Reminds me of when I first used Go!zilla to download something. Since it was a large file and I was using a 56K, I got ready for bed and turned off the light. The default roar (an unannounced "feature" installed as default) on download completion at 2 AM in the morning nearly scared the shit out of me. Needless to say, I uninstalled Gozilla in the morning and now only use the nice and quiet GetRight.
I'm just going to respond to one of your points because I don't have time to respond to the others.
"Third, and this is something people often don't think about, voting isn't SUPPOSED to be easy."
Uh...no.
The preparation for voting, researching the candidates and issues, isn't SUPPOSED to be easy. The actual vote should be a matter of flipping a switch or pressing a key. The fact that my ballot (an SAT fill-in-the-blob type) might have been invalidated because the machine didn't like the way I filled in the blobs (and yes, I was careful, but I have no idea if my vote was recorded accurately) REALLY bothers me. As does the fact that I had to wait 45 minutes in line to vote. I was lucky that I was only 15 minutes late to work and that my employer doesn't really care when I come in as long as I get my work done. But what about those people who are unfortunate enough to work at places that will fire you or dock your pay if you come in five minutes late?
There is no excuse for one of the most powerful, wealthy and technologically advanced nations in the world relying on crap like punch ballots and fill-in-the-blob ballots to record the vote of its citizenry. We deserve an accurate and easy-to-use voting system.
I'm cutting and pasting this from www.drudgereport.com since I doubt that linking will work (I've spent the last two hours trying to load the page).
from www.drudgereport.com
-----------------------------------
DRUDGE REPORT... TUE NOV 07 2000 14:12:01 ET... UPDATED BY MATT DRUDGE...
CAMPAIGNS GET FIRST LOOK AT RESULTS...
GORE MOVES AHEAD IN FLORIDA BY 6%, SAY CAMPAIGN SOURCES....
BUSH UP BY 2% IN PENNSLYVANIA, SAY SOURCES...
NADER VOTE COLLAPSED...
SQUEAK: BUSH TAKES NARROW LEAD IN EARLY VOTING; GORE ROCKS CALIFORNIA WITH 54%; HILLARY PUSHES PAST LAZIO BY 8 POINT MARGIN, SAY SOURCES
ASHCROFT PULLS AHEAD, SAY SOURCES, ROBB TRAILS IN VA...
------------------------------
Gore up by 3 in Michigan, say campaign sources...
------------------------------
Bush takes lead in Ohio, Missouri, WI, OR and West Virginia, say campaign sources...
------------------------------
Tennessee and Arkansas, Bush leading, say campaign sources...
Heh - Maumee (right on the outskirts of Toledo, Ohio) probably ranks pretty low on most people's "Top Places to Live" lists (when I went East for college, I was so thrilled to find non-mall bookstores that didn't close at 9 PM) but their voting machines certainly kicked ass over this morning's "SAT" ballot.
I know lever machines cost a lot more, but for me they've always elevated voting to something like a religious experience - I think it's the curtain that closes around you - it's like entering a confessional. Also the geek in me likes flipping the little levers and pulling the big slot handle at the end.
...is quite high, if my own experience voting this morning is any guide. I vote at a local elementary school, John Adams, in Alexandria, VA. I've voted in every local, state and federal election since I moved to Virginia from Ohio five years and I have NEVER seen my local polling place as busy as it was this morning. I got to the polls at 8:00 AM EST and had to wait until 8:40 to actually fill in the bubbles on my ballot (how I miss Ohio's lever machines - filling in bubbles and having my ballot sucked into a machine (VA) pales besides flipping the little levers under the name of the candidate of your choice and pulling that big handle to register your vote (OH)- cha-ching!). There was actually a traffic jam in the parking lot because there were not enough spots to park in.
Traffic was also light this morning on I-395, which is usually stop and go all the way to DC. People waiting in line at the polls perhaps? Anyone else out there have a similar experience? How does turnout look in your part of the country?
The fact that electing Bush will probably mean that rich people get to keep more of their money doesn't really motivate me to vote for him (I can see it motivating people with money but why people who earn less than 70K a year would vote for Bush by reason of this "tax cut" really astounds me).
I am also not really concerned that I won't see any benefit from either candidate's tax plan since I'm a single, unmarried woman without children. Paying down the debt and "fixing" social security so that MY generation (Gen X's) aren't hit with a 30-50% increase in social security tax rates when the baby boomers start retiring is of far greater concern to me (for more depressing numbers see http://www.concordcoalition.org/federal_budget/cha rts/charttalk%2040-87.pdf). Don't even get me started on how much it's going to hurt if we don't deal with the looming disaster that is Medicare/Medicaid.
But in the end it comes down to what I care about most - control over my own body and my own actions. Bush, who will appoint anti-choice Supreme Court Justices, is a far greater threat to my rights than Gore is. Money is really insignificant in the long run.
Tigris
Re:Women - tactics and strategy
on
Trigger Happy
·
· Score: 1
"Ever notice that women...never get into, well no, obsessed with, video games"
Errrr...wrong.
I'm not speaking for every female gamer out there, but on more than one occasion I have stayed up all night playing games (even on weeknights - though I usually curse my lack of self-control the following day as I wander, zombie-like, through my office). Lately I've gotten worse and have taken to calling in sick on the days after a game release I've been looking foward to (most recently Metal Gear Solid). So if my own experience is any guide, women are just as susceptible as men to becoming obsessed with video games.
Of course I'm not married and I don't have kids. I also am in a job that I detest so part of the attraction of gaming for me is the escapism that games provide. So I'm probably not the "typical" woman, in the sense that I'm not burdened with the responsibilities that many women have towards their family, spouse, etc.
That said, the myth that women don't play games or aren't as into them as men is one misconception that the industry really needs to abandon, if only for the fact that they're missing out on a potentially large market. I play and have played all sorts of games, PC and console - my female friends all play games - the only women I know who don't are older women with families (read: small children). My own personal preferences are RPGs and adventure games (though I wish someone could come up with a graphical adventure game as entrancing as the early Infocom text adventures). About the only thing I dislike playing are first-person shooters because I get bored (though Half-Life, because it actually had an interesting backstory, was acceptible). Online gaming doesn't interest me much, probably because I'm stuck with a slow connection.
And I'm not the only woman out there who likes gaming - there are several female game reviewers whose articles I routinely check out (gamesdomain.com, gamespot.com); also sites like grrlgamer.com. So we're definitely out there - the industry just ignores us.
Tigris
I mean he tends to harp on several themes excessively (alienation being the one that comes most readily to mind), but honestly, I've learned more from reading his articles than I have from some of the other articles on slashdot. There's always a kneejerk reaction "oh, another Katz article". What is it about him that really sets people off?
Slashdot Mirror
Reminds me of when I first used Go!zilla to download something. Since it was a large file and I was using a 56K, I got ready for bed and turned off the light. The default roar (an unannounced "feature" installed as default) on download completion at 2 AM in the morning nearly scared the shit out of me. Needless to say, I uninstalled Gozilla in the morning and now only use the nice and quiet GetRight.
I'm just going to respond to one of your points because I don't have time to respond to the others.
"Third, and this is something people often don't think about, voting isn't SUPPOSED to be easy."
Uh...no.
The preparation for voting, researching the candidates and issues, isn't SUPPOSED to be easy. The actual vote should be a matter of flipping a switch or pressing a key. The fact that my ballot (an SAT fill-in-the-blob type) might have been invalidated because the machine didn't like the way I filled in the blobs (and yes, I was careful, but I have no idea if my vote was recorded accurately) REALLY bothers me. As does the fact that I had to wait 45 minutes in line to vote. I was lucky that I was only 15 minutes late to work and that my employer doesn't really care when I come in as long as I get my work done. But what about those people who are unfortunate enough to work at places that will fire you or dock your pay if you come in five minutes late?
There is no excuse for one of the most powerful, wealthy and technologically advanced nations in the world relying on crap like punch ballots and fill-in-the-blob ballots to record the vote of its citizenry. We deserve an accurate and easy-to-use voting system.
Tigris
Hi there,
- --
I'm cutting and pasting this from www.drudgereport.com since I doubt that linking will work (I've spent the last two hours trying to load the page).
from www.drudgereport.com
-----------------------------------
DRUDGE REPORT... TUE NOV 07 2000 14:12:01 ET... UPDATED BY MATT DRUDGE...
CAMPAIGNS GET FIRST LOOK AT RESULTS...
GORE MOVES AHEAD IN FLORIDA BY 6%, SAY CAMPAIGN SOURCES....
BUSH UP BY 2% IN PENNSLYVANIA, SAY SOURCES...
NADER VOTE COLLAPSED...
SQUEAK: BUSH TAKES NARROW LEAD IN EARLY VOTING; GORE ROCKS CALIFORNIA WITH 54%; HILLARY PUSHES PAST LAZIO BY 8 POINT MARGIN, SAY SOURCES
ASHCROFT PULLS AHEAD, SAY SOURCES, ROBB TRAILS IN VA...
------------------------------
Gore up by 3 in Michigan, say campaign sources...
------------------------------
Bush takes lead in Ohio, Missouri, WI, OR and West Virginia, say campaign sources...
------------------------------
Tennessee and Arkansas, Bush leading, say campaign sources...
-----------------------------------------------
Please note: I'm posting this mostly because the professional media shouldn't be the only ones with the exit poll numbers.
Those of you U.S. Citizens who haven't voted SHOULD STILL VOTE!!!! This election ain't over till it's over.
Besides this is Matt Drudge we're talking about here - who knows if these numbers are real or something he just pulled out of his hat.
Heh - Maumee (right on the outskirts of Toledo, Ohio) probably ranks pretty low on most people's "Top Places to Live" lists (when I went East for college, I was so thrilled to find non-mall bookstores that didn't close at 9 PM) but their voting machines certainly kicked ass over this morning's "SAT" ballot.
I know lever machines cost a lot more, but for me they've always elevated voting to something like a religious experience - I think it's the curtain that closes around you - it's like entering a confessional. Also the geek in me likes flipping the little levers and pulling the big slot handle at the end.
...is quite high, if my own experience voting this morning is any guide. I vote at a local elementary school, John Adams, in Alexandria, VA. I've voted in every local, state and federal election since I moved to Virginia from Ohio five years and I have NEVER seen my local polling place as busy as it was this morning. I got to the polls at 8:00 AM EST and had to wait until 8:40 to actually fill in the bubbles on my ballot (how I miss Ohio's lever machines - filling in bubbles and having my ballot sucked into a machine (VA) pales besides flipping the little levers under the name of the candidate of your choice and pulling that big handle to register your vote (OH)- cha-ching!). There was actually a traffic jam in the parking lot because there were not enough spots to park in.
Traffic was also light this morning on I-395, which is usually stop and go all the way to DC. People waiting in line at the polls perhaps? Anyone else out there have a similar experience? How does turnout look in your part of the country?
The fact that electing Bush will probably mean that rich people get to keep more of their money doesn't really motivate me to vote for him (I can see it motivating people with money but why people who earn less than 70K a year would vote for Bush by reason of this "tax cut" really astounds me).
a rts/charttalk%2040-87.pdf). Don't even get me started on how much it's going to hurt if we don't deal with the looming disaster that is Medicare/Medicaid.
I am also not really concerned that I won't see any benefit from either candidate's tax plan since I'm a single, unmarried woman without children. Paying down the debt and "fixing" social security so that MY generation (Gen X's) aren't hit with a 30-50% increase in social security tax rates when the baby boomers start retiring is of far greater concern to me (for more depressing numbers see http://www.concordcoalition.org/federal_budget/ch
But in the end it comes down to what I care about most - control over my own body and my own actions. Bush, who will appoint anti-choice Supreme Court Justices, is a far greater threat to my rights than Gore is. Money is really insignificant in the long run.
Tigris
"Ever notice that women...never get into, well no, obsessed with, video games" Errrr...wrong. I'm not speaking for every female gamer out there, but on more than one occasion I have stayed up all night playing games (even on weeknights - though I usually curse my lack of self-control the following day as I wander, zombie-like, through my office). Lately I've gotten worse and have taken to calling in sick on the days after a game release I've been looking foward to (most recently Metal Gear Solid). So if my own experience is any guide, women are just as susceptible as men to becoming obsessed with video games. Of course I'm not married and I don't have kids. I also am in a job that I detest so part of the attraction of gaming for me is the escapism that games provide. So I'm probably not the "typical" woman, in the sense that I'm not burdened with the responsibilities that many women have towards their family, spouse, etc. That said, the myth that women don't play games or aren't as into them as men is one misconception that the industry really needs to abandon, if only for the fact that they're missing out on a potentially large market. I play and have played all sorts of games, PC and console - my female friends all play games - the only women I know who don't are older women with families (read: small children). My own personal preferences are RPGs and adventure games (though I wish someone could come up with a graphical adventure game as entrancing as the early Infocom text adventures). About the only thing I dislike playing are first-person shooters because I get bored (though Half-Life, because it actually had an interesting backstory, was acceptible). Online gaming doesn't interest me much, probably because I'm stuck with a slow connection. And I'm not the only woman out there who likes gaming - there are several female game reviewers whose articles I routinely check out (gamesdomain.com, gamespot.com); also sites like grrlgamer.com. So we're definitely out there - the industry just ignores us. Tigris
I mean he tends to harp on several themes excessively (alienation being the one that comes most readily to mind), but honestly, I've learned more from reading his articles than I have from some of the other articles on slashdot. There's always a kneejerk reaction "oh, another Katz article". What is it about him that really sets people off?