Of the three options you gave, two of them fail the condition given by the post you are responding to. Both 2 and 3 use fossil fuels, when the parent post asked not to use them.
I work in a small town. I use less than one tank of gas per month on my van (22 gals) going to and from work. I cannot "walk" to work as I work on multiple sites within this town. While it is true that I can do MOST of my work from anywhere, there are some things that require my presence.
And if you mention public transportation I'll shoot you. It sucks, and I don't feel like commuting for 45 mins to travel 5 miles. I can walk to most of the places faster than public transportation can get me there, and my employer doesn't pay me to ride the bus for 45 mins to get from site to site.
I just love it when people use a one size fits all approach to solutions to problems. They almost never work.
So, what you're saying is that interference from the outside cause the problem in the first place, and interference from outside is continuing the problems. And the people of the poor countries (who have ALWAYS been that way) have nothing to do with the situation.
Yes, it is always evil white people's fault. Always!
I'm kind of sick of the people who blame everything on Western Eurpopean culture. It is a fallacy. Japan was nearly wiped out after WWII, practically nuked into the stoneage. And yet they figured out how to crawl out of it in less than one generation. AND they have almost no natural resources.
And yet, we leave places like Afgahnistan alone for twenty years, and the Taliban take over and take a relatively modern nation back to the Stone Age. Yes, that was all Colonialism's fault. Because the Taliban wouldn't have ever taken over if it wasn't for the Russian invasion...
The problem is, that you can always blame the current problems on something else. Obama is taking the problems of the Bush (who sucked royal eggs IMHO) Admin and REALLY is making them worse. But nobody seems to care because he speaks so eloquently (teleprompter mishaps not withstanding) and has a pretty smile.
That is the problem with the system, which explicitly fills large amounts of time with testimony of little or no real value to the case.
Most trials aren't really about "truth" as much as about being "fair". And what is "fair" is totally stacked against the state, and in favor of the defendant.
And people like OJ are free because Furman said the N word (slight over simplification). That's the system. Everyone knows OJ did it.
"I'm both the worst and the best customer. I don't care.:)"
I'm the best and worst sales person. I don't care;)
If you're hell bent on getting the best price from me and then leaving without buying, the next time you come in, you won't get shit from me. You're nothing more than a waste of time and effort.
I'd rather spend my time on people who are going to buy rather than on those hell bent on screwing anyone in their way.
I don't play the price matching game, because that is a losing game. And if you're the kind of guy (from the sounds of it) that will spend 4 hours driving shop to shop to save $5 on a $500 item... well I'm happy for ya.
Of course with the internet today, one doesn't have to drive four hours, so it looks like you've won. Which is why I don't sell computers any longer and point people to Dell, Apple, HP or to their local Walmart special.
Though I bet you're not all that impressed with Walmart, Dell, HP, or Apple either. I don't sell computers anymore, I just sell services. And there are plenty of people who don't know shit about how to set up their wireless routers and home networks.
The money was always in services, not the Hardware. This is why Dweebsquad is pushed at the big box store.
People buying a whole computer setup, including printer tended to get items like printer cables and mousepads at discount.
Each Christmas, I'd package a "bundle", computer, printer, all the cables, mousepads, surge etc with a "$70 savings" (or whatever) for sale. The other salespeople, didn't. Christmas was like free money for me. People would come in, see my bundles next to my sales desk, and ask me... and bam, there was a sale.
The store finally caught on after my third Christmas there but was never able to figure it out completely.
Yes, I often threw in the extras as part of the deal. It was my way of saying "thank you" (along with thank you cards for the bigger customers) that made a difference.
Most of my customers at the end were repeat customers who asked for me.
Okay hotshot. Explain to me why the store's sales tanked after I left? Does that explain why the other five sales people couldn't sell shit?
A good salesman doesn't waste his time on products with 2% profit margins, or 5% with the cable. My average profit margins were much closer to 20%.
And people who are willing to drive 90 miles to save $5 are NEVER happy and have no loyalty whatsoever. After all, they just proved that they are willing to drive 90 miles to save $5.
If you want to compete with Walmarts of the world, you'll probably lose. I know I'd rather not.
In addition to the OpenDNS option, I use SQUID proxy server with Filtering inline.
If you Google "Squid Proxy Filtering" you'll find a great deal of information and howtos to set it up. The other approach is to add a white list type filter if you're really anal (pun intended) about it.
Use Google for searches and turn on STRICT filtering, which helps a great deal as well.
Honestly, they might run into a few sites here and there with objectionable content, but it should be rare if you take just a few of the more highly recommended suggestions here.
Lastly, most of the bigger ISPs now offer a range of products and services for parental controls. I'm not sure how many of these are Windows (and MAC) only, rather than inline services, so YMMV.
I actually agree with "sin" taxes. Not for revenue, but to pay for the costs associated with the "sin".
The problem is, that the sin taxes are put into general funds and not earmarked for dealing with the problems associated with the sin, be it for alcohol or smoking or whatever.
I'm for legalizing just about everything, and taxing the crap out of the stuff that harms society so that it pays for the harm. We wouldn't have any deficits either. We could pay for everything this way, and those who don't want to partake in the sin don't have to pay taxes to support those that do.
I'm of the opinion that everyone should pay SOME tax, because then they will see that taxes are THEIR money, and not some "RICH WHITE DUDE'S" money. Even if it is just $20 or whatever.
And I don't know anyone that can't affort $20 for something here in America. There are bums make more than that panhandling each hour.
When people pay into the system, they will have an immediate stake in how it is spent. Too many people don't have a stake in who and what taxes are, and therefore it isn't "their" money. It is someone else's.
Here's my story, from back in the day (late 80s early 90s), but I'm sure it is still the same today.
I worked at a small town computer store that was geographically isolated away from any big city. We had HP Printers (Deskjets) on sale for around $400-500, and people would price shop the crap out of them. To the point that they would drive 90 miles to save 5 - 10 dollars (seriously). That 5-10 was about what our margins were.
I was commission sales back then, and quite frankly it cost me money to sell those things. Someone would come in price shopping for a printer, I'd point to the printer and say "the price is clearly marked", and if they mentioned they could buy it for $5 less 90 miles away, I'd turn and walk away.
Yeah, I was an ass over it, because I saw too many of those people willing to drive 90 miles to save $5.
The funny thing is, about 1/2 the time, I'd see the very same people in in a few days, needing a cable for their printer, because nobody at the other store told them they needed a cable.
Now the cables we got cost us $.50 ea. YES FIFTY CENTS. And we sold them for $14.95 or something. I made more money on a cable than the printer.
So, when people complain about sales associates that don't know shit, or act like they don't care, that is probably right. They probably don't care or don't know. What do you expect when you're asking them to bleed the last ounce of profit out of a product.
By the end of my stint there, I sold equipment practically at cost. I sold the hardware as a means to sell services. If you wanted help, I'd charge you for training or whatever. If you wanted to buy a computer or printer, I'd say which one and try to ring you up at the register as fast as I could, because you were costing me.
I'm sure plenty of people thought I was lying (though I never did). I'm sure plenty of people thought my service sucked. But the people who paid for my service always got top notch. My last day at the store, I accounted for 1/3 of all sales, and 25% of that was services. The other 5 sales persons fought over the other 2/3 and didn't have much in services. I was nearly 60% of the store profits on sales and service.
I left, and within six months they were out of business.
"You state that God has something to do with literacy rates and then ask for proof?"
I did no such thing. My point was that Literacy has little or nothing to do with religion, which was the point of the Grandparent post that I responded to. Of course it is easy to blame Religion for the failure of science education when you're a science bigot. There is little or no "religion" in public schools, so if there is a failure of science education one cannot blame religion for that problem. Especially when people coming out of private religious schools tend to have a greater ability to grasp not only science better than their publicly educated counterparts, but most other subjects as well.
"What "facts"? You haven't provided any."
Yup, of course you didn't ask the same of the grandparent post either. Where are you asking for facts of that post?
If you do a tad bit of research, you'll find that most Americans know very little about all sorts of things, but there is one thing that they do know, and that is Paris and Britney's latest sexcapades.
There is NOTHING inherently anti-science in faith. Some of the greatest scientific minds of the past were also great men of faith.
The problem isn't with science OR religion. It is with people who's agendas include forcing others into their point of view.
Science and Religion don't operate in the same realm, but that doesn't mean that both don't creep into the realm of the other. In fact, many claiming science are as dogmatic about their "faith" as the Jesus Freaks are. Al Gore for one.
To me, it is a sign of this bigotry by the faithful science people that a post bashing religion for the failures of public schools which are as anti religious as any institution we have gets Modded +5 Insightful.
It isn't insightful. It actually represents the lack of critical thinking by the science bigots. The facts betray the point, but who cares about the facts when you're bashing religion and those funny Jesus Freaks.
Meanwhile I'm marked as "troll" for pointing out the fact that under secular progressive educational system run by left wing agenda people are failing miserably at creating literate people who can think critically. It is much too easy to blame everyone but the system when you believe the system inspite of the facts!
If you really want a good education system, then stop catering to the lowest common denominator and start pushing for excellence. This means that you hold people back a grade if they are incapable of doing basic skills needed for the next one, and forget about the "self esteem" of those who are failing.
When we cater to the bottom of society, that is where people will go. We should be holding out for excellence, not mediocrity. And until we as a society value excellence, we're doomed to fail.
Yet, when the secular progressives run everything literacy is now less than it was when GOD was actually in the classrooms.
And I'd definitely like to see a comparison of Secular schools to private religious schools in literacy.
So, if you're gonna complain, complain accurately. We have less literacy now because schools are too busy trying to teach left wing agendas and "social justice", and Islam is good but misunderstood crap.
Sorry, but your whole point is blownup by the facts that RELIGION itself doesn't negate literacy, only stupid left wing agenda's do.
Of course it sounds funny when you say it, so it must be true. HAHAHAHAHA
Talk about oxymoron. The Rich Environmentalists don't drive, they fly in their fancy Gulfstreams for weekends in Europe, where they can bash the SUV driving soccer moms without any conscience of hypocrisy.
The rest of the environmentalists are poor hippies who are really just pushing their socialist ideas on society, and the Green movement is just convenient way to try to accomplish their Utopian ideals.
I'm sure there are a few "middle class" environmentalists out there, but if the bumperstickers on the cars in my town are any indication, they tend to drive Gas Guzzling Volvos.
Most of the people I know who are driving Hybrids are moderate conservatives, who hate their hybrids once they get their first repair bill.
Just like CFLs, were supposed to save the planet, and actually are full of toxins and dangers which nobody really thought about, Hybrids and their toxic batteries which leak dangerous and extremely corrosive acid when they crash, the long term impact on the environment may actually be worse than driving petroleum fueled cars and trucks.
Slashdot Mirror
But but but but ....
Any number divided by itself = 1
THEREFORE 0/0 = 1
See, maths is easy!
I guess it is Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.
Real Media if FRACKED up.
So say we all?
Ahhhh, split personality ... that would explain many things
I say we fire our government, and stop bailing out people who screw themselves over!
The government's job isn't to rescue anyone from their own incompetence.
Of the three options you gave, two of them fail the condition given by the post you are responding to. Both 2 and 3 use fossil fuels, when the parent post asked not to use them.
I work in a small town. I use less than one tank of gas per month on my van (22 gals) going to and from work. I cannot "walk" to work as I work on multiple sites within this town. While it is true that I can do MOST of my work from anywhere, there are some things that require my presence.
And if you mention public transportation I'll shoot you. It sucks, and I don't feel like commuting for 45 mins to travel 5 miles. I can walk to most of the places faster than public transportation can get me there, and my employer doesn't pay me to ride the bus for 45 mins to get from site to site.
I just love it when people use a one size fits all approach to solutions to problems. They almost never work.
So, what you're saying is that interference from the outside cause the problem in the first place, and interference from outside is continuing the problems. And the people of the poor countries (who have ALWAYS been that way) have nothing to do with the situation.
Yes, it is always evil white people's fault. Always!
I'm kind of sick of the people who blame everything on Western Eurpopean culture. It is a fallacy. Japan was nearly wiped out after WWII, practically nuked into the stoneage. And yet they figured out how to crawl out of it in less than one generation. AND they have almost no natural resources.
And yet, we leave places like Afgahnistan alone for twenty years, and the Taliban take over and take a relatively modern nation back to the Stone Age. Yes, that was all Colonialism's fault. Because the Taliban wouldn't have ever taken over if it wasn't for the Russian invasion ...
The problem is, that you can always blame the current problems on something else. Obama is taking the problems of the Bush (who sucked royal eggs IMHO) Admin and REALLY is making them worse. But nobody seems to care because he speaks so eloquently (teleprompter mishaps not withstanding) and has a pretty smile.
Actually, the jury has a right to nullify even the law. If the law itself is unjust, the jury has a right to nullify even the law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy. - John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States
That is the problem with the system, which explicitly fills large amounts of time with testimony of little or no real value to the case.
Most trials aren't really about "truth" as much as about being "fair". And what is "fair" is totally stacked against the state, and in favor of the defendant.
And people like OJ are free because Furman said the N word (slight over simplification). That's the system. Everyone knows OJ did it.
"I'm both the worst and the best customer. I don't care. :)"
I'm the best and worst sales person. I don't care ;)
If you're hell bent on getting the best price from me and then leaving without buying, the next time you come in, you won't get shit from me. You're nothing more than a waste of time and effort.
I'd rather spend my time on people who are going to buy rather than on those hell bent on screwing anyone in their way.
I don't play the price matching game, because that is a losing game. And if you're the kind of guy (from the sounds of it) that will spend 4 hours driving shop to shop to save $5 on a $500 item ... well I'm happy for ya.
Of course with the internet today, one doesn't have to drive four hours, so it looks like you've won. Which is why I don't sell computers any longer and point people to Dell, Apple, HP or to their local Walmart special.
Though I bet you're not all that impressed with Walmart, Dell, HP, or Apple either. I don't sell computers anymore, I just sell services. And there are plenty of people who don't know shit about how to set up their wireless routers and home networks.
The money was always in services, not the Hardware. This is why Dweebsquad is pushed at the big box store.
People buying a whole computer setup, including printer tended to get items like printer cables and mousepads at discount.
Each Christmas, I'd package a "bundle", computer, printer, all the cables, mousepads, surge etc with a "$70 savings" (or whatever) for sale. The other salespeople, didn't. Christmas was like free money for me. People would come in, see my bundles next to my sales desk, and ask me ... and bam, there was a sale.
The store finally caught on after my third Christmas there but was never able to figure it out completely.
Yes, I often threw in the extras as part of the deal. It was my way of saying "thank you" (along with thank you cards for the bigger customers) that made a difference.
Most of my customers at the end were repeat customers who asked for me.
Okay hotshot. Explain to me why the store's sales tanked after I left? Does that explain why the other five sales people couldn't sell shit?
A good salesman doesn't waste his time on products with 2% profit margins, or 5% with the cable. My average profit margins were much closer to 20%.
And people who are willing to drive 90 miles to save $5 are NEVER happy and have no loyalty whatsoever. After all, they just proved that they are willing to drive 90 miles to save $5.
If you want to compete with Walmarts of the world, you'll probably lose. I know I'd rather not.
In addition to the OpenDNS option, I use SQUID proxy server with Filtering inline.
If you Google "Squid Proxy Filtering" you'll find a great deal of information and howtos to set it up. The other approach is to add a white list type filter if you're really anal (pun intended) about it.
Use Google for searches and turn on STRICT filtering, which helps a great deal as well.
Honestly, they might run into a few sites here and there with objectionable content, but it should be rare if you take just a few of the more highly recommended suggestions here.
Lastly, most of the bigger ISPs now offer a range of products and services for parental controls. I'm not sure how many of these are Windows (and MAC) only, rather than inline services, so YMMV.
Thank you for joining the Libertarians.
If you limit the power of Government none of those things you mentioned would matter.
I actually agree with "sin" taxes. Not for revenue, but to pay for the costs associated with the "sin".
The problem is, that the sin taxes are put into general funds and not earmarked for dealing with the problems associated with the sin, be it for alcohol or smoking or whatever.
I'm for legalizing just about everything, and taxing the crap out of the stuff that harms society so that it pays for the harm. We wouldn't have any deficits either. We could pay for everything this way, and those who don't want to partake in the sin don't have to pay taxes to support those that do.
Every claim poverty.
Define Broke?
I'm of the opinion that everyone should pay SOME tax, because then they will see that taxes are THEIR money, and not some "RICH WHITE DUDE'S" money. Even if it is just $20 or whatever.
And I don't know anyone that can't affort $20 for something here in America. There are bums make more than that panhandling each hour.
When people pay into the system, they will have an immediate stake in how it is spent. Too many people don't have a stake in who and what taxes are, and therefore it isn't "their" money. It is someone else's.
THAT is a huge part of the problem.
This doesn't work, at all.
Here's my story, from back in the day (late 80s early 90s), but I'm sure it is still the same today.
I worked at a small town computer store that was geographically isolated away from any big city. We had HP Printers (Deskjets) on sale for around $400-500, and people would price shop the crap out of them. To the point that they would drive 90 miles to save 5 - 10 dollars (seriously). That 5-10 was about what our margins were.
I was commission sales back then, and quite frankly it cost me money to sell those things. Someone would come in price shopping for a printer, I'd point to the printer and say "the price is clearly marked", and if they mentioned they could buy it for $5 less 90 miles away, I'd turn and walk away.
Yeah, I was an ass over it, because I saw too many of those people willing to drive 90 miles to save $5.
The funny thing is, about 1/2 the time, I'd see the very same people in in a few days, needing a cable for their printer, because nobody at the other store told them they needed a cable.
Now the cables we got cost us $.50 ea. YES FIFTY CENTS. And we sold them for $14.95 or something. I made more money on a cable than the printer.
So, when people complain about sales associates that don't know shit, or act like they don't care, that is probably right. They probably don't care or don't know. What do you expect when you're asking them to bleed the last ounce of profit out of a product.
By the end of my stint there, I sold equipment practically at cost. I sold the hardware as a means to sell services. If you wanted help, I'd charge you for training or whatever. If you wanted to buy a computer or printer, I'd say which one and try to ring you up at the register as fast as I could, because you were costing me.
I'm sure plenty of people thought I was lying (though I never did). I'm sure plenty of people thought my service sucked. But the people who paid for my service always got top notch. My last day at the store, I accounted for 1/3 of all sales, and 25% of that was services. The other 5 sales persons fought over the other 2/3 and didn't have much in services. I was nearly 60% of the store profits on sales and service.
I left, and within six months they were out of business.
"Following the long-awaited release of FFmpeg 0.5"
Define "Long" and who was waiting for something that is still ".5" beta?
What the hell is FFmpeg anyway? Oh, it is just another CODEC library. Yawn!
"You state that God has something to do with literacy rates and then ask for proof?"
I did no such thing. My point was that Literacy has little or nothing to do with religion, which was the point of the Grandparent post that I responded to. Of course it is easy to blame Religion for the failure of science education when you're a science bigot. There is little or no "religion" in public schools, so if there is a failure of science education one cannot blame religion for that problem. Especially when people coming out of private religious schools tend to have a greater ability to grasp not only science better than their publicly educated counterparts, but most other subjects as well.
"What "facts"? You haven't provided any."
Yup, of course you didn't ask the same of the grandparent post either. Where are you asking for facts of that post?
If you do a tad bit of research, you'll find that most Americans know very little about all sorts of things, but there is one thing that they do know, and that is Paris and Britney's latest sexcapades.
http://www.cartagenainfo.net/noticias/Zogby/clueless.html
All you need to do is google "clueless americans" and you'll start to get the facts you want.
There is NOTHING inherently anti-science in faith. Some of the greatest scientific minds of the past were also great men of faith.
The problem isn't with science OR religion. It is with people who's agendas include forcing others into their point of view.
Science and Religion don't operate in the same realm, but that doesn't mean that both don't creep into the realm of the other. In fact, many claiming science are as dogmatic about their "faith" as the Jesus Freaks are. Al Gore for one.
To me, it is a sign of this bigotry by the faithful science people that a post bashing religion for the failures of public schools which are as anti religious as any institution we have gets Modded +5 Insightful.
It isn't insightful. It actually represents the lack of critical thinking by the science bigots. The facts betray the point, but who cares about the facts when you're bashing religion and those funny Jesus Freaks.
Meanwhile I'm marked as "troll" for pointing out the fact that under secular progressive educational system run by left wing agenda people are failing miserably at creating literate people who can think critically. It is much too easy to blame everyone but the system when you believe the system inspite of the facts!
If you really want a good education system, then stop catering to the lowest common denominator and start pushing for excellence. This means that you hold people back a grade if they are incapable of doing basic skills needed for the next one, and forget about the "self esteem" of those who are failing.
When we cater to the bottom of society, that is where people will go. We should be holding out for excellence, not mediocrity. And until we as a society value excellence, we're doomed to fail.
Yet, when the secular progressives run everything literacy is now less than it was when GOD was actually in the classrooms.
And I'd definitely like to see a comparison of Secular schools to private religious schools in literacy.
So, if you're gonna complain, complain accurately. We have less literacy now because schools are too busy trying to teach left wing agendas and "social justice", and Islam is good but misunderstood crap.
Sorry, but your whole point is blownup by the facts that RELIGION itself doesn't negate literacy, only stupid left wing agenda's do.
Of course it sounds funny when you say it, so it must be true. HAHAHAHAHA
"hopefully enough rich, environmentalists "
Talk about oxymoron. The Rich Environmentalists don't drive, they fly in their fancy Gulfstreams for weekends in Europe, where they can bash the SUV driving soccer moms without any conscience of hypocrisy.
The rest of the environmentalists are poor hippies who are really just pushing their socialist ideas on society, and the Green movement is just convenient way to try to accomplish their Utopian ideals.
I'm sure there are a few "middle class" environmentalists out there, but if the bumperstickers on the cars in my town are any indication, they tend to drive Gas Guzzling Volvos.
Most of the people I know who are driving Hybrids are moderate conservatives, who hate their hybrids once they get their first repair bill.
Just like CFLs, were supposed to save the planet, and actually are full of toxins and dangers which nobody really thought about, Hybrids and their toxic batteries which leak dangerous and extremely corrosive acid when they crash, the long term impact on the environment may actually be worse than driving petroleum fueled cars and trucks.
What A CROCK. What you're saying is that women are only good for sex. It is crap like this that makes men look like PIGS. You are a TURD.
Thanks, but shut up now ... please!
Please include Tax Evasion on your list.
The problem is that it goes both ways. Neither the (D) nor the (R) are pristine in their upholding laws.
But Overall, I agree with your point. Just not with your selective memory and examples. ;)
Welcome to the Libertarians :-D