Don't you understand? Starbucks is the Enemy. In Seattle as elsewhere, a lot of people resent Starbucks for running local businesses out of the market and generally degrading the quality of community life.
Plenty of other companies do this. Just look at Wal-Mart, which is also under heavy fire for selling clothes produced in sweatshops. To these protestors, Starbucks is a symbol.
Me, I'll stick with Equal Exchange coffee made with my own coffee maker. Ah, the joys of owning the means of production.;)
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
I tend to think that a riot is just what we need right now. For too long, the mainstream media have ignored the growing groundswell of opposition to NAFTA, GATT, specific corporate abuses, and unbridled capitalism in general. It's time to realize that some serious shit is going down. I think the recent disruptions will leave a greater impression of serious political conflict than some nice images of people running around dressed like whales and some cursory coverage of the tens of thousands in the street.
Don't get me wrong: I do not like violence, and I don't think rioting is a good solution to problems in general. However, you have to realize that there is a fine line between civil disobedience and rioting. That line is crossed when the police start making arrests and either they or the protestors become violent. At that point, all Hell breaks loose (see my above posting) and a lot of people may get hurt before things settle down. Most will just be caught in the crossfire and won't have done anything violent themselves. There will be plenty of screaming and running around, and the TV cameras will focus on the violent police and protestors, giving the impression of a totally violent conflict when in fact there is relatively little violence.
What I am saying is that acts of civil disobedience often turn into full-blown riots or apparent riots, and realistic protestors expect this result. Some use it as a publicity tool, either by fighting the cops or by passively taking beatings. It's often effective, and I think that, in this case, the impression of importance will really hit home when people see the videos of gas bombs flying, trash cans burning, huge masses running scared in the dark, and--inevitably--armored riot police beating unarmed protestors with sticks.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Heh. I cannot help but smile at the naivete that you show in lamenting that these protests turned "violent". This kind of thing happened in the '60s all the time, with the cops instigating the violence at least as often as the protestors. In any large group of demonstrators, there will always be some who resort to violence, or at least unruly behavior. In any large group of cops, the same is true. In fact, I would say that, in the U.S., the police have a much worse track record of using excessive force than do political demonstrators. Also, you have to consider this: Blocking traffic, stringing up banners, and even smashing windows is not violence. It is at worst disruption. Windows don't have feelings, and putting yourself in someone's way is a far cry from hurting them. On the other hand, clubbing people, firing rubber bullets at them, and choking them up with tear gas are pretty clearly acts of violence. They may not have lasting effects--let's hope not, for those who have been clubbed tonight!--but they are painful and accomplish little. More to the point, they all target the innocent as well as the guilty. I hate to break it to you, but tear gas floats, and rubber bullets are not exactly fired from precision sniper rifles at predictable targets. As others report here, even non-demonstrators are being gassed and shot at.
What I mean to say is that the dynamics of "crowd control" always involve brutality. (Why police don't just stand there with their shields and arrest people, I don't know.) Another thing about situations like these is that, with so many agents acting so unpredictably, is that sudden and wild actions often take place. The breakdown of the walls at Woodstock is one classic example. A much more common and less light-hearted example is that moment in every demonstration-gone-wrong where someone does something violent and suddenly it all erupts into a melee. Such are the dynamics of complex systems. As often as not it is impossible to see who threw the first blow, the police or the protestors. Once someone does, though, things happen fast;
The police crack down, more or less indiscriminately beating people and firing tear gas;
Most protestors panic and try to flee the area;
A few protestors stay and start baiting the police by throwing things at them (like unexploded tear gas cannisters, for instance), fighting back with their fists, and setting things on fire.
From there the situation just goes from bad to worse. In the confusion, a lot of people get hurt with no personal provocation at all. It's a mob scene.
By the way, if you ever decide to lob a tear gas cannister back at the cops, think twice. They are extremely hot when they land, so unless you handle them the right way you will just burn yourself.
Perhaps this is our generation's "baptism of fire". Most of us have never seen a large-scale demonstration, let alone one that turned into a riot. A lot of people here are either shocked by the violence--like you--or disbelieving and blindly trusting in the police. In my opinion, both of these reactions are naive. On the one hand, large demonstrations often turn violent; this is just a fact of life. There are too many agents acting too quickly. Mob scenes are truly an example of complex systems at work. On the other hand, police always exacerbate this violence. I don't know why; they must be taught to do it in riot training. Instead of forming a human wall and arresting the "bad apples", they try to disperse the whole crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. Perhaps they fear an organized response more than they fear the mob scenes required to disperse a crowd.
As I say, perhaps this is our generation's baptism of fire. Perhaps, too, it will be a turning point in what has so far been general Dilbert-esque grumbling or just plain lying down over the abuses of corporate America. I hope so. Let us remember among the inevitably positive effects of greater protest that riots, too, are inevitable. Insofar as each of us is committed to peaceable conduct, we can help minimize them and contain them, and, above all, deal with them properly when they occur (by getting the Hell out and not baiting the police). However, we cannot prevent them altogether. If we are to repeat the victories of the '60s, we have a long, rough road ahead of us. Things like this will happen.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Re:Trackpoint nipple pointers solve that problem!
on
Interface Zen
·
· Score: 2
Hmmmnnn... so you can stroke your computer's nipple, you can get vibrations from it, and, if you use a Breathalyser-style stick, you could just as well attach an actual Breathalyser to gauge your blood alcohol level. A computer that can tell when you're drunk and horny, and respond appropriately?
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
A sociopath is a person who does not understand or care that others have feelings. Remember the male lead from Heathers (played by Christian Slater)? Classic sociopath. Sociopathy has nothing to do with intelligence, so most sociopaths become (unsuccessful) con artists or violent criminals. It's the very few smart ones who are truly dangerous, for they become cold-hearted manipulators and often gain great political or economic power. In other words, they act normal, because they see that it is to their benefit, and they completely hoodwink society. To make another movie analogy, remember Wanda from A Fish Called Wanda (lpayed by Jamie Lee Curtis)? She was like that. The woman from East of Eden (sorry, it's been too long since I read that) is another classic example.
In sum, sociopathy is a recognized psychological condition that a very few people have. It is not a political label or even a set of actions, but rather an attitude. Sociopaths are missing an essential part of the human soul, the ability to empathize. All the people we are talking with and about--Amphigory, other abused children speaking out here, probably even the Columbine killers--are/were troubled but essentially normal. Sociopaths are another question altogether.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Hi, Matt! I don't think I know you, but we must have gone to high school around the same time. I'm from Bloomington, too. (I went to South.)
This is one of the funniest damn things that ever happened when I was in high school. Another was the banning of clothes with athletic teams' logos as a "proactive" measure against possible gang affiliations. (That was at North.)
Fortunately, this was all long before the horrible massacre at Columbine, so no one recognized wearing black trenchcoats as a sign of homicidal tendencies. Half of my friends wore black trenchcoats and hung out in front of Spaceport (the kickin' local arcade) during most of their free time... er, that is, until the university bought it and shut it down, because they'd discovered that drug deals were going on there. Motherfuckers.
Then there was the time when they illegally searched a bunch of people no a supposed anonymous tip in the People's Park (which was where everyone went to hang out the demise of Spaceport). The chief of police lost his job over that one. Motherfuckers.
Ah, Bloomington. What it really needed were two things:
Some good all-ages clubs... on, Rhino's did not fit this bill.;) Unfortunately, the city council has voted down proposals for no-alcohol, all-ages nights at at least one bar, probably because it was a gay bar. Motherfuckers.
Some real problems, so that authority figures would stop getting their panties in a wad over totally innocuous things (like teenage drug use). Motherfuckers.,p>;)
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Me too. Note that I never "acted out" in self-destructive ways, and I came from a very loving and supportive family, but I still had a really shitty time in high school. If I can be of any help to you, don't hesitate to write.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
I need NetBSD ported to a tank gun (a.k.a. a bazooka) so I can deal with all the obnoxious space-hogging SUVs here in the Silicon Valley. Does anyone want to pool coding resources? I'll set up a project here at http://www.bsdvssuv.org/.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
What browser are you using? With my browser of choice, KFM, the global Reply button for a story doesn't appear in the story header. I have to switch to Netscape to see the button. Maybe we should submit a report to our Cmdr. about this.;)
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
I have about 2000 photographs of Spain and Greece sitting in a really large bag, so a negative scanner is a must. Yes, they're expensive, so ask for one from your family and don't expect anything else. SANE supports several of these.
Also, an SLR camera can totally rule, if you're willing to learn how to use it. They're still a lot better than digital cameras. On the other hand, if you're going to scan everything in, you won't get the greatest resolution anyway, so a digital jobbie may be the way to go.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
They have Ricochet modems the size of Handsprings now. If you live in California, you can strap one to your unit (no pun intended) and be connected 24-7!
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
It's a decent idea in principle, but it doesn't work in reality uness you don't care much about the quality of what you're buying. When I go shopping, I like to squeeze the cheeses, smell the spices (I buy them in bulk), look for the freshest vegetables and the ripest fruits. Sometimes I will tailor my menu to the food that's on hand, so I can take advantage of really fresh local produce.
The Internet is good for times when location doesn't matter. Information is just as fresh and tasty when it comes from halfway around the world (and often more so). But food is not the same way. Location matters.
Conclusion: Using the Internet for food shopping is banging a square peg into a round hole.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
It's a lifestlyle issue. If you live in an urban sprawl, there's no real benefit to going out and shopping for food, because you'll just end up at a chain store in a strip mall. On the other hand, if you live someplace where you actually enjoy being outside, someplace amenable to walking, there are few greater pleasures than strolling down the street on a sunny day and picking up a still-hot baguette at your favorite bakery, or maybe even hitting the local farmers' market. If you live in a small town (like my home town of around 70,000 people) you meet friends all the time. We used to joke that you couldn't walk two blocks downtown without running into someone you knew, and it was largely true. And this was in a town of 70,000 people (with large turnover from college students), not some backwater!
As I say, it's an issue of lifestyle. Do you need to go out and deliberately seek out fun, or is there fun in everyday life? The community in which you live plays a big part in answering this question.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
I'll second that. I worked in the lab where Trackpoint is and was developed (the USER Lab at IBM's Almaden Research Center). They put lots of work into usability testing. Without revealing any secrets, I can say that Trackpoint is still under active development, with some nifty new features to come.
One caveat about the current generation of trackpoint keyboards: The mouse part is great, but the keys are not. They're your standard high-travel, high-resistance, tallish keys on a slanting keyboard. I tried one for a while while I was working there, and it really hurt my hands. Unfortunately, IBM does not make a stand-alone version of its laptop keyboards, which are the nicest around. I even considered mutiliating my old Thinkpad to make a keyboard for my new system, but then I found an infrared keyboard with similar action (but, alas, no Trackpoint:( ). I'm typing on it now. According to the manual, tt's from a company called BTC, and the model code is 501OR. They're available at Fry's, so you can check one out (with a thirty-day return policy) if you have Fry's stores in your area.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Maybe they were deliberately goldbricking to extract more hourly pay from your employer! This is yet another danger of ignorance and prejudice. If your only conception of Unix is that it's "bad juju", it's easy for unscrupulous people to take advantage of you.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
Yes, please work on a 1.2 Kaffe version instead! Then you'll actually be contributing to free software, rather than helping a company (Sun) that has shown itself to be no friend of open source.
Vovida, OS VoIP Beer recipe: free! #Source Cold pints: $2 #Product
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Plenty of other companies do this. Just look at Wal-Mart, which is also under heavy fire for selling clothes produced in sweatshops. To these protestors, Starbucks is a symbol.
Me, I'll stick with Equal Exchange coffee made with my own coffee maker. Ah, the joys of owning the means of production. ;)
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Don't get me wrong: I do not like violence, and I don't think rioting is a good solution to problems in general. However, you have to realize that there is a fine line between civil disobedience and rioting. That line is crossed when the police start making arrests and either they or the protestors become violent. At that point, all Hell breaks loose (see my above posting) and a lot of people may get hurt before things settle down. Most will just be caught in the crossfire and won't have done anything violent themselves. There will be plenty of screaming and running around, and the TV cameras will focus on the violent police and protestors, giving the impression of a totally violent conflict when in fact there is relatively little violence.
What I am saying is that acts of civil disobedience often turn into full-blown riots or apparent riots, and realistic protestors expect this result. Some use it as a publicity tool, either by fighting the cops or by passively taking beatings. It's often effective, and I think that, in this case, the impression of importance will really hit home when people see the videos of gas bombs flying, trash cans burning, huge masses running scared in the dark, and--inevitably--armored riot police beating unarmed protestors with sticks.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
What I mean to say is that the dynamics of "crowd control" always involve brutality. (Why police don't just stand there with their shields and arrest people, I don't know.) Another thing about situations like these is that, with so many agents acting so unpredictably, is that sudden and wild actions often take place. The breakdown of the walls at Woodstock is one classic example. A much more common and less light-hearted example is that moment in every demonstration-gone-wrong where someone does something violent and suddenly it all erupts into a melee. Such are the dynamics of complex systems. As often as not it is impossible to see who threw the first blow, the police or the protestors. Once someone does, though, things happen fast;
- The police crack down, more or less indiscriminately beating people and firing tear gas;
- Most protestors panic and try to flee the area;
- A few protestors stay and start baiting the police by throwing things at them (like unexploded tear gas cannisters, for instance), fighting back with their fists, and setting things on fire.
From there the situation just goes from bad to worse. In the confusion, a lot of people get hurt with no personal provocation at all. It's a mob scene.By the way, if you ever decide to lob a tear gas cannister back at the cops, think twice. They are extremely hot when they land, so unless you handle them the right way you will just burn yourself.
Perhaps this is our generation's "baptism of fire". Most of us have never seen a large-scale demonstration, let alone one that turned into a riot. A lot of people here are either shocked by the violence--like you--or disbelieving and blindly trusting in the police. In my opinion, both of these reactions are naive. On the one hand, large demonstrations often turn violent; this is just a fact of life. There are too many agents acting too quickly. Mob scenes are truly an example of complex systems at work. On the other hand, police always exacerbate this violence. I don't know why; they must be taught to do it in riot training. Instead of forming a human wall and arresting the "bad apples", they try to disperse the whole crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. Perhaps they fear an organized response more than they fear the mob scenes required to disperse a crowd.
As I say, perhaps this is our generation's baptism of fire. Perhaps, too, it will be a turning point in what has so far been general Dilbert-esque grumbling or just plain lying down over the abuses of corporate America. I hope so. Let us remember among the inevitably positive effects of greater protest that riots, too, are inevitable. Insofar as each of us is committed to peaceable conduct, we can help minimize them and contain them, and, above all, deal with them properly when they occur (by getting the Hell out and not baiting the police). However, we cannot prevent them altogether. If we are to repeat the victories of the '60s, we have a long, rough road ahead of us. Things like this will happen.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
In sum, sociopathy is a recognized psychological condition that a very few people have. It is not a political label or even a set of actions, but rather an attitude. Sociopaths are missing an essential part of the human soul, the ability to empathize. All the people we are talking with and about--Amphigory, other abused children speaking out here, probably even the Columbine killers--are/were troubled but essentially normal. Sociopaths are another question altogether.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
This is one of the funniest damn things that ever happened when I was in high school. Another was the banning of clothes with athletic teams' logos as a "proactive" measure against possible gang affiliations. (That was at North.)
Fortunately, this was all long before the horrible massacre at Columbine, so no one recognized wearing black trenchcoats as a sign of homicidal tendencies. Half of my friends wore black trenchcoats and hung out in front of Spaceport (the kickin' local arcade) during most of their free time... er, that is, until the university bought it and shut it down, because they'd discovered that drug deals were going on there. Motherfuckers.
Then there was the time when they illegally searched a bunch of people no a supposed anonymous tip in the People's Park (which was where everyone went to hang out the demise of Spaceport). The chief of police lost his job over that one. Motherfuckers.
Ah, Bloomington. What it really needed were two things:
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
I'll take a stab at your puzzle: "I toss my cookies down the toilet." Just a guess, highly dependent on humorous context. ;)
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Also, an SLR camera can totally rule, if you're willing to learn how to use it. They're still a lot better than digital cameras. On the other hand, if you're going to scan everything in, you won't get the greatest resolution anyway, so a digital jobbie may be the way to go.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
The Internet is good for times when location doesn't matter. Information is just as fresh and tasty when it comes from halfway around the world (and often more so). But food is not the same way. Location matters.
Conclusion: Using the Internet for food shopping is banging a square peg into a round hole.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
As I say, it's an issue of lifestyle. Do you need to go out and deliberately seek out fun, or is there fun in everyday life? The community in which you live plays a big part in answering this question.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Whoa there! You been hacking too much LISP lately? ;)
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
One caveat about the current generation of trackpoint keyboards: The mouse part is great, but the keys are not. They're your standard high-travel, high-resistance, tallish keys on a slanting keyboard. I tried one for a while while I was working there, and it really hurt my hands. Unfortunately, IBM does not make a stand-alone version of its laptop keyboards, which are the nicest around. I even considered mutiliating my old Thinkpad to make a keyboard for my new system, but then I found an infrared keyboard with similar action (but, alas, no Trackpoint :( ). I'm typing on it now. According to the manual, tt's from a company called BTC, and the model code is 501OR. They're available at Fry's, so you can check one out (with a thirty-day return policy) if you have Fry's stores in your area.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product