So as a judge, I have to ask you this question. With the imminent threat of legal action, I've seen many innocent people accept a plea to avoid even the potential threat of full blown legal proceedings (or just the cost).
Now this minor is being threatened with a misdemeanor, and he's seventeen so it may or may not be something that can be sealed or expunged (correct me if I'm wrong). The parents in this situation have to look at the actual cost of fighting this (time, stress and legal fees) along with the potential damage to their son's wellbeing (education, career, future).
I've seen this exact situation play out before, the parents take a plea bargain, because a sure thing infraction won't ruin their child's life, but the possible misdemeanor certainly could (college's refusing him, jobs which actually do background checks denying him - which is almost anything with a future). So they take the plea bargain. The DA get's another check for a criminal brought to justice, the parents feel they've dodged a bullet. Then the kid get's caught drinking at a party when he goes to college. Doh! Wouldn't have mattered at all for any of the other kids there, but whoops, he's got a court probation and he's a kid, didn't think about what those consequences really are.
It's not just the selectively enforceable laws here, it's the DA system where getting a conviction, any conviction, is a "win" that is turning what used to be a justice system into a machine for generating revenue, fear, and "criminals" who in fact aren't.
That said, I have to ask: as a judge, and knowing what due process is supposed to be, and knowing what actually occurs day to day to expedite activities in a courtroom, do you think justice will prevail here? Or do you think it's more likely that a stupid kid will get a permanent mark on his record for fear of what the court system could do to him?
If this happened in your courtroom, and the DA brought up a plea bargain for you to sign. Would you rubber stamp it, or stop them entirely and call the DA to heel?
But it doesn't matter if they do go wrong or people do end up dead. There is NO accountability for law enforcement run rampant. Every major city has at least one of these stories in recent history, police go into a situation misinformed, respond disproportionately and someone innocent dies. Police gets bad press, officers get a slap on the wrist and told to be more careful next time.
The fact is the police have the resources (manpower & equipment) to keep themselves safe. They are wearing bullet proof vests, trained for how to subdue criminals, how to enter buildings, how to use their radios to set up a perimeter, etc. They should be held to a HIGHER standard than the general population. If a police officer kills someone in the line of duty, there should have been absolutely no other option. Which given their resources, this should almost never come up. The guy is in the house? So what? He hasn't invented a tele-porter has he? Surround the place and wait for him to come out. Unless their are hostages under threat, why would their ever be any hurry? And if the police kill some innocent old lady mistakenly, they should be tried for manslaughter, pure and simple (if not murder). It should be a greater crime to kill someone accidentally when you have been trained to be an expert in "protecting and serving".
It's whatever these jack-booted bastards feel like doing to you this week. And you can talk until you're blue in the face to people about how bad this is for all of us, how it's a slippery slope, but they'll just look at you and say stuff like 'but if the police went after them, they must have been doing something wrong'.
The only thing that ever convinces people that there's a problem is if they or someone close to them gets a taste of that boot, by which point it's too late, because now as far as everyone else is concerned they must have deserved whatever they got.
Here's a test. Ask 10 people if they think it's better for our justice system to accidentally lock up an innocent person now and again or if it's better to never lock up an innocent person but occasionally let a criminal go free. People I thought I knew really well were happy to lock up the neighbors they didn't know if it would also get some imaginary criminal threat off the streets. NIMBY is alive and well.
Response to sig: any sports fan should be capable of building and installing an HD antenna in about an hour. http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/ So unless they really like the feel of Comcast's fist up their ass, there's no reason to stick with cable.
I use a mac mini, I've archived all my old DVDs to iTunes, the whole family lives off Netflix from either the Tivo, Xbox or the mini depending on which tv...haven't seen a commercial in 2 years.
Once upon a time there was a product that was awesome for this called iView, but then Microsoft bought it and it's soul was crushed and never heard from again. But that would have been a perfect solution for you...if it wasn't for the evil empire.
Please, I paid over $5k for a loaded Viao when 1920x1200 screens were first available in laptops. The thing was rotten to the core, HD issues, restore image issues, slow, slow, slow, ran hot, heavy as hell, went back to service at least 3 times for different issues before giving up. And it's the standard, not the exception for PC laptops (have similar stories for Dell, HP, Compaq back in the day), windows hardware quality labs certifications are a joke, and it shows when you buy a PC.
As soon as I could replace it with a MacBook Pro with the same screen size, I did. Used parallels to get by on any Windows work and spent a lot more time working and a lot less time waiting to see if the machine was just paging (WTF?! w/4GB of memory, btw) or if it had really gacked and needed a reboot.
As others have said earlier, yes Apple makes mistakes, but they consistently get it right more often than other companies, and the fact that they don't just shoot out a poorly tested fix which might introduce other problems the instant they hear about a problem is an indication of their commitment to quality. I guarantee that right now, there is an engineering team and a quality group working on this fix and making sure that they get it right. Not just fixing the problem that's reported, but making sure that that fix doesn't break something else.
You're post gave me a thought. Would a system that included both sides of the argument on a topic (the reason people think it's valid and the reason people think it shouldn't be published) in the article circumvent this issue? And maybe some sort of mass voting apparatus to give the layman an idea of where most people sit on the argument...
Just thinking of ways to make the "wiki that works" solution. Given your experiences, I'd be interested to know your thoughts.
Oh, and by accountable I mean charged with real crimes. Like theft, fraud, wire fraud, hell, they should be held accountable for any pain, suffering and health issues caused to these families as well. Call it assault with a deadly form and send 'em to real, federal, pound you in the ass prison.
"I didn't know or I didn't think to question it" should NOT hold a lot of weight. People should know it's their job to do the right thing by their fellow man, and if they can't be good upstanding admirable citizens, they should be treated like every other dirtbag who crosses that line. Letting a company destroy families because you want that 2% raise or a Christmas bonus is not any different than knocking down grandma and stealing her purse. It just feels different because you're not actually seeing her hit the sidewalk.
The problem with that attitude is that we're once again at the mercy of the experts to analyze and digest our information for us. I know it's veritable impossibility, but I think the reason we have so much apathy and sheep-ism in our culture is that there are just too many problems that fall down to this: the issue is too complex to understand without having a degree in whatever area we're talking about. Be it corporate morality in any industry, finance, law, taxes, health insurance...
There's a part of me that feels like people are intentionally muddying the waters. It seems like all the really complex ways we solve things just makes more loopholes for the people with no moral compass. That the amount of BS you have to wade through is really a shield for charlatans and thieves. The more confusing, the longer it will take someone to put a foot on what it is they're doing that's not ok. (And by then they've already stolen the houses of people who could least afford to lose them, and moved on to another grift.)
Maybe we could use some simpler answers. Or questions that are more to the point. As a private citizen, if my actions contribute to a crime, knowingly or unknowingly, I'm held accountable. So how can a person working at a bank who helps the bank steal from people not be held accountable for theft? Just because it was the corporation that primarily gained? Didn't the individual profit too? If a group of people robbed that bank, they'd all be held accountable for the maximum crime committed. You don't get 1/5 of a bank robbery because you only took a fifth of the money.
The only way we're ever going to see this type of thing change is if we start holding individuals accountable for their actions.
True, maybe a sketchy source, maybe not, but the point is valid. There is still some serious racial tension in the south, and the police, wherever you are, are not the most understanding, openminded or progressive people you can run into. So racial profiling is common place. Some of it is rational (there are gang problems, drug problems, and a lot of the unsavory/illegal behavior comes from low income areas/population groups, which, unfortunately, tend to be biased towards certain ethnic groups).
The reality here is that you shouldn't have to protect yourself from the people who are supposed to be protecting you.
If I were a black person in Atlanta, I would be scared of the police. Not because I'm doing something wrong, but because people are people, and everyone only sees the things that support their own beliefs. In Atlanta, there are a lot of people who think being black is synonymous with crime. So a police officer pulls over a *suspicious* black person, and they're already convinced they are guilty of something. Whether it's how they are dressed, the area they are in, the car they are driving, in their mind there is some correlation between this person and the likelihood that they are engaging in illegal activities. (And, not exactly in their defense, but a point in understanding the bigotry: they're pulling a lot of people in for crimes that fit a certain description. If you spend your entire day arresting people of a certain ethnicity, even the best of us might question whether it's because of their socio-economic situation or their ethnicity. And the reality is that the people in these roles are not necessarily the best thinkers humanity has to offer.)
It seems to me that this is complete BS. I have some real issues with corruption, negligence and the like that happens with public officials, both elected and civil "servants".
So I have a question for/. ers.
I've had this idea for a while that one way to attempt fixing the system would be to have mandatory recording of all activities of our elected officials (while they are performing their duties). My theory is that if you have complete audibility of everything they've said or done, and that you can dig into it retroactively, fewer nefarious things would happen. (Based on the simple psychological principle that we are all better people when we think we're being watched.) It also doesn't seem to be that outrageous a thing to ask from OUR representatives - who are supposed to be acting in OUR best interests. (This, btw, is similar logic to what we're being told when our civil liberties are being crumpled up and shoved up our asses. As in, if you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to hide.)
This clipping hits a related note, and while reading it, I'm sitting here thinking that a public official, when performing their duties, should have no expectation of privacy. Their activities SHOULD be completely transparent to the general public.
Anyway, I've been a little depressed about politics lately (ok, ever since Bush was re-elected - I died a little bit each day. Finding out that people's political beliefs are really an emotional decision was a crushing blow. How do you reason with emotion?) and this is the kind of thing that just burns me up. But I talk to people and it never seems like other people are as upset by things like this. Or even remotely concerned. I read something like this and it's like white hot fire across the brain. I want to scream and say this is something we should fight for, it's a huge problem and these are the things that are making a great country (or at least what was original some ideas for greatness, and fairness, and high ideals) into a bastion of bureaucracy, greed, ineptitude and oppression.
So I'm asking the/. audience for some thoughts. There are a lot of intelligent, diverse and well informed people reading this blog. What I'm wondering is whether or not this sort of apathy is prevalent everywhere, or is it just in the circles I've been dealing with? Is there anyone reading this who thinks recording our elected officials, or civil servants would be a really good idea, something not just a nice intellectual concept, but something worth pursuing?
I'm not looking to start up a group to pursue this right now (but frankly, if there was a group advocating something like this, I would totally support it), this is more of a request for confirmation that there is still some good in the world.:-) I've really sort of given up my passion and idealism because it seems like no one cares.
I'd also like to know what anyone outside of the states thinks. Are politics different in your countries? Do people care, do they participate, do things change as a result of this? (I'd like to believe it's different elsewhere, but maybe it isn't.)
No, it shows the absurdity of your reasoning skills. Web browsers without built in parental controls allow access to adult content, so if you are a parent who has locked down your child's ipod, they should NOT be able to download another web browser and stumble into all the free porn that's readily available.
It is amazing to me how much/. commentary is based on half baked wishful thinking. "I have an opinion, xxx is bad. It is bad because I believe it is bad, someone probably told me something that hurt my feelings once. I will use whatever random tidbit, half baked nonsense or rumor I find to reinforce my own ignorance and hopefully dupe some other people with my whining drivel."
There should really be some sort of relative mod scheme here. Like a questionnaire where all the people who just forward on the email about how congress is shutting down the internet, or that aids is being spread by computer virus, and the people who read it and check snopes before telling the world that it's true.
Critical thinking should be taught in second grade (and 3rd, 4th, 5th...12th Actually, there should be a test for it, to qualify for an internet driver's license. Where people who fail aren't allowed to express their opinions.)
Apple started the whole concept of an App, before Apple said "there's an App for that", everyone was using "program" or "application" for nomenclature. Apple coins "App" and everyone wants to be so clever. It's the APPLICATIONS folder on OS X (and 9, and 8, and 7, btw). It's PROGRAMS on Windows, binaries on your Unix fun.
So why can't you people just go away and sell your products on the "Bin Store" or "Prog Store" where they belong?
You can look forward to a designer jack-boot on your neck in the not too distant future. And just remember, it's comfortable because Fox news says so, and any chaffing you may feel is in your own best interest. That firm pressure on your neck is there to keep you safe.
Really? Because this particular tangent is about the rest of the world (e.g. Norway) wanting American television. I'm sorry you have a you centric view of America[ns] based on the experiences you have had in your travels, but it reinforces what I was saying.
You only care about something when it effects you. Personally, I am very familiar with Canadians. And I could say something just as absurd, having spent many summers on the beaches in New England, and travelled, and blah, blah (I'm already bored). I could allude to things relating to sunblock, deodorant and a either a phenomenal disregard for local custom or unbelievable sub par math skills exhibited from 100% of the Quebecois tourists I've had the dubious pleasure of interacting with (and that would number in the thousands, btw, not a few people in a pub), but that's idiotic. It's an absurd argument. Everyone one of those people, who are probably wonderful people in their own right, to their own communities, to their friends, were exhibiting a lack of awareness, insight and understanding.
Why? (a question you should ask.) Because they were acting just like every other person on the planet. They could give a flying whatever about what I was thinking about them at the time. Likewise of the Americans you've encountered. The envy you're feeling comes from you caring more about something than someone else does. But what you really need to do is stop being so arrogant. The fact is, you caring about something doesn't make it important. End of story.
Good grief. I am so tired of the American's are oblivious to the rest of the world comments. You pulling that out of whatever orifice because I'm not aware of specific IP blocking in one country is beyond asinine. But since you brought it up, I'll bite.
Everyone, everywhere is the same. People only care about the things that effect them.
The fact is that the US is a HUGE country. It's all well and fine to say that Europeans are broader in their awareness, but it's not accurate. Europeans know more about other Europeans. That doesn't make you more aware of the world in general, just the part of the world that's around you.
I put a call out to all those Europeans (just the ones who are on this particular high horse, the holier-than-thou crowd; the rest of you are cool): Are you aware of the plight of the American Football fan? The challenges we face every season to be able to watch games we want to see that are outside of our conference? Of course not, because that doesn't concern you in the least. You Xenophobic b*stards!;-)
And the only reason we hear all these complaints is because someone outside the US wants us to care about one of their issues. Which is generally some combination of wanting something the US has, or wanting the US to do something for them, or do something differently that will benefit them.
Slashdot Mirror
So Microsoft IS the devil! It all makes sense now.
So as a judge, I have to ask you this question. With the imminent threat of legal action, I've seen many innocent people accept a plea to avoid even the potential threat of full blown legal proceedings (or just the cost).
Now this minor is being threatened with a misdemeanor, and he's seventeen so it may or may not be something that can be sealed or expunged (correct me if I'm wrong). The parents in this situation have to look at the actual cost of fighting this (time, stress and legal fees) along with the potential damage to their son's wellbeing (education, career, future).
I've seen this exact situation play out before, the parents take a plea bargain, because a sure thing infraction won't ruin their child's life, but the possible misdemeanor certainly could (college's refusing him, jobs which actually do background checks denying him - which is almost anything with a future). So they take the plea bargain. The DA get's another check for a criminal brought to justice, the parents feel they've dodged a bullet. Then the kid get's caught drinking at a party when he goes to college. Doh! Wouldn't have mattered at all for any of the other kids there, but whoops, he's got a court probation and he's a kid, didn't think about what those consequences really are.
It's not just the selectively enforceable laws here, it's the DA system where getting a conviction, any conviction, is a "win" that is turning what used to be a justice system into a machine for generating revenue, fear, and "criminals" who in fact aren't.
That said, I have to ask: as a judge, and knowing what due process is supposed to be, and knowing what actually occurs day to day to expedite activities in a courtroom, do you think justice will prevail here? Or do you think it's more likely that a stupid kid will get a permanent mark on his record for fear of what the court system could do to him? If this happened in your courtroom, and the DA brought up a plea bargain for you to sign. Would you rubber stamp it, or stop them entirely and call the DA to heel?
and yes, there instead of their. my spelling goes when I get worked up about a topic. ;-)
But it doesn't matter if they do go wrong or people do end up dead. There is NO accountability for law enforcement run rampant. Every major city has at least one of these stories in recent history, police go into a situation misinformed, respond disproportionately and someone innocent dies. Police gets bad press, officers get a slap on the wrist and told to be more careful next time.
The fact is the police have the resources (manpower & equipment) to keep themselves safe. They are wearing bullet proof vests, trained for how to subdue criminals, how to enter buildings, how to use their radios to set up a perimeter, etc. They should be held to a HIGHER standard than the general population. If a police officer kills someone in the line of duty, there should have been absolutely no other option. Which given their resources, this should almost never come up. The guy is in the house? So what? He hasn't invented a tele-porter has he? Surround the place and wait for him to come out. Unless their are hostages under threat, why would their ever be any hurry? And if the police kill some innocent old lady mistakenly, they should be tried for manslaughter, pure and simple (if not murder). It should be a greater crime to kill someone accidentally when you have been trained to be an expert in "protecting and serving".
It's whatever these jack-booted bastards feel like doing to you this week. And you can talk until you're blue in the face to people about how bad this is for all of us, how it's a slippery slope, but they'll just look at you and say stuff like 'but if the police went after them, they must have been doing something wrong'.
The only thing that ever convinces people that there's a problem is if they or someone close to them gets a taste of that boot, by which point it's too late, because now as far as everyone else is concerned they must have deserved whatever they got.
Here's a test. Ask 10 people if they think it's better for our justice system to accidentally lock up an innocent person now and again or if it's better to never lock up an innocent person but occasionally let a criminal go free. People I thought I knew really well were happy to lock up the neighbors they didn't know if it would also get some imaginary criminal threat off the streets. NIMBY is alive and well.
Response to sig: any sports fan should be capable of building and installing an HD antenna in about an hour. http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/ So unless they really like the feel of Comcast's fist up their ass, there's no reason to stick with cable.
as in...
so?
I use a mac mini, I've archived all my old DVDs to iTunes, the whole family lives off Netflix from either the Tivo, Xbox or the mini depending on which tv...haven't seen a commercial in 2 years.
no no! this is totally different, Apple did it!
Once upon a time there was a product that was awesome for this called iView, but then Microsoft bought it and it's soul was crushed and never heard from again. But that would have been a perfect solution for you...if it wasn't for the evil empire.
Please, I paid over $5k for a loaded Viao when 1920x1200 screens were first available in laptops. The thing was rotten to the core, HD issues, restore image issues, slow, slow, slow, ran hot, heavy as hell, went back to service at least 3 times for different issues before giving up. And it's the standard, not the exception for PC laptops (have similar stories for Dell, HP, Compaq back in the day), windows hardware quality labs certifications are a joke, and it shows when you buy a PC.
As soon as I could replace it with a MacBook Pro with the same screen size, I did. Used parallels to get by on any Windows work and spent a lot more time working and a lot less time waiting to see if the machine was just paging (WTF?! w/4GB of memory, btw) or if it had really gacked and needed a reboot.
As others have said earlier, yes Apple makes mistakes, but they consistently get it right more often than other companies, and the fact that they don't just shoot out a poorly tested fix which might introduce other problems the instant they hear about a problem is an indication of their commitment to quality. I guarantee that right now, there is an engineering team and a quality group working on this fix and making sure that they get it right. Not just fixing the problem that's reported, but making sure that that fix doesn't break something else.
You're post gave me a thought. Would a system that included both sides of the argument on a topic (the reason people think it's valid and the reason people think it shouldn't be published) in the article circumvent this issue? And maybe some sort of mass voting apparatus to give the layman an idea of where most people sit on the argument...
Just thinking of ways to make the "wiki that works" solution. Given your experiences, I'd be interested to know your thoughts.
Well said.
Oh, and by accountable I mean charged with real crimes. Like theft, fraud, wire fraud, hell, they should be held accountable for any pain, suffering and health issues caused to these families as well. Call it assault with a deadly form and send 'em to real, federal, pound you in the ass prison.
/rant over
"I didn't know or I didn't think to question it" should NOT hold a lot of weight. People should know it's their job to do the right thing by their fellow man, and if they can't be good upstanding admirable citizens, they should be treated like every other dirtbag who crosses that line. Letting a company destroy families because you want that 2% raise or a Christmas bonus is not any different than knocking down grandma and stealing her purse. It just feels different because you're not actually seeing her hit the sidewalk.
The problem with that attitude is that we're once again at the mercy of the experts to analyze and digest our information for us. I know it's veritable impossibility, but I think the reason we have so much apathy and sheep-ism in our culture is that there are just too many problems that fall down to this: the issue is too complex to understand without having a degree in whatever area we're talking about. Be it corporate morality in any industry, finance, law, taxes, health insurance...
There's a part of me that feels like people are intentionally muddying the waters. It seems like all the really complex ways we solve things just makes more loopholes for the people with no moral compass. That the amount of BS you have to wade through is really a shield for charlatans and thieves. The more confusing, the longer it will take someone to put a foot on what it is they're doing that's not ok. (And by then they've already stolen the houses of people who could least afford to lose them, and moved on to another grift.)
Maybe we could use some simpler answers. Or questions that are more to the point. As a private citizen, if my actions contribute to a crime, knowingly or unknowingly, I'm held accountable. So how can a person working at a bank who helps the bank steal from people not be held accountable for theft? Just because it was the corporation that primarily gained? Didn't the individual profit too? If a group of people robbed that bank, they'd all be held accountable for the maximum crime committed. You don't get 1/5 of a bank robbery because you only took a fifth of the money.
The only way we're ever going to see this type of thing change is if we start holding individuals accountable for their actions.
True, maybe a sketchy source, maybe not, but the point is valid. There is still some serious racial tension in the south, and the police, wherever you are, are not the most understanding, openminded or progressive people you can run into. So racial profiling is common place. Some of it is rational (there are gang problems, drug problems, and a lot of the unsavory/illegal behavior comes from low income areas/population groups, which, unfortunately, tend to be biased towards certain ethnic groups).
The reality here is that you shouldn't have to protect yourself from the people who are supposed to be protecting you.
If I were a black person in Atlanta, I would be scared of the police. Not because I'm doing something wrong, but because people are people, and everyone only sees the things that support their own beliefs. In Atlanta, there are a lot of people who think being black is synonymous with crime. So a police officer pulls over a *suspicious* black person, and they're already convinced they are guilty of something. Whether it's how they are dressed, the area they are in, the car they are driving, in their mind there is some correlation between this person and the likelihood that they are engaging in illegal activities. (And, not exactly in their defense, but a point in understanding the bigotry: they're pulling a lot of people in for crimes that fit a certain description. If you spend your entire day arresting people of a certain ethnicity, even the best of us might question whether it's because of their socio-economic situation or their ethnicity. And the reality is that the people in these roles are not necessarily the best thinkers humanity has to offer.)
It seems to me that this is complete BS. I have some real issues with corruption, negligence and the like that happens with public officials, both elected and civil "servants".
/. ers.
/. audience for some thoughts. There are a lot of intelligent, diverse and well informed people reading this blog. What I'm wondering is whether or not this sort of apathy is prevalent everywhere, or is it just in the circles I've been dealing with? Is there anyone reading this who thinks recording our elected officials, or civil servants would be a really good idea, something not just a nice intellectual concept, but something worth pursuing?
:-) I've really sort of given up my passion and idealism because it seems like no one cares.
So I have a question for
I've had this idea for a while that one way to attempt fixing the system would be to have mandatory recording of all activities of our elected officials (while they are performing their duties). My theory is that if you have complete audibility of everything they've said or done, and that you can dig into it retroactively, fewer nefarious things would happen. (Based on the simple psychological principle that we are all better people when we think we're being watched.) It also doesn't seem to be that outrageous a thing to ask from OUR representatives - who are supposed to be acting in OUR best interests. (This, btw, is similar logic to what we're being told when our civil liberties are being crumpled up and shoved up our asses. As in, if you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to hide.)
This clipping hits a related note, and while reading it, I'm sitting here thinking that a public official, when performing their duties, should have no expectation of privacy. Their activities SHOULD be completely transparent to the general public.
Anyway, I've been a little depressed about politics lately (ok, ever since Bush was re-elected - I died a little bit each day. Finding out that people's political beliefs are really an emotional decision was a crushing blow. How do you reason with emotion?) and this is the kind of thing that just burns me up. But I talk to people and it never seems like other people are as upset by things like this. Or even remotely concerned. I read something like this and it's like white hot fire across the brain. I want to scream and say this is something we should fight for, it's a huge problem and these are the things that are making a great country (or at least what was original some ideas for greatness, and fairness, and high ideals) into a bastion of bureaucracy, greed, ineptitude and oppression.
So I'm asking the
I'm not looking to start up a group to pursue this right now (but frankly, if there was a group advocating something like this, I would totally support it), this is more of a request for confirmation that there is still some good in the world.
I'd also like to know what anyone outside of the states thinks. Are politics different in your countries? Do people care, do they participate, do things change as a result of this? (I'd like to believe it's different elsewhere, but maybe it isn't.)
No, it shows the absurdity of your reasoning skills. Web browsers without built in parental controls allow access to adult content, so if you are a parent who has locked down your child's ipod, they should NOT be able to download another web browser and stumble into all the free porn that's readily available.
/. commentary is based on half baked wishful thinking. "I have an opinion, xxx is bad. It is bad because I believe it is bad, someone probably told me something that hurt my feelings once. I will use whatever random tidbit, half baked nonsense or rumor I find to reinforce my own ignorance and hopefully dupe some other people with my whining drivel."
It is amazing to me how much
There should really be some sort of relative mod scheme here. Like a questionnaire where all the people who just forward on the email about how congress is shutting down the internet, or that aids is being spread by computer virus, and the people who read it and check snopes before telling the world that it's true.
Critical thinking should be taught in second grade (and 3rd, 4th, 5th...12th Actually, there should be a test for it, to qualify for an internet driver's license. Where people who fail aren't allowed to express their opinions.)
Thank you, only sane reply in this thread.
Apple started the whole concept of an App, before Apple said "there's an App for that", everyone was using "program" or "application" for nomenclature. Apple coins "App" and everyone wants to be so clever. It's the APPLICATIONS folder on OS X (and 9, and 8, and 7, btw). It's PROGRAMS on Windows, binaries on your Unix fun.
So why can't you people just go away and sell your products on the "Bin Store" or "Prog Store" where they belong?
Well said.
Sun execs came through our building for a walk through, and they were wearing ties! We were terrified the deal might go through.
Farscape was produced to be an Australian series. Sci Fi didn't have anything to do with producing that show, they just aired it.
That sums it up nicely.
Welcome to the corporate oligarchy.
You can look forward to a designer jack-boot on your neck in the not too distant future. And just remember, it's comfortable because Fox news says so, and any chaffing you may feel is in your own best interest. That firm pressure on your neck is there to keep you safe.
Really? Because this particular tangent is about the rest of the world (e.g. Norway) wanting American television. I'm sorry you have a you centric view of America[ns] based on the experiences you have had in your travels, but it reinforces what I was saying.
You only care about something when it effects you. Personally, I am very familiar with Canadians. And I could say something just as absurd, having spent many summers on the beaches in New England, and travelled, and blah, blah (I'm already bored). I could allude to things relating to sunblock, deodorant and a either a phenomenal disregard for local custom or unbelievable sub par math skills exhibited from 100% of the Quebecois tourists I've had the dubious pleasure of interacting with (and that would number in the thousands, btw, not a few people in a pub), but that's idiotic. It's an absurd argument. Everyone one of those people, who are probably wonderful people in their own right, to their own communities, to their friends, were exhibiting a lack of awareness, insight and understanding.
Why? (a question you should ask.) Because they were acting just like every other person on the planet. They could give a flying whatever about what I was thinking about them at the time. Likewise of the Americans you've encountered. The envy you're feeling comes from you caring more about something than someone else does. But what you really need to do is stop being so arrogant. The fact is, you caring about something doesn't make it important. End of story.
Good grief. I am so tired of the American's are oblivious to the rest of the world comments. You pulling that out of whatever orifice because I'm not aware of specific IP blocking in one country is beyond asinine. But since you brought it up, I'll bite.
;-)
Everyone, everywhere is the same. People only care about the things that effect them.
The fact is that the US is a HUGE country. It's all well and fine to say that Europeans are broader in their awareness, but it's not accurate. Europeans know more about other Europeans. That doesn't make you more aware of the world in general, just the part of the world that's around you.
I put a call out to all those Europeans (just the ones who are on this particular high horse, the holier-than-thou crowd; the rest of you are cool): Are you aware of the plight of the American Football fan? The challenges we face every season to be able to watch games we want to see that are outside of our conference? Of course not, because that doesn't concern you in the least. You Xenophobic b*stards!
And the only reason we hear all these complaints is because someone outside the US wants us to care about one of their issues. Which is generally some combination of wanting something the US has, or wanting the US to do something for them, or do something differently that will benefit them.