I'm actually working on (and have been for about ten years) a book/series of books about such a possibility. That the reason our universe is so 'indifferent' and 'uncaring' as some of the other posters have pointed out is that someone (a very powerful someone, don't want to give away too much) in the early history of our universe tampered with THE WRONG THING (TM) and got it all fucked up.
Of course, it's sci-fi. Possibly even bad sci-fi (I don't have anyone else's opinion on that at the moment), but thus far it seems to be a pretty cool story.
Oh yeah, and it also delves into the possibility of 'traveling' to other universes within the multiverse and finding out that the other universes that support life of any kind are not nearly as messed up as our own.
To the other posters that are all upset with the original poster, chill out. It's a good philosophical question to ask why humanity is so fucked up and try to trace it back through the possibility that humanity evolved the way it did because of the fact that the universe is basically an uncaring place. It 'teaches' us to not care. I know, philosophical drivel, but at the moment, that's what this topic is basically about anyway.
BTW, before anyone points it out to me, I do believe in taking responsibility as individuals for our actions. I even believe that the human race on the whole needs to find a way to come to grips with its own responsibilities, but it never hurts to ask the question 'why?' as in "why are we so screwed up?". Agreed?
Yeah, you're probably right. I've only been playing instruments since I was about seven, and now have in my experience:
1. Violin
2. Viola
3. Cello
4. Guitar
5. Upright and electric bass
6. Saxophone
7. Piano
8. Harmonica
9. Trumpet
10. Drums
And I've basically absorbed every bit of music I can stomache. Needless to say, the bullshit that's on the radio very rarely impresses me. So if I don't like Tears For Fears, yeah, your probably right, I don't know much about music or anything else. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Now I feel that my life is complete.
That's probably why I forgot. Even the name of the band sucked. But thanks for the info (I probably could have found it if I looked in the jacket on the CD anyway).
Hows this for an off-topic post (your sig says you support that type of thing, so here):
I have found that many heavy metal bands have covered what had at one time been a popular song. For instance, the most recognizable song that even most non-metal lamers have heard rendered in a semi-metallic state is Marylin Manson's cover of the song "Sweet Dreams". I'm no Manson fan myself, but that just fucking rocks. I mean, seriously, didn't anyone else think the first time they heard the Eurythmics play that song that it was fucked up that it sounded so poppy and happy and had such heavy lyrical ideas? (That whole, some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you, some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused thing kind of makes ya think don't it?)
Well, recently I had a song stuck in my head and I wasn't even sure why. You remember that really crappy song (by an even crappier band that I long ago forgot the name of) called shout? You know, shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without. So, anyways, I pick up the latest Disturbed album (very cool if you're into metal by the way) last weekend. I got into them because I heard they played Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme song (Yeah, I know, so fucking sue me, I watch wrestling) and I had a buddy that saw them live and said they fucking rocked the house and nobody knew who the hell they were. Well, I finally get a chance to listen to it last night and there's this song called Shout2000 on there. I didn't think much of it until it started. I'm thinking, yeah, this is pretty cool, clashing guitars chugging along and all. Then the dude starts singing. Sure enough, you guessed it, shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without. How fucked up is that. It had been circling in my mind for the past few weeks (and I probably haven't heard it, other than that crappy TV commercial in about five years or more), and I'd even considered trying to get the guitar part worked out just for kicks, and there it is, big as life. Needless to say I was impressed.
Then there are even lesser known cover tunes that just seem slightly out of place. Like Exodus covering Low Rider. It actually sounds good, but come on! Exodus, heavy metal, gnarly singing (if you can call it that) playing Low Rider? Or there's their cover of the song Bitch. They've done a lot of oddball covers.
Then there's Flotsam and Jetsam covering Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, which sounds fricken awesome with their downtuned guitars jugging out the riffs. Only thing odd in that one is the piano slides in the middle of it over the top of the guitars. Don't know how that got in there.
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone else thought this was interesting. Heavy metal bands covering the bands that for the most part they make fun of and pick on non-stop. Seems pretty funny to me. Next thing you know Metallica (if they can still be called a metal band, very questionable at this point) will be covering that song that Kurt sang as beat your fucking meat boy, beat your fucking meat boy, beat that fucking meat boy. It certainly wouldn't cause me to lose any more respect for them. God knows the stupid sons-a-bitches have done everything in their power up to this point to lose any of their 'old' fans and promote the idealism of the big business record companies whom they used to hate. You know, "Kill 'em All" was supposed to be a slap in the face of the record executives because they wouldn't let them call it "Fuck 'em All", and the cover pic was supposed to reinforce that message. Now they are no better than the fuckers that they claimed they hated. What pieces of shit!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest. I realize that I will probably lose some Karma over this one, but what the fuck? It's not like Slashdot is about anything important anyways. It's mostly just a chance to have Taco stroke his ego in a public display of masturbatory stylings that allow him to keep stuffing the cash into his wallet. But, I'll leave that little rant for another time.
The funny thing is you think you're telling me exactly the opposite of what I think, but in fact, you are agreeing with me.
By 'being different' I certainly didn't mean to be different in whatever is the most freakish way you can be. I'm different from anyone else I know. I play heavy metal guitar, yet I don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have tatoos, don't have peircings or any of the other things that are 'supposed' to go with it.
You have, in fact, embraced your differences. It's just that you are so comfortable with your differences that you don't even think of them as differences. That's a very healthy way to see things.
Embracing your differences isn't about 'standing out'. It's about being who you are. You don't need to be a freak to be different. Sometimes normalcy is different. It certainly is in this day and age.
Having worked on a farm, and having lived in several farming communities, I can honestly tell you that what the government says it is spending on 'Farm Subsidies' are not for farmers. Farm subsidies include all sorts of extra shit that makes sure farmers rarely see any benifit at all from the money. Farm subsidies are often set up in such a way that the largest majority of the money is sunk into state parks and wildlife funds. But it is labeled as a farm subsidy so that when a farmer asks his congressman/other government official what he's done for farmers the government official can say, "see, I helped with this great farm subsidy". It's all a crock.
The typical view of people that aren't directly working on a farm or with farmers somehow is the view you have. We were getting something like 5% of the money per gallon of milk that it costs at the store. Nearly the same for meat. But when we comment on it anywhere some idiot always spouts off, "Yeah, those damned farmers are making a fortune!" Yeah, sure thing. Keep telling yourself that. When those great corporate farms take over (which is supposed to save you money), watch the prices sky-rocket!
Why don't you tell that to the people that got up at 4:30am every day to milk cows on the family farm growing up. Then, when their parents pass, instead of inheriting the farm that they have put so much work into, some government moron decides that they need to tax it into oblivion. Forget that this person has worked his or her ass off their entire life in the hope that they could keep the family farm running after their parents were gone. Nope, that doesn't matter. We don't want them just getting something for nothing (I can't believe anybody believes this applies to farms where you either bust your ass or you lose it anyway).
Luckily, the one family farm I was involved in had a family that was smart enough to do they inherit by percentage plan where each year they are allowed to pass ownership of a certain percentage of the farm and therefore by-pass the inheritance tax. If they had tried to pass it all in the same year, they would have had to sell the entire farm to pay for the taxes on the inheritance. This just doesn't make sense to me at all. How can it be justified that the taxes for inheriting a farm are far, far more than the amount of money you can earn on it in five or sometimes even in ten years of hard honest work? I just don't understand that thought process.
Of course, corporate farms don't have to worry about that. A corporation never dies, so they never have to pay inheritance taxes. Maybe every farmer should simply incorporate themselves?
Actually, the fact that my post got moderated up as funny pretty much proves the point I was trying to make. Slashdot is the perfect example of people being told to conform, but all the while we are supposed to believe that by conforming to 'the Slashdot way' we are in fact standing up for our individuality. It is really saddening. Really, really disheartening as well.
Since beginning my postings on Slashdot I have become increasingly alarmed at the number of idiotic morons that say the most alarming, or the most uninformed things. Case in point, the above first post.
First posting is a priviledge lad. You should not go out of your way to get the first post and then waste it on something as stupid as 'boom'. You should in fact use the great opportunity to have your views known. Dare I say, even about the topic at hand? Yes, it is possible to have a first post that contains a little bit of meaning. I would even prefer a Penis Bird Guy post to this idiotic AC's retarded attempt to get attention.
Now, why does this bother me? On its own it probably wouldn't. But combine this with the fact that in every article the stupidity of the posters is only overshadowed by the obvious stupidity of the moderators and you start to understand why I am quickly losing faith in humanity. I realize that the audience (and hence the moderators) here is made up of mostly young adults and teenagers. However, if this is the youth of America in action, I can only doubt our survival in the future. Such blatant stupidity and obvious power tripping arrogance should not be tolerated or fostered. But here, not only is it tolerated, it is encouraged. Moderators are told to abuse by the 'majority rules' crowd. Don't let an opinion you disagree with get moderated up. No matter how eloquently written that opinion is. No matter how many facts the poster used to back his position. No matter how right he/she is or could be, don't let that opposing view be heard! It is strange to me that a forum based on freedom is in actuality just a place to reinforce the stupidity that has been bred into this generation. If the youth of America is represented here on Slashdot, then I don't just weep for the future, I bleed my wrists in pain and indignation at the prospects that lie ahead for us.
As Slashdot continues to attempt to drain out your indignation, please do not be afraid of having your own opinion. As Slashdot goes out of its way to indoctrinate our youth into the 'majority' mindset, as slashdot attempts in every way to completely obliterate our ability to think for ourselves, stand up for your rights. Do not be afraid to continue expressing your opinions. No matter how unpopular those opinions are, you are our hope for the future. Please remember that.
I realize this will get moderated down into oblivion quicker than any other post on the forum, but please, if you read it, remember it. Do not be afraid of your thoughts. Do not let the slashdot hordes convince you that you must wipe your mind clean of 'unpure' thoughts. Remember your mind. Remember your youth. Remember your own thoughts. And most importantly, remember to be different.
Do not be afraid of your differences with others. Embrace them! Hold onto those differences as if your life depended on it. It may be rough trying to ride through your youth this way (and I know, because I did just that), but it is worth it. As I quickly approach thirty years of age (27 and counting) I realize that I was never afraid of all the bible thumping morons that were always so 'concerned' about my differences. In fact, I usually just laughed it off when it didn't piss me off. And now, I still play that evil, 'satanic' heavy metal music. I still enjoy a good 'evil and satanic' Dungeons and Dragons game. I still enjoy a good horror story or movie. And I still play those damnable, corrupting violent video games. I still wear black tee-shirts (the ones that got me called a satanist on a daily basis by my 'peers' as a youth). And nobody is ever gonna pry that guitar out of my hands (not even my wife, but she wouldn't try).
You can do it. You can make it through your youth without becoming the zombie that the 'popular' crowd wants you to be. You don't have to be popular. You just need to be 'YOU'. And believe it or not, Slashdot is totally against the entire concept of being YOU. Slashdot is all about being a part of the 'in' crowd. Slashdot is all about being 'hip', or 'kewl' or '3l33t'. Please, even if you are naturally 3l33t (and some are), do not succumb to the urge that Slashdot places in front of you. Do not give up your differences. Allow yourself free thought. Allow yourself to voice your opinion. Allow yourself to live, as you and you alone.
Slashdot will not succeed in destroying the free-thinking minds of the individuals that make up the youth of America. Don't let it succeed. As it appears more and more to just be a 'anti-corporate' corporation in and of itself, go against the grain. Do not be afraid. The future is yours, but only if you are willing to remain you.
Yes I'm feeling philosophical today. Is that a reason to mod me down? Probably. After all, I dare to accuse Slashdot of something that isn't cool. How unpopular of me! Fuck popularity. I'd rather be able to look myself in the mirror than be a druken, drugged-up, ass-kissing, 'thank you sir may I have another' moron like the great Slashdot 'community'.
Be different. Be yourself. Don't be, 'one of them'.
When politics, or religion, try to force their way into 'controlling' some other area of society it never is a good thing. As you say, we all suffer.
It's just too bad that at the moment the only 'people' that matter are the ones with lots of money and no brain cells. 'We don't want that responsibility!' seems to be the rallying cry. It's sad really. More and more we see the government trying to make parenting easier by removing choices from parents (or just plain removing the responsibilities that a free parent should have). And some people actually seem to enjoy this idea! What an odd world we live in.
I have never fogotten her and the PMRC (her militant, 'everything that kids do is evil', parental control group). If she is as much a frickin' control freak as Hillary then we just as well sign the entire country over to her because we all know that Gore is a wuss when it comes to his wife.
Oh god, I cannot tell you how much I hated it the first time I was carded when buying a heavy metal CD in the local Diskjockey! Thank you PMRC, thank you Tipper. All that did was garauntee that the target audience for that type of music couldn't purchase the music. I'm just glad it didn't last very long.
Now, if I saw that happen again it might be enough to inspire me to take a little revolutionary trip to Washington. Seeing as how I'm the one playing the music now, and distribution is already difficult enough (I play as a hobby. I'm an IT person as a career, but still record plenty of stuff) I can finally understand both sides of the issue (how to I sell, how do I get?).
If Tipper manages to bring back those kind of regulations in the music industry I would seriously lose the little bit of faith I have left in humanity. Not that it would take that much, but that would be a huge blow. (OK trolls, insert your own Tipper+blow joke here).
Mod this suckah up! That's the most insightful comment I've ever seen from a Katz troll.
Almost all of his articles are about youth, misspent youth, ignored youth, trod on youth or any other kind of youth.
My personal feeling is the guy did a lot of dorking around when he was young and hasn't been able to get laid since he got out of high school. Much like the ex-jocks from my high school, the only difference between them and him is that he turned to writing crap instead of serving french-fries or pumping gasoline. Wow, is Jon Katz a closet ex-jock?
Man am I sick of seeing this kind of garbage propogated.
I used to work on a dairy farm. Up at 4:30am to milk the cows, work all day, start night milking at 4:30pm, work half the evening and go in at 10:00pm. And that was WORK! We're talking heavy lifting, bale toting, feed carrying, grunt laboring work. You sound like the type that sits on his ass all the time complaining about the fact that nobody ever wants to work anymore.
I would probably still be doing that job if it wasn't for a personal problem (it was a family farm and something very, very bad happened between me and my uncle). So don't tell us that none of us IT workers know what it's like to work. I can still bust ass when I need to, and I usually do. I guess that explains why I work about fifty hours a week at my primary job and about twenty-five to thirty at little odd jobs I set up for myself.
If you want to make a living, you have to work. Get over yourself.
Ah, I wasn't aware of any of that. I bought MP3Enc years ago from them, but was not notified that I owed them anything for every song that I ripped and encoded for myself. Or is that only applicable if you use it to distribute music?
I think fair use would have to apply in this case. I still say it's legal to rip and encode CDs that you own. Especially if you purchased the legal encoder (as I did) for just that purpose.
I had a neighbor that's dog was so scared of him that it would shit itself (literally, it wouldn't take the time to 'squat' first) every time it saw him.<br><br>
If they can program a 'scare the shit out of it' mode, I'd buy one for him just so he could remember his little doggy.
Are you implying that the MP3 format is illegal and somehow vorbis format isn't?
I'm sorry, but there are perfectly legal ways to use MP3. And Vorbis is in exactly the same boat.
Believe me, if Vorbis was as popular as MP3, the RIAA would be all over it. It is the distribution of the copyrighted material in MP3 format which is illegal, not the format itself. Personally, I have six and a half gigs of 'legal' MP3s because I still own the CDs that I ripped them from. These are legal under fair use laws. Now, in a couple of years, when the RIAA and the MPAA have managed to have fair use laws abolished (because we all know the constitution was really all about protecting big business, and not protecting citizens), then Vorbis and MP3 will both be illegal.
Oh come on now moderators? Surely I deserve something more fitting than 'overated'. Troll or flamebait maybe? Or did you fail to read my post? Ah yes, another informed moderator on the job.
Sure is nice there's so many amateur psychologists at slashdot.
Who's to say I'm not trying to get out? I'm always looking for work elsewhere. But the one problem I run into is the problem where 'it takes money to get anywhere'. Believe it or not, that is the truth.
So, I'm working at saving money, and I am going to find a way to get the fuck out of here. The midwest is a goddamned nightmare. I've lived in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The only time I really enjoyed where I lived was the few months I spent in the metro area of Minnesota. The bigger the town, the easier it is to get along. And don't tell me I just haven't found the right small town. Having lived in five of them in various states, I'm quite sure I've had enough of a sampling. Bible thumpers make me sick, and that seems to be the majority of people in midwestern small towns.
I always wanted to live in California, but seeing as how my wife doesn't enjoy that idea, I probably won't end up there. But anywhere has got to be better than here. Actually, living in Fairmont Minnesota (a town of only 10,000) was a hell of a lot more enjoyable than Sioux Falls (a town of 120,000). It's just a matter of time. And in the meantime, like it or not, I'm gonna do some bitching. It's the only way to get through the day without slitting my wrists.
Or are all of you amteur psychoanalysts the type that believe you should just 'bottle up' everything? Yeah, that would pretty much describe midwestern philosophy. And people wonder why kids are shooting up schools.
I'd kill for a boss that was willing to 'tolerate' my policies and ideas. I pretty much seem to always find myself in jobs where it's 'their way or the highway' and I have yet to find a job where I can really do what is necissary to make things run smooth.
But at least I finally found a company where I can run whatever software I want. That makes things a LOT easier than it ever was for me before. Now, if I could just find a way to convince them the Internet is not some big evil consipracy.
Oh OK. Would I be wrong in the fact that my current job sucks? Or would I be wrong in the fact that the people I know all think their jobs suck?
As to small town life/quality of living: Personally, I have only one thing to say to that, "FUCK OFF!"
I lived in small towns most of my life. I now live in Sioux Falls, the largest small town in the world. 120,000 people and not one goddamned signed of civilization (unless you want to call that backwardass mall civilization). Everybody wants to be all friendly, but only if your willing to play the game of, "YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!"
Believe it or not, I don't like small town bullshit. Sure, neighbors are friendly as long as you go to church every week, carry your goddamned bible with you everywhere, and completely avoid having any personality at all. I've spent my fair share of time in Minneapolis/St. Paul and found the people up there to be far, far more friendly than the people around here if you don't 'fit in'. The reason? There's security in the slightly anonymous lifestyle up there. There is no way for them to get to know every detail of your life, so they can't badger you every second over your 'great mistakes'. In Sioux Falls, I get all the great ones. My nieghbors think I'm a satanic fuck because I play heavy metal guitar. I get badgered with bible thumpers at least once a week. I get told that I 'need' to come to every city event from the junior miss pig calling contest to the little league playoffs. I really couldn't care less.
Pardon my rant. But seeing people spout off about how great small town life is because they aren't comfortable just living without having to 'fit in' with the great idiot masses just pisses me off to no end. Add to that it's my birthday and people are acting like I'm some kind of faggot because I don't make a huge ordeal out of it and I think you can just start to understand why this 'know your nieghbor' small town bullshit gets under my skin.
Grow up. Small town spirit is for the weak minded. If you need it, great for you. But don't tell me I'm wrong just because I'm sick of putting up with the nosy idiots that think my life isn't my own. That's small town life. Get me the hell out of it!
Slashdot Mirror
I'm actually working on (and have been for about ten years) a book/series of books about such a possibility. That the reason our universe is so 'indifferent' and 'uncaring' as some of the other posters have pointed out is that someone (a very powerful someone, don't want to give away too much) in the early history of our universe tampered with THE WRONG THING (TM) and got it all fucked up.
Of course, it's sci-fi. Possibly even bad sci-fi (I don't have anyone else's opinion on that at the moment), but thus far it seems to be a pretty cool story.
Oh yeah, and it also delves into the possibility of 'traveling' to other universes within the multiverse and finding out that the other universes that support life of any kind are not nearly as messed up as our own.
To the other posters that are all upset with the original poster, chill out. It's a good philosophical question to ask why humanity is so fucked up and try to trace it back through the possibility that humanity evolved the way it did because of the fact that the universe is basically an uncaring place. It 'teaches' us to not care. I know, philosophical drivel, but at the moment, that's what this topic is basically about anyway.
BTW, before anyone points it out to me, I do believe in taking responsibility as individuals for our actions. I even believe that the human race on the whole needs to find a way to come to grips with its own responsibilities, but it never hurts to ask the question 'why?' as in "why are we so screwed up?". Agreed?
Yeah, you're probably right. I've only been playing instruments since I was about seven, and now have in my experience:
1. Violin
2. Viola
3. Cello
4. Guitar
5. Upright and electric bass
6. Saxophone
7. Piano
8. Harmonica
9. Trumpet
10. Drums
And I've basically absorbed every bit of music I can stomache. Needless to say, the bullshit that's on the radio very rarely impresses me. So if I don't like Tears For Fears, yeah, your probably right, I don't know much about music or anything else. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Now I feel that my life is complete.
Um, you mean Tears For Fears right?
That's probably why I forgot. Even the name of the band sucked. But thanks for the info (I probably could have found it if I looked in the jacket on the CD anyway).
Hows this for an off-topic post (your sig says you support that type of thing, so here):
I have found that many heavy metal bands have covered what had at one time been a popular song. For instance, the most recognizable song that even most non-metal lamers have heard rendered in a semi-metallic state is Marylin Manson's cover of the song "Sweet Dreams". I'm no Manson fan myself, but that just fucking rocks. I mean, seriously, didn't anyone else think the first time they heard the Eurythmics play that song that it was fucked up that it sounded so poppy and happy and had such heavy lyrical ideas? (That whole, some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you, some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused thing kind of makes ya think don't it?)
Well, recently I had a song stuck in my head and I wasn't even sure why. You remember that really crappy song (by an even crappier band that I long ago forgot the name of) called shout? You know, shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without. So, anyways, I pick up the latest Disturbed album (very cool if you're into metal by the way) last weekend. I got into them because I heard they played Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme song (Yeah, I know, so fucking sue me, I watch wrestling) and I had a buddy that saw them live and said they fucking rocked the house and nobody knew who the hell they were. Well, I finally get a chance to listen to it last night and there's this song called Shout2000 on there. I didn't think much of it until it started. I'm thinking, yeah, this is pretty cool, clashing guitars chugging along and all. Then the dude starts singing. Sure enough, you guessed it, shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without. How fucked up is that. It had been circling in my mind for the past few weeks (and I probably haven't heard it, other than that crappy TV commercial in about five years or more), and I'd even considered trying to get the guitar part worked out just for kicks, and there it is, big as life. Needless to say I was impressed.
Then there are even lesser known cover tunes that just seem slightly out of place. Like Exodus covering Low Rider. It actually sounds good, but come on! Exodus, heavy metal, gnarly singing (if you can call it that) playing Low Rider? Or there's their cover of the song Bitch. They've done a lot of oddball covers.
Then there's Flotsam and Jetsam covering Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, which sounds fricken awesome with their downtuned guitars jugging out the riffs. Only thing odd in that one is the piano slides in the middle of it over the top of the guitars. Don't know how that got in there.
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone else thought this was interesting. Heavy metal bands covering the bands that for the most part they make fun of and pick on non-stop. Seems pretty funny to me. Next thing you know Metallica (if they can still be called a metal band, very questionable at this point) will be covering that song that Kurt sang as beat your fucking meat boy, beat your fucking meat boy, beat that fucking meat boy. It certainly wouldn't cause me to lose any more respect for them. God knows the stupid sons-a-bitches have done everything in their power up to this point to lose any of their 'old' fans and promote the idealism of the big business record companies whom they used to hate. You know, "Kill 'em All" was supposed to be a slap in the face of the record executives because they wouldn't let them call it "Fuck 'em All", and the cover pic was supposed to reinforce that message. Now they are no better than the fuckers that they claimed they hated. What pieces of shit!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest. I realize that I will probably lose some Karma over this one, but what the fuck? It's not like Slashdot is about anything important anyways. It's mostly just a chance to have Taco stroke his ego in a public display of masturbatory stylings that allow him to keep stuffing the cash into his wallet. But, I'll leave that little rant for another time.
Thanks for supporting off-topic posting.
The funny thing is you think you're telling me exactly the opposite of what I think, but in fact, you are agreeing with me.
By 'being different' I certainly didn't mean to be different in whatever is the most freakish way you can be. I'm different from anyone else I know. I play heavy metal guitar, yet I don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have tatoos, don't have peircings or any of the other things that are 'supposed' to go with it.
You have, in fact, embraced your differences. It's just that you are so comfortable with your differences that you don't even think of them as differences. That's a very healthy way to see things.
Embracing your differences isn't about 'standing out'. It's about being who you are. You don't need to be a freak to be different. Sometimes normalcy is different. It certainly is in this day and age.
I believe the AC that said 26 is right. I can't remember for sure, but I think that's about the time I started getting that bonus.
Yeah, so they claim.
Having worked on a farm, and having lived in several farming communities, I can honestly tell you that what the government says it is spending on 'Farm Subsidies' are not for farmers. Farm subsidies include all sorts of extra shit that makes sure farmers rarely see any benifit at all from the money. Farm subsidies are often set up in such a way that the largest majority of the money is sunk into state parks and wildlife funds. But it is labeled as a farm subsidy so that when a farmer asks his congressman/other government official what he's done for farmers the government official can say, "see, I helped with this great farm subsidy". It's all a crock.
The typical view of people that aren't directly working on a farm or with farmers somehow is the view you have. We were getting something like 5% of the money per gallon of milk that it costs at the store. Nearly the same for meat. But when we comment on it anywhere some idiot always spouts off, "Yeah, those damned farmers are making a fortune!" Yeah, sure thing. Keep telling yourself that. When those great corporate farms take over (which is supposed to save you money), watch the prices sky-rocket!
Why don't you tell that to the people that got up at 4:30am every day to milk cows on the family farm growing up. Then, when their parents pass, instead of inheriting the farm that they have put so much work into, some government moron decides that they need to tax it into oblivion. Forget that this person has worked his or her ass off their entire life in the hope that they could keep the family farm running after their parents were gone. Nope, that doesn't matter. We don't want them just getting something for nothing (I can't believe anybody believes this applies to farms where you either bust your ass or you lose it anyway).
Luckily, the one family farm I was involved in had a family that was smart enough to do they inherit by percentage plan where each year they are allowed to pass ownership of a certain percentage of the farm and therefore by-pass the inheritance tax. If they had tried to pass it all in the same year, they would have had to sell the entire farm to pay for the taxes on the inheritance. This just doesn't make sense to me at all. How can it be justified that the taxes for inheriting a farm are far, far more than the amount of money you can earn on it in five or sometimes even in ten years of hard honest work? I just don't understand that thought process.
Of course, corporate farms don't have to worry about that. A corporation never dies, so they never have to pay inheritance taxes. Maybe every farmer should simply incorporate themselves?
Actually, the fact that my post got moderated up as funny pretty much proves the point I was trying to make. Slashdot is the perfect example of people being told to conform, but all the while we are supposed to believe that by conforming to 'the Slashdot way' we are in fact standing up for our individuality. It is really saddening. Really, really disheartening as well.
Since beginning my postings on Slashdot I have become increasingly alarmed at the number of idiotic morons that say the most alarming, or the most uninformed things. Case in point, the above first post.
First posting is a priviledge lad. You should not go out of your way to get the first post and then waste it on something as stupid as 'boom'. You should in fact use the great opportunity to have your views known. Dare I say, even about the topic at hand? Yes, it is possible to have a first post that contains a little bit of meaning. I would even prefer a Penis Bird Guy post to this idiotic AC's retarded attempt to get attention.
Now, why does this bother me? On its own it probably wouldn't. But combine this with the fact that in every article the stupidity of the posters is only overshadowed by the obvious stupidity of the moderators and you start to understand why I am quickly losing faith in humanity. I realize that the audience (and hence the moderators) here is made up of mostly young adults and teenagers. However, if this is the youth of America in action, I can only doubt our survival in the future. Such blatant stupidity and obvious power tripping arrogance should not be tolerated or fostered. But here, not only is it tolerated, it is encouraged. Moderators are told to abuse by the 'majority rules' crowd. Don't let an opinion you disagree with get moderated up. No matter how eloquently written that opinion is. No matter how many facts the poster used to back his position. No matter how right he/she is or could be, don't let that opposing view be heard! It is strange to me that a forum based on freedom is in actuality just a place to reinforce the stupidity that has been bred into this generation. If the youth of America is represented here on Slashdot, then I don't just weep for the future, I bleed my wrists in pain and indignation at the prospects that lie ahead for us.
As Slashdot continues to attempt to drain out your indignation, please do not be afraid of having your own opinion. As Slashdot goes out of its way to indoctrinate our youth into the 'majority' mindset, as slashdot attempts in every way to completely obliterate our ability to think for ourselves, stand up for your rights. Do not be afraid to continue expressing your opinions. No matter how unpopular those opinions are, you are our hope for the future. Please remember that.
I realize this will get moderated down into oblivion quicker than any other post on the forum, but please, if you read it, remember it. Do not be afraid of your thoughts. Do not let the slashdot hordes convince you that you must wipe your mind clean of 'unpure' thoughts. Remember your mind. Remember your youth. Remember your own thoughts. And most importantly, remember to be different.
Do not be afraid of your differences with others. Embrace them! Hold onto those differences as if your life depended on it. It may be rough trying to ride through your youth this way (and I know, because I did just that), but it is worth it. As I quickly approach thirty years of age (27 and counting) I realize that I was never afraid of all the bible thumping morons that were always so 'concerned' about my differences. In fact, I usually just laughed it off when it didn't piss me off. And now, I still play that evil, 'satanic' heavy metal music. I still enjoy a good 'evil and satanic' Dungeons and Dragons game. I still enjoy a good horror story or movie. And I still play those damnable, corrupting violent video games. I still wear black tee-shirts (the ones that got me called a satanist on a daily basis by my 'peers' as a youth). And nobody is ever gonna pry that guitar out of my hands (not even my wife, but she wouldn't try).
You can do it. You can make it through your youth without becoming the zombie that the 'popular' crowd wants you to be. You don't have to be popular. You just need to be 'YOU'. And believe it or not, Slashdot is totally against the entire concept of being YOU. Slashdot is all about being a part of the 'in' crowd. Slashdot is all about being 'hip', or 'kewl' or '3l33t'. Please, even if you are naturally 3l33t (and some are), do not succumb to the urge that Slashdot places in front of you. Do not give up your differences. Allow yourself free thought. Allow yourself to voice your opinion. Allow yourself to live, as you and you alone.
Slashdot will not succeed in destroying the free-thinking minds of the individuals that make up the youth of America. Don't let it succeed. As it appears more and more to just be a 'anti-corporate' corporation in and of itself, go against the grain. Do not be afraid. The future is yours, but only if you are willing to remain you.
Yes I'm feeling philosophical today. Is that a reason to mod me down? Probably. After all, I dare to accuse Slashdot of something that isn't cool. How unpopular of me! Fuck popularity. I'd rather be able to look myself in the mirror than be a druken, drugged-up, ass-kissing, 'thank you sir may I have another' moron like the great Slashdot 'community'.
Be different. Be yourself. Don't be, 'one of them'.
I think that's the first funny post I've read attached to this story! Of course, I love odd poetry and crap, so I'm probably in the minority on that.
When politics, or religion, try to force their way into 'controlling' some other area of society it never is a good thing. As you say, we all suffer.
It's just too bad that at the moment the only 'people' that matter are the ones with lots of money and no brain cells. 'We don't want that responsibility!' seems to be the rallying cry. It's sad really. More and more we see the government trying to make parenting easier by removing choices from parents (or just plain removing the responsibilities that a free parent should have). And some people actually seem to enjoy this idea! What an odd world we live in.
Tipper fucking Gore!
I have never fogotten her and the PMRC (her militant, 'everything that kids do is evil', parental control group). If she is as much a frickin' control freak as Hillary then we just as well sign the entire country over to her because we all know that Gore is a wuss when it comes to his wife.
Oh god, I cannot tell you how much I hated it the first time I was carded when buying a heavy metal CD in the local Diskjockey! Thank you PMRC, thank you Tipper. All that did was garauntee that the target audience for that type of music couldn't purchase the music. I'm just glad it didn't last very long.
Now, if I saw that happen again it might be enough to inspire me to take a little revolutionary trip to Washington. Seeing as how I'm the one playing the music now, and distribution is already difficult enough (I play as a hobby. I'm an IT person as a career, but still record plenty of stuff) I can finally understand both sides of the issue (how to I sell, how do I get?).
If Tipper manages to bring back those kind of regulations in the music industry I would seriously lose the little bit of faith I have left in humanity. Not that it would take that much, but that would be a huge blow. (OK trolls, insert your own Tipper+blow joke here).
Mod this suckah up! That's the most insightful comment I've ever seen from a Katz troll.
Almost all of his articles are about youth, misspent youth, ignored youth, trod on youth or any other kind of youth.
My personal feeling is the guy did a lot of dorking around when he was young and hasn't been able to get laid since he got out of high school. Much like the ex-jocks from my high school, the only difference between them and him is that he turned to writing crap instead of serving french-fries or pumping gasoline. Wow, is Jon Katz a closet ex-jock?
Man am I sick of seeing this kind of garbage propogated.
I used to work on a dairy farm. Up at 4:30am to milk the cows, work all day, start night milking at 4:30pm, work half the evening and go in at 10:00pm. And that was WORK! We're talking heavy lifting, bale toting, feed carrying, grunt laboring work. You sound like the type that sits on his ass all the time complaining about the fact that nobody ever wants to work anymore.
I would probably still be doing that job if it wasn't for a personal problem (it was a family farm and something very, very bad happened between me and my uncle). So don't tell us that none of us IT workers know what it's like to work. I can still bust ass when I need to, and I usually do. I guess that explains why I work about fifty hours a week at my primary job and about twenty-five to thirty at little odd jobs I set up for myself.
If you want to make a living, you have to work. Get over yourself.
Ah, I wasn't aware of any of that. I bought MP3Enc years ago from them, but was not notified that I owed them anything for every song that I ripped and encoded for myself. Or is that only applicable if you use it to distribute music?
I think fair use would have to apply in this case. I still say it's legal to rip and encode CDs that you own. Especially if you purchased the legal encoder (as I did) for just that purpose.
Heh dumbass! Did you read my comment? I already did that and I still have to select it every single time I post a comment.
Fucking idiots around here are really starting to piss me off!
God I hate the code option.
Why is it that even with HTML as default selected, I still have to select HTML every time or else I get stuck with CODE?
Damn slashbugs. No wonder everybody hates CmdrTaco.
I had a neighbor that's dog was so scared of him that it would shit itself (literally, it wouldn't take the time to 'squat' first) every time it saw him.<br><br>
If they can program a 'scare the shit out of it' mode, I'd buy one for him just so he could remember his little doggy.
Are you implying that the MP3 format is illegal and somehow vorbis format isn't?
I'm sorry, but there are perfectly legal ways to use MP3. And Vorbis is in exactly the same boat.
Believe me, if Vorbis was as popular as MP3, the RIAA would be all over it. It is the distribution of the copyrighted material in MP3 format which is illegal, not the format itself. Personally, I have six and a half gigs of 'legal' MP3s because I still own the CDs that I ripped them from. These are legal under fair use laws. Now, in a couple of years, when the RIAA and the MPAA have managed to have fair use laws abolished (because we all know the constitution was really all about protecting big business, and not protecting citizens), then Vorbis and MP3 will both be illegal.
Consider yourself lucky they didn't want you to send it in to service. God forbid they actually have to fucking fix something!
Oh come on now moderators? Surely I deserve something more fitting than 'overated'. Troll or flamebait maybe? Or did you fail to read my post? Ah yes, another informed moderator on the job.
Sure is nice there's so many amateur psychologists at slashdot.
Who's to say I'm not trying to get out? I'm always looking for work elsewhere. But the one problem I run into is the problem where 'it takes money to get anywhere'. Believe it or not, that is the truth.
So, I'm working at saving money, and I am going to find a way to get the fuck out of here. The midwest is a goddamned nightmare. I've lived in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The only time I really enjoyed where I lived was the few months I spent in the metro area of Minnesota. The bigger the town, the easier it is to get along. And don't tell me I just haven't found the right small town. Having lived in five of them in various states, I'm quite sure I've had enough of a sampling. Bible thumpers make me sick, and that seems to be the majority of people in midwestern small towns.
I always wanted to live in California, but seeing as how my wife doesn't enjoy that idea, I probably won't end up there. But anywhere has got to be better than here. Actually, living in Fairmont Minnesota (a town of only 10,000) was a hell of a lot more enjoyable than Sioux Falls (a town of 120,000). It's just a matter of time. And in the meantime, like it or not, I'm gonna do some bitching. It's the only way to get through the day without slitting my wrists.
Or are all of you amteur psychoanalysts the type that believe you should just 'bottle up' everything? Yeah, that would pretty much describe midwestern philosophy. And people wonder why kids are shooting up schools.
I'd kill for a boss that was willing to 'tolerate' my policies and ideas. I pretty much seem to always find myself in jobs where it's 'their way or the highway' and I have yet to find a job where I can really do what is necissary to make things run smooth.
But at least I finally found a company where I can run whatever software I want. That makes things a LOT easier than it ever was for me before. Now, if I could just find a way to convince them the Internet is not some big evil consipracy.
Oh OK. Would I be wrong in the fact that my current job sucks? Or would I be wrong in the fact that the people I know all think their jobs suck?
As to small town life/quality of living: Personally, I have only one thing to say to that, "FUCK OFF!"
I lived in small towns most of my life. I now live in Sioux Falls, the largest small town in the world. 120,000 people and not one goddamned signed of civilization (unless you want to call that backwardass mall civilization). Everybody wants to be all friendly, but only if your willing to play the game of, "YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!"
Believe it or not, I don't like small town bullshit. Sure, neighbors are friendly as long as you go to church every week, carry your goddamned bible with you everywhere, and completely avoid having any personality at all. I've spent my fair share of time in Minneapolis/St. Paul and found the people up there to be far, far more friendly than the people around here if you don't 'fit in'. The reason? There's security in the slightly anonymous lifestyle up there. There is no way for them to get to know every detail of your life, so they can't badger you every second over your 'great mistakes'. In Sioux Falls, I get all the great ones. My nieghbors think I'm a satanic fuck because I play heavy metal guitar. I get badgered with bible thumpers at least once a week. I get told that I 'need' to come to every city event from the junior miss pig calling contest to the little league playoffs. I really couldn't care less.
Pardon my rant. But seeing people spout off about how great small town life is because they aren't comfortable just living without having to 'fit in' with the great idiot masses just pisses me off to no end. Add to that it's my birthday and people are acting like I'm some kind of faggot because I don't make a huge ordeal out of it and I think you can just start to understand why this 'know your nieghbor' small town bullshit gets under my skin.
Grow up. Small town spirit is for the weak minded. If you need it, great for you. But don't tell me I'm wrong just because I'm sick of putting up with the nosy idiots that think my life isn't my own. That's small town life. Get me the hell out of it!