Slashdot Mirror


User: Irish_Samurai

Irish_Samurai's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
1,004
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 1,004

  1. Re:And.... on Americans Don't Want Targeted Ads · · Score: 1

    Everyone hates ads, except for the shit they like.

  2. Re:Popular, or useful? on How To Make Science Popular Again? · · Score: 1

    Our kids need to learn to question - think - explore - analyze - and know that ITS OK!

    This is the fundamental problem. Our children aren't taught to question, or think, or explore, or analyze. They just google it if they have a question. What about multiple data sources? What about the ability to determine a sources validity? What about the crazy concept that a bad source CAN deliver valid data. You have to learn how to vet it.

    Also, take the stigma off of ignorance. I often proclaim my ignorance before questioning someone who has knowledge on a subject. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant, if you take steps to remove that ignorance. It's willful ignorance that needs to be addressed.

    Last, don't be a douche when someone asks you something that you see as plainly obvious. These people are just learning, regardless of age. My biggest hurdle has been getting people to understand why science is about disproving instead of proving. That takes a bit of time, but after that - the other concepts become pretty easy to grasp because the FRAMEWORK is there.

  3. Re:Victimless crimes? on BetOnSports Founder Pleads Guilty To Racketeering · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sorry, not buying it.

    Show me the PHYSICAL need to gamble. Show me the Gambling DTs. It's not a disease, its a lack of an ability to control yourself.

    I'm sick and tired of having options for my behavior limited because some fool can't control themselves. Why should I have a limit put on me on how much I choose to wager because someone else might "have a problem"?

  4. Re:Doesn't sound the same on Playing a First-Person Shooter Using Real Guns · · Score: 4, Informative

    The guy in camo is what competition shooters call a mall ninja. He can't shoot, was never in the military, but wants to be a bad ass. That's why he had a big elaborate gun, he bought his way in. You see them at competitions wearing shirts that say "Blackwater" and hats that say "C.I.A".

    Bunch of damn tools.

  5. Re:don't believe it on Artificial Brain '10 Years Away' · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    When you can define the rudimentary start of a Jungian Archetype, and map the process that creates it, we can talk.

    Until then, shut the fuck up.

    Seriously. I would hate to see a human brain that functioned without personality.

  6. Re:Shame they can't do it for other religions on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 1

    My understanding is that string theorists are TRYING to come up with disprovable tests. That kinda gives them an edge.

    For full disclosure, I use the terms god and physics interchangeably.

  7. Re:Shame they can't do it for other religions on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 2

    I'm pretty sure the dog shit eating cancer thing can be disproved.

  8. Re:And the church? on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 1

    For instance, using this method, you might conclude that all /.ers were anti-microsoft linux fanboys who were very fond of pictures of people's anuses.

    Well, using some fancy lingual gymnastics you could say "/.ers are anti-noncompetative enthusiasts of options who dig porn" and probably be pretty accurate.

  9. Re:How about being fair? on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 1

    Religion itself is benign.

    It's when a PERSON decides they are going to leverage it in order to force a behavior that the shit gets all fucked up. Usually this person is working under the delusion that they have a more substantial grasp on the concept than others. They misinterpret their certainty as a hard fact that is the fulcrum of the leverage they employ on others who lack their degree of "faith" (read certainty) or wish that they too could have that degree of certainty in their lives.

    "Turn the other cheek" does not prey on the weak, "pay me money or the guy who said turn the other cheek won't think you did enough" is. The difference is what a person does with it.

  10. Re:Shame they can't do it for other religions on Church of Scientology On Trial In France · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And your definition of a religion is?

    Any system of belief that requires you put faith in a knowingly non-disprovable dogma before you can label yourself a follower?

  11. Re:Free Speech? Of course! on On the Advent of Controversial Video Games · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The above poster has it dead right: nobody plays games to reflect on the nature of the human condition.

    If a game was made with the intent of doing such a thing, it would get played for that very reason. No one read "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "The Scarlet Letter" because they were looking to "reflect on the nature of the human condition" either. They read them because they were either forced to, we're looking for intellectually stimulating entertainment, or had the book recommended by a source they trust.

    Books read with the intent of "reflecting on the nature of the human condition" are philosophy, sociology, anthropology, medical, and psychology texts. You have to purposefully go for those items too.

    The big mistake is that there is an assumption that the intent of the reader/player is directly linked to the affect on the player/reader. I know that "The Dragonlance Chronicles" had a greater emotional impact on me than "The Scarlet Letter", yet guess which one I read under the auspice of "consuming great literature" (that I was forced to).

    If we want to criticize games for not delivering an emotional and spiritual impact in the same volume and manner as books, you have to compare them on an equal scale. Books have been being written for Thousands of years, video games have been being made for 50 years. In a metaphorical timeline, that's about equivalent to "we just got an alphabet together yesterday".

  12. Re:Let me be the first one to ask it ... on Pirate Bay Trial Ends In Jail Sentences · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Typical.

  13. Re:Let me be the first one to ask it ... on Pirate Bay Trial Ends In Jail Sentences · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ummm...if you don't have the money why the hell do you still get the content?

  14. Re:Movies? on When Politicians Tax Violent Video Games · · Score: 1

    Ok, but how about how the bible erodes the family unit cause Adam was originally with Lilith and then dumped her for Eve.

  15. Re:Theft? on Grad Student Project Uses Wikis To Stash Data, Miffs Admins · · Score: 1

    Societies live and die by their ability to enforce and adjudicate their laws.

    A law by itself is just some words on a piece of paper.

  16. Re:Shame on Trick Used To Pass French "Three Strikes" · · Score: 1

    It's not democratic on purpose.

  17. Re:No surprise on IT Job Market Is Tanking, But Not For Everyone · · Score: 4, Informative

    A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates. - Sun Tzu

  18. Re:Machiavellian strategy on IT Job Market Is Tanking, But Not For Everyone · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, the theory is to fire the lowest 10% in relation to performance every quarter.

    Ugly, yet effective.

  19. Talented, Skilled, and Experienced on IT Job Market Is Tanking, But Not For Everyone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The behavior of "cutting the fat" is persistent in any business worth it's salt. It just so happens that this behavior is synchronized, and expanded, in weaker economies.

    A person desiring to keep their employment intact, or finding new opportunities, needs to understand three elements of their "business related worth".

    • Talent - I intuitively know what needs to be done as it relates to my function inside an organization. I rarely need input when it comes to improvising the use of my skillset.
    • Skill - I have an expansive set of techniques at my disposal. I understand how these techniques can be used in pre-defined situations.
    • Experience - I have executed multiple plans regarding my function and have the "war stories" to prove it. I am able to accurately predict the pitfalls, possible errant results, and optimal win scenarios for business plans within my function.

    Every company on the planet needs people who have different mixes of the above qualities. The big problem is that these three aspects run in a Rock/Paper/Scissors manner. The bigger problem is that the relationships change from company to company. Sometimes experience trumps talent. Other times talent is better than experience.

    If you approach these elements of your work history without ego, focus your job search on opportunities that match your mix, and clearly communicate them to prospective employers - you will actually find a better job that makes you happy.

    It can be done, don't go into it with a negative attitude.

  20. Super Suck on Please No, Not a Blade Runner Sequel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Without a Phillip K. Dick story to bastardize, this script could go into turbo-shitty land really fast.

  21. My pig is growing wings. on Best Buy API Aims To Expand Store's Reach Online · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Damn, I never thought a big box retailer with brick and mortars would ever get it.

  22. Re:Wow. on 6 Pennsylvania Teens Face Child Porn Charges For Pics of Selves · · Score: 5, Informative

    How the fuck is this a troll?

    Charging a child with taking their own picture is punishing the victim!

    Jesus people.

  23. Wow. on 6 Pennsylvania Teens Face Child Porn Charges For Pics of Selves · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, talk about punishing the victim here...

    Oh wait, I forgot Child Porn laws are no longer about the harm and damage done to the child during the creation of the material in question...

    Way to be society.

  24. Re:Pah! on South Carolina Seeking To Outlaw Profanity · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You only need 1% of the smart side of the bell curve to go along with you to have a majority.

  25. Re:willingness to relocate on Dell Closes Ireland Plant; 2nd Largest Employer · · Score: 1

    I have to disagree with this.

    You're not describing cultural entities. You're describing a social framework.

    Just because the same entities are close to ubiquitous doesn't mean that they transfer culture. People who eat at T.G.I.Fridays in the south gravitate towards different menu items than those in the north. If this weren't true, they wouldn't have to bother with localized demographic data when planning product roll outs.

    This discussion can quickly degrade into a bickering over semantics, so I will lay out the definitions I use for terms such as culture, social, etc.

    My interpretations of these concepts closely corresponds to the Ken wilbur's take on the holon. In somewhat blunt terms, Culture is what the collective feels internally, and their Social aspects are what you can observe about a collective.

    Some places do create strict ordinances to maintain their culture, but those ordinances are a social manifest which never would have come to fruition without the collective sharing the same culture.