak like this:
The SLIMP3 (Slim-'pE-'thrE) Network Music Player is a revolutionary approach to digital music playback. It frees your digital music from your computer so it can be enjoyed throughout your home.
What the f*ck does that mean? Why can't you folks say something like, "it connects to your stereo and decodes music stored on your computer via a network connection". I'm guessing it does this - I don't know - there are no pictures of the reverse of the damn unit on the site that I could find. I still don't exactly know what the hell the damn thing does technically.. aside from turning my previously dismal life into a wonderful nirvana of pleasure.
Word to all you people marketing products... try giving us a decent description, and not making us dive into 100 pages of FAQs just to figure out how your product works!
Very interesting... not that "the game is broken" because I don't really think the game is broken. I think SWG is a victim of its own ambition.
SWG is so realistic, it's actually just as mundane, tedious, political and intimidating as in real life! But that's the problem. People want to log into a fantasy world and be king of the mountain, and if everyone is king of the mountain, then what's the point of playing.
I can't disagree with any of your criticisms. I am amused however, because today's generation of ADHD kids don't have the patience and want instant gratification with the next generation of MMORPGs, and there's a paradox of trying to make a game immersive but also delivering the instant reward/motivation that keep people coming back.
I agree, SWG isn't terribly playable right now, but that's mainly because the game was designed as a backdrop world where the players would create an unparalled amount of content as opposed to following a script. If the game cannot attract the base amount, it will fail. It will be very interesting to see if: a) the game can mature so as to be playable and b) if SOE and Lucas have the patience to let this "Star Trek" be recognized for its genius before they cancel it.
Crafting is like an online scavenger hunt. Some game designers seem to feel that the more useless objects that drop off mobs and can be player-created the more "real" a game is. So one key element of most MMORPGs now are the zillions of weird items, body parts, and other components that you can pick up and do something with. Most of the time you sell this junk or you "combine" it in a container or device to create another item.
The concept of crafting sounds neat at first, but all it does it put you on a wild goose chase and give you carpal tunnel syndrome. And after all the trouble, the product you've created is worth less than the value of its components.
Companies have to find the guts to actually hold other companies accountable for their making spam and fraud possible. They're the ones bearing the burden, and they're the only ones who actually have a significant cluestick to weild. If UUNet, AT&T, AOL and the RBOCs decided to cut off the enablers, those slimy hosting services and undisciplined problem children would either have to shape up or disappear.
You don't get it do you?
UUNet, AT&T and other providers PROFIT FROM SPAM because they sell bandwidth. The cluestick needs to be bonked on people who don't understand the dynamics of this situation and therefore waste time with ineffective solutions.
If they actually manage to employ something like this, we should know if there is anyone on the plane we board that has bypassed security. I don't mind going through security and the hassel, but I do NOT want to fly on a plane that has anyone carrying one of these cards that has bypassed security. It's our right to know.