I'd say the best response would be to NOT sign it, refuse to pay any missed appointment fee (since you weren't made aware of this when you agreed to the appointment), and then post a bunch of reviews online stating that they require all patients to sign an agreement that if they treat you horridly you're not allowed to tell anyone about the bad experience you had. They can't claim they have the copyright to your review if you clearly state you never signed the agreement.
the Constitutional guarantee of free speech only applies to the government interfering with your speech. I'm actually having a hard time coming up with an example for any case that a contract between two private parties even could possibly be in violation of the Constitution.
The contract wouldn't be, but the government would be if it enforced that contract.
If the contract said "by signing this, I agree that if I make damaging or negative comments about _dentist_ then _dentist_ reserves the right to refuse service to me in the future", that would be fine, because that's something that the dentist can enforce. But if the government has to enforce it, it's violating the constitutional right to free speech.
No, that's not what the contract says. it is not 'in exchange for GOOD service."
I didn't say "GOOD" service. I said "service". There is a basic expectation of service from a doctor who is treating you. If the doctor doesn't meet that expectation you could argue that they broke their agreement with you and you have every right to break your agreement to not tell anyone.
By the same logic a restaurant could justify using canned cat food in their tuna melt, because "it is tuna, it's just not GOOD tuna; you paid for a sandwich that had tuna at all, good or bad". That argument doesn't work. There's a basic expectation; if it isn't met, they failed to keep their end of the deal.
You sign the contract in exchange for being seen at all, good service or bad.
No, you don't. Because by that same logic they could have you waive your right to sue them if the doctor accidentally breaks your tooth off. Again, there is a basic expectation of service.
You assign the copyright to the doctor in exchange for dental service. If you didn't receive satisfactory dental service, the doctor didn't fulfill their end of the agreement.
Is it also asshat to set Automatic Updates to download updates automatically and ask me when I'm ready to install them? Because I've had unsaved changes destroyed by automatic installation of updates and automatic restart of the computer under Windows XP, and I'm considering buying a computer with Windows 7.
Win 7 is pretty good about that; while there is a nag dialog, it can be dismissed for up to 4 hours (select from drop down, dismiss), and the nag dialog doesn't count down and reboot automatically.
I obey posted speed limits (and by "obey" I mean I go 55mph in a 55mph zone, not 64 in a 55...) and I am very frequently tailgated (forget the "two second rule;" I'm talking less than half a car-length).
If that occurs you should get in the right lane if at all possible. In fact, you should get in the right lane long before the car behind you is that close, unless it's simply not possible for you to do so. Otherwise, you are obstructing the flow of traffic, which is also illegal.
The point is that if you're spinning your tires in the snow, then obviously the speed of your vehicle is going to be the speed of the non-drive set of wheels. So it IS possible to know how fast you were going, but not judging by the accelerator.
Of course if you hit the brakes it's harder to tell how fast you were actually going at any given time (road conditions and tire/brake performance play heavily), but at that point you'll probably only care about the speed and time when the brakes were engaged and you'll end up using the crush to determine the speed at impact anyway.
Then you could have two equally informed users on a Mac and a PC who both avoid trojans but guess what. If the Windows users doesn't also have firewalls, antivirus, spybot, etc and a strong knowledge of how to use them (most users don't and these are loads more complicated than explaining to people not everything you here is true which is analogous to the real world) they are going to end up infected anyway.
I'd contest your last statement; I'd say if the two users are equally informed the PC user isn't really all that more likely to end up infected, provided they run the Windows updates. Security Essentials wouldn't hurt, of course; and it's really not that hard to use either.
Actually, people who really believe that Macs can't get viruses are the ones least likely to download MacDefender.
Yeah, that's ironic. But there's also no real reason that the social vector had to play on that particular fear; it could have as easily been anything else (i.e. porn).
One potential pitfall to that - if the alpha channel is lossy, you could get ghosting in areas that are supposed to be transparent. On top of a solid-colored background, even a few % of opacity where it isn't wanted would be bothersome.
Let me ask you a question - how is any air getting *in*? You start with water. The water is heated by the fuel to several hundred degrees [...] You now have lots of pressure inside the vessel, but not air - just water and steam.
At those temperatures the steam reacts with the containment vessel to form elemental hydrogen and oxygen gas. Do the chem:
2 H2O -> 2 H2 + O2 2 moles of gas -> 3 moles of gas
That's a 50% increase in vapor pressure right there. And where did the "air" come from? Well, that's your source of oxygen right there. Now you're dealing with two very reactive gases that will explosively recombine back into water vapor. And if that happens, the explosion can potentially breach your containment vessel, which lets more air in.
You now open a release valve and the steam starts boiling off and escaping out the relief valve.
The earthquake knocked out the main power lines, so the power switched over to the generators, and then the tsunami knocked those out. [...] The only thing worse would be if an asteroid hit 10 minutes later. A perfect storm of "oh, hell...."
Yeah, because a 500-year earthquake followed by a tsunami is hardly the sort of thing you'd expect on a Japanese seacoast once every few centuries...
When I hear "they were prepared for an earthquake or a tsunami, but not both of them together", I just can't help but facepalm. HELLO! Earthquakes cause tsunamis. They go hand-in-hand. Expect it. It isn't the Spanish Inquisition, ffs.
Slashdot Mirror
Then the government has set up a system which can limit my right to free speech. QED.
I'd say the best response would be to NOT sign it, refuse to pay any missed appointment fee (since you weren't made aware of this when you agreed to the appointment), and then post a bunch of reviews online stating that they require all patients to sign an agreement that if they treat you horridly you're not allowed to tell anyone about the bad experience you had. They can't claim they have the copyright to your review if you clearly state you never signed the agreement.
It essentially is enforced by them, the government just provides the trappings of enforcement
It's essentially enforced by them, except the government has to do the actual enforcing?
See, you contradicted yourself there.
the Constitutional guarantee of free speech only applies to the government interfering with your speech. I'm actually having a hard time coming up with an example for any case that a contract between two private parties even could possibly be in violation of the Constitution.
The contract wouldn't be, but the government would be if it enforced that contract.
If the contract said "by signing this, I agree that if I make damaging or negative comments about _dentist_ then _dentist_ reserves the right to refuse service to me in the future", that would be fine, because that's something that the dentist can enforce. But if the government has to enforce it, it's violating the constitutional right to free speech.
Looks like you're late, h4rr4r beat you to the punch.
No, that's not what the contract says. it is not 'in exchange for GOOD service."
I didn't say "GOOD" service. I said "service". There is a basic expectation of service from a doctor who is treating you. If the doctor doesn't meet that expectation you could argue that they broke their agreement with you and you have every right to break your agreement to not tell anyone.
By the same logic a restaurant could justify using canned cat food in their tuna melt, because "it is tuna, it's just not GOOD tuna; you paid for a sandwich that had tuna at all, good or bad". That argument doesn't work. There's a basic expectation; if it isn't met, they failed to keep their end of the deal.
You sign the contract in exchange for being seen at all, good service or bad.
No, you don't. Because by that same logic they could have you waive your right to sue them if the doctor accidentally breaks your tooth off. Again, there is a basic expectation of service.
In the end, they are trying to stifle facts being disseminated by patients who had bad experiences. Facts cannot by copyrighted.
You assign the copyright to the doctor in exchange for dental service. If you didn't receive satisfactory dental service, the doctor didn't fulfill their end of the agreement.
Then they're welcome to put it in their contract, as long as the contract can be enforced by them and not by the government.
Ok, I learned something new today.
To be held liable for libel, they'd have to prove your statements were false. Which we'll assume they aren't, or you wouldn't be making them.
cervical (neck) adjustments
Ok, I'm finally convinced. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. You're unquestionably a troll.
Even a chiropractor would know the difference between a clavicle and a cervical adjustment.
Is it also asshat to set Automatic Updates to download updates automatically and ask me when I'm ready to install them? Because I've had unsaved changes destroyed by automatic installation of updates and automatic restart of the computer under Windows XP, and I'm considering buying a computer with Windows 7.
Win 7 is pretty good about that; while there is a nag dialog, it can be dismissed for up to 4 hours (select from drop down, dismiss), and the nag dialog doesn't count down and reboot automatically.
That's not to mention that this requires user intervention to work.
Um, so does the average Windows virus...
Even my Windows users know better than to install something that says "OMG u has a virusz!! Instal our L33t anitvirus!!!!!!!1!!1!1111111oneoneone"
All the stories I saw about AntiVirus 2010 (or whatever it was) shed some doubt on that claim.
A perfect storm of "why the hell didn't they expect something like that eventually". If you call that "oopsie", well, whatever.
Does Microsoft pull crap like considering my copy of Windows 7 no longer validly licensed if I travel to another country?
Well, it didn't when I traveled to Europe.
I don't think by "equally informed" he also meant equally uninformed. He clarified that both avoid trojans.
I obey posted speed limits (and by "obey" I mean I go 55mph in a 55mph zone, not 64 in a 55...) and I am very frequently tailgated (forget the "two second rule;" I'm talking less than half a car-length).
If that occurs you should get in the right lane if at all possible. In fact, you should get in the right lane long before the car behind you is that close, unless it's simply not possible for you to do so. Otherwise, you are obstructing the flow of traffic, which is also illegal.
The point is that if you're spinning your tires in the snow, then obviously the speed of your vehicle is going to be the speed of the non-drive set of wheels. So it IS possible to know how fast you were going, but not judging by the accelerator.
Of course if you hit the brakes it's harder to tell how fast you were actually going at any given time (road conditions and tire/brake performance play heavily), but at that point you'll probably only care about the speed and time when the brakes were engaged and you'll end up using the crush to determine the speed at impact anyway.
Then you could have two equally informed users on a Mac and a PC who both avoid trojans but guess what. If the Windows users doesn't also have firewalls, antivirus, spybot, etc and a strong knowledge of how to use them (most users don't and these are loads more complicated than explaining to people not everything you here is true which is analogous to the real world) they are going to end up infected anyway.
I'd contest your last statement; I'd say if the two users are equally informed the PC user isn't really all that more likely to end up infected, provided they run the Windows updates. Security Essentials wouldn't hurt, of course; and it's really not that hard to use either.
Actually, people who really believe that Macs can't get viruses are the ones least likely to download MacDefender.
Yeah, that's ironic. But there's also no real reason that the social vector had to play on that particular fear; it could have as easily been anything else (i.e. porn).
I think he was the cat, actually.
One potential pitfall to that - if the alpha channel is lossy, you could get ghosting in areas that are supposed to be transparent. On top of a solid-colored background, even a few % of opacity where it isn't wanted would be bothersome.
Let me ask you a question - how is any air getting *in*? You start with water. The water is heated by the fuel to several hundred degrees [...] You now have lots of pressure inside the vessel, but not air - just water and steam.
At those temperatures the steam reacts with the containment vessel to form elemental hydrogen and oxygen gas. Do the chem:
2 H2O -> 2 H2 + O2
2 moles of gas -> 3 moles of gas
That's a 50% increase in vapor pressure right there. And where did the "air" come from? Well, that's your source of oxygen right there. Now you're dealing with two very reactive gases that will explosively recombine back into water vapor. And if that happens, the explosion can potentially breach your containment vessel, which lets more air in.
You now open a release valve and the steam starts boiling off and escaping out the relief valve.
Did you forget that it's also radioactive?
The earthquake knocked out the main power lines, so the power switched over to the generators, and then the tsunami knocked those out. [...] The only thing worse would be if an asteroid hit 10 minutes later. A perfect storm of "oh, hell...."
Yeah, because a 500-year earthquake followed by a tsunami is hardly the sort of thing you'd expect on a Japanese seacoast once every few centuries...
When I hear "they were prepared for an earthquake or a tsunami, but not both of them together", I just can't help but facepalm. HELLO! Earthquakes cause tsunamis. They go hand-in-hand. Expect it. It isn't the Spanish Inquisition, ffs.