they know this law is destroying the most open medium of communication and exchange of information in history
Not break it as much as control it. I doubt they see that as a bad thing. In the olden day it was difficult for people who don't have access to large amounts of capital to publish information to a large audience, and people with large amounts of capital are already a part of the system. With the intarwebz, anyone has that publishing capability, and the US Government has little control over that. This gives them that control.
Add Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat to that list. Hilarious books. Could also add Grapes of Wrath for something more powerful and meaningful, but it's a pretty thick book to read in a single sitting -- Cannery and Tortilla are both short. Another book that's probably too big for a single reading is Catch-22. That was probably the funniest book I've ever read (warning, though, about half the people who read it hate it, and the other half are right).
I also loved The Stranger by Camus. Also short. (And if you never understood the song Killing an Arab by the Cure, this will explain it.)
In fact, you could probably just find a good collection of classic American short stories and go with that.
You would think that the time is right for a social-liberal/fiscal-conservative party to rise up and take the middle ground.
That's basically what the Libertarian Party is, or at least is supposed to be, but our system doesn't really allow for a 3rd party to make any progress. They can't get on the ballots in every state, they usually can't get into televised debates, and, since everyone knows that either a Democrat or a Republican is going to win, they chose what they believe to be the lesser of the two evils. The libertarians who value social freedom higher will vote for a Democrat, and the ones who value laissez faire economics higher will vote for Republicans, since they know there's not a chance in Hell that the LP is going to win, in the end.
I used to stop by the gym on my way back from smoke break (yeah, yeah . . . I know), and bounce a medicine ball against a wall for 1 or two minutes, or do a few pull ups, or something else like that. Just enough to raise my heart rate, but not enough to break a sweat. I lost a lot of weight like that.
Anything that raises your heart rate will do it. Jumping jacks, run in place, push ups, crunches . . . whatever. Just do it for a minute or maybe 2 once an hour. It'll make a HUGE difference.
I have a couple friends -- a coder and an e-store manager -- I met skateboarding. A couple years ago, when I was 37, I took skateboarding back up to get some exercise. Turns out that a lot of geeks do that sort of thing. I met a couple more at the neighborhood swimming pool. I've met some at motorcycle rallies, in photography classes, snow skiing, and on bicycle rides.
The common thread amongst all of those is that they require only one person. You don't have to have someone with you -- or worse, a group -- to do them. Most other geeks are just like you -- they'd like some like-minded people to chat with, but don't want the burden of a massive circle of friends, so they find things to do on their own. Like skateboard at the local park. Or ski. Or shoot some pictures. Etc.
Just anything that can be done solo, but allows for a bunch of solo people to get together and chat.
The resale of used items has to be absolute, it's all or nothing. Books, cars, CDs, games, houses, computers and so forth.
By BOB TEDESCHI Published: July 12, 2004
IS Amazon.com becoming the Napster of the book business?
The analogy may not be far off, say some observers of the used-book industry. Publishers, particularly textbook publishers, have long countered used-book sales by churning out new editions every couple of years. But the Web, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, have given millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books -- often for under $1 -- without paying royalty fees to publishers or authors.
I remember reading a piece back when I was in college -- in the late eighties -- about publishers trying to find a way to outlaw sales of used books. Of course, there wasn't any way to do that. At least not back then.
I did unrelated work (collections) that at least gave me access to a low-level help desk job. Used that to get a tech support job at an ISP. Used that to get a NOC (Network Ops Center) job at said ISP. Used that to get a SysAdmin job.
Education = GED + 2 year degree from a community college.
The only time that's hurt is with a research company that STRONGLY favors education over experience (like a kid coming out of college with no experience would be hired at 2 pay grades up, at this place), but everywhere else they don't care much about education if you have experience -- unless you want to move up into management.
The President of the United States of America is the single person recognized as the "leader" of the world.
I'd like to see a poll of how many people living in other countries consider George Bush to be their "leader". I mean, honestly.
If, though, the world does recognize the President of the United States of America as their leader, and he acts as the President of Earth, then aren't we undemocratic if we don't let all of Earth have a vote in our election of their leader?
The President writes & submits the budget, Congress votes on it, amends it, votes some more, etc., then sends it back. Then the President signs it into law.
Jesus. That's rotten. You just made me feel better about doing tech support for AOL in the DOS/Win 3.1/Win95 queue for almost a year. In retrospect, I guess it could'a been worse. (Although that was pretty fucking bad).
That part was mostly meant as a funny (hence the Monty Python reference)... oh well, no funny mod this time.
Ops. My apologies. I sometimes take things a bit too literally.
It's just one of those things that I see people throw out sometimes as a potential patch for the biggest known bug in the Democracy: the dreaded end-user who won't RTFM, and the idea that it may actually be pushed out some day really kind of terrifies me. I mean, sure, we all kinda hate the users sometimes, but Deity help us if that one ever makes it to release.
As a concept, it certainly seems attractive on the surface, but who would write the quiz? Whoever that person is appointed by would hold office forever.
Question 1: The reason some people oppose current policy is because they hate America and want the terrorists to win. _ True _ False
Question 2: The current challenger has been accused by many media outlets of: _ Supporting the terrorists. _ Hating America. _ Being a communist (or fascist). _ All of the above.
Etc. Maybe not so extreme (or, actually, maybe so extreme), but it would certainly lead to abuse very quickly. "Absolute power" and whatnot.
passing on the right is only illegal in certain states. I know it's legal in my state but ticket worthy in some of the neighboring states.
Yes. It's illegal here in Virginia. In Florida, driving too slow was illegal, not passing on the right, and, as I recall, defined as driving below the posted minimum speed limit or being passed on the right. Makes sense that way. If you're being passed on the right, pull over to the right lane. It's going faster than you, anyway. In Virginia, passing on the right (instead of being passed on the right) is illegal, which is insane, because that means if someone is driving in the left lane below the minimum speed, you have no choice but to break the law: either drive below the minimum speed, which is illegal, or pass on the right, which is illegal.
Try not to use your *brakes* on the motorway. Try to "iron out" the waves by ever so slowly dropping back when you see them approaching.
I used to do that back when I lived in Florida. Now I deal with DC Beltway traffic, and I just don't bother any more. In fact, I'll take advantage of it when I see someone else doing it. There's just no point in trying to solve traffic problems in the beltway area. Try to be Mr. Helper and you're commute is twice as long. Be the dick who pulls in front and speeds up then gets back over to do it again, and you end up getting way ahead, and I need those extra hours to live my life . . .
It's a combination of people who ride slow in the left-hand lane and speeders. The people (whom I'd like to shoot) that pull over to the passing lane and then drive the same speed as the car to their right cause rolling road-blocks. When faster-moving traffic inevitably catches up to them, it can't pass, so it builds up into a massive pack of slow-moving crap. Then, sooner or later, someone taps his brakes, and then the one behind him does it just a bit longer, and so on and so forth, until there's a stop for no reason. Meanwhile, the jerk-off in the left hand lane at the head of this rolling traffic jam is still doing just fine at 50 MPH.
If police would enforce rules against driving too slowly (generally defined as being passed on the right (because if traffic is passing you on the right, then you need to get the fuck over)) as they do aggressive driving, the problem would be much less prevalent. Then, the faster moving traffic could pass the slower moving traffic, keep on going, and there wouldn't be any problems. Sadly, though, that's not the case in any metro-area I've dealt with. Instead, the jerkoff Sunday Driver creeping along at 50 in the passing lane just has to be dealt with, usually by getting around him in the right hand lane, then speeding up to 90 and cutting in front of him so you can pass the traffic on the right.
AOL bought TW, then about a year or two later, all the AOL execs were run out, Time Warner execs took over, the name was changed to Time Warner, and the stock symbol from AOL to TWC. Before the merge, AOL had a "poison pill" clause in their charter. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but essentially, if anyone tried to take over AOL, all outstanding options would be paid over-value, and a bunch of other stuff, so no one would want to try to take over AOL. Instead, AOL "took over" TWC. Or at least that's what they thought they were doing. It just didn't work out that way, in the end.
I could easily see that. Or better, she uses a friend's passport to disappear, then gives it to a friend in Russia, who uses it to get into the country, then gives the passport back. She could even charge the one in Russia a pretty good fee for the service.
That's like saying that Troy had to put their enemies in the horse, then drag it up to the gate, drag it through and then offer a soft cushy landing spot for warriors coming out of the horse.
Work just one day on an ISP's tech support line, and this will seem like a realistic expectation by the time your lunch break starts.
Yeah, I've passed between borders in about 10 countries and it was always easier than in the USA. I got shaken down in Paris, because I was getting off an express train from Amsterdam and was dressed down and looking ragged, but it was still easier than getting into the US, with a US passport, even on a good day.
(I was also shaken down by a cop in Chicago for taking pictures of the L. He took all my drivers license info, "in case something happens to that train".)
In comes a god. This god can see everything and will punish and reward you after your death. It's the perfect control tool. First of all, you don't have to prove anything or punish anyone.
Exactly. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. We use the same thing to encourage kids to behave. Of course, "You'll burn in hell forever," is a much better threat than, "you won't get any new toys".
I think it's a little of a lot of things, though. A way to quiet the mind's fear of the strange by giving an explanation for everything, even if it's wrong. A way to keep the population in line; an appeal to authority for the rightness of laws -- as well as a stick & carrot routine to encourage the desired behaviour. A way to encourage a positive (which is, of course, subjective) outlook on life. Also, a way for meglomaniacs to convince teenage girls to take off their pants.
Slashdot Mirror
they know this law is destroying the most open medium of communication and exchange of information in history
Not break it as much as control it. I doubt they see that as a bad thing. In the olden day it was difficult for people who don't have access to large amounts of capital to publish information to a large audience, and people with large amounts of capital are already a part of the system. With the intarwebz, anyone has that publishing capability, and the US Government has little control over that. This gives them that control.
Add Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat to that list. Hilarious books. Could also add Grapes of Wrath for something more powerful and meaningful, but it's a pretty thick book to read in a single sitting -- Cannery and Tortilla are both short. Another book that's probably too big for a single reading is Catch-22. That was probably the funniest book I've ever read (warning, though, about half the people who read it hate it, and the other half are right).
I also loved The Stranger by Camus. Also short. (And if you never understood the song Killing an Arab by the Cure, this will explain it.)
In fact, you could probably just find a good collection of classic American short stories and go with that.
You would think that the time is right for a social-liberal/fiscal-conservative party to rise up and take the middle ground.
That's basically what the Libertarian Party is, or at least is supposed to be, but our system doesn't really allow for a 3rd party to make any progress. They can't get on the ballots in every state, they usually can't get into televised debates, and, since everyone knows that either a Democrat or a Republican is going to win, they chose what they believe to be the lesser of the two evils. The libertarians who value social freedom higher will vote for a Democrat, and the ones who value laissez faire economics higher will vote for Republicans, since they know there's not a chance in Hell that the LP is going to win, in the end.
I used to stop by the gym on my way back from smoke break (yeah, yeah . . . I know), and bounce a medicine ball against a wall for 1 or two minutes, or do a few pull ups, or something else like that. Just enough to raise my heart rate, but not enough to break a sweat. I lost a lot of weight like that.
Anything that raises your heart rate will do it. Jumping jacks, run in place, push ups, crunches . . . whatever. Just do it for a minute or maybe 2 once an hour. It'll make a HUGE difference.
I have a couple friends -- a coder and an e-store manager -- I met skateboarding. A couple years ago, when I was 37, I took skateboarding back up to get some exercise. Turns out that a lot of geeks do that sort of thing. I met a couple more at the neighborhood swimming pool. I've met some at motorcycle rallies, in photography classes, snow skiing, and on bicycle rides.
The common thread amongst all of those is that they require only one person. You don't have to have someone with you -- or worse, a group -- to do them. Most other geeks are just like you -- they'd like some like-minded people to chat with, but don't want the burden of a massive circle of friends, so they find things to do on their own. Like skateboard at the local park. Or ski. Or shoot some pictures. Etc.
Just anything that can be done solo, but allows for a bunch of solo people to get together and chat.
You could take the guts out and make some sort of robot brain out of it.
Better: http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/05/the-whiskey-pc/
I've always wanted to do that, but I never have the parts. Maybe I should fly more . . .
Schnitzel is an Austrian dish, not German.
Just an FYI.
So was Hitler, so I think it's kind of appropriate.
The resale of used items has to be absolute, it's all or nothing. Books, cars, CDs, games, houses, computers and so forth.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E4DB113BF931A25754C0A9629C8B63
I remember reading a piece back when I was in college -- in the late eighties -- about publishers trying to find a way to outlaw sales of used books. Of course, there wasn't any way to do that. At least not back then.
I did unrelated work (collections) that at least gave me access to a low-level help desk job. Used that to get a tech support job at an ISP. Used that to get a NOC (Network Ops Center) job at said ISP. Used that to get a SysAdmin job.
Education = GED + 2 year degree from a community college.
The only time that's hurt is with a research company that STRONGLY favors education over experience (like a kid coming out of college with no experience would be hired at 2 pay grades up, at this place), but everywhere else they don't care much about education if you have experience -- unless you want to move up into management.
This layout was invented by Shampoo.
But then take it into someplace like walmart with 200 security cameras all over the place.
I see an emerging market for security-camera-begone.
I'd like to see a poll of how many people living in other countries consider George Bush to be their "leader". I mean, honestly.
If, though, the world does recognize the President of the United States of America as their leader, and he acts as the President of Earth, then aren't we undemocratic if we don't let all of Earth have a vote in our election of their leader?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
The President writes & submits the budget, Congress votes on it, amends it, votes some more, etc., then sends it back. Then the President signs it into law.
Jesus. That's rotten. You just made me feel better about doing tech support for AOL in the DOS/Win 3.1/Win95 queue for almost a year. In retrospect, I guess it could'a been worse. (Although that was pretty fucking bad).
Ops. My apologies. I sometimes take things a bit too literally.
It's just one of those things that I see people throw out sometimes as a potential patch for the biggest known bug in the Democracy: the dreaded end-user who won't RTFM, and the idea that it may actually be pushed out some day really kind of terrifies me. I mean, sure, we all kinda hate the users sometimes, but Deity help us if that one ever makes it to release.
As a concept, it certainly seems attractive on the surface, but who would write the quiz? Whoever that person is appointed by would hold office forever.
Question 1: The reason some people oppose current policy is because they hate America and want the terrorists to win.
_ True
_ False
Question 2: The current challenger has been accused by many media outlets of:
_ Supporting the terrorists.
_ Hating America.
_ Being a communist (or fascist).
_ All of the above.
Etc. Maybe not so extreme (or, actually, maybe so extreme), but it would certainly lead to abuse very quickly. "Absolute power" and whatnot.
It's about brand recognition. Maybe the reason they're on the list is because we've all had UPS destroy, lose, or steal our property.
Yes. It's illegal here in Virginia. In Florida, driving too slow was illegal, not passing on the right, and, as I recall, defined as driving below the posted minimum speed limit or being passed on the right. Makes sense that way. If you're being passed on the right, pull over to the right lane. It's going faster than you, anyway. In Virginia, passing on the right (instead of being passed on the right) is illegal, which is insane, because that means if someone is driving in the left lane below the minimum speed, you have no choice but to break the law: either drive below the minimum speed, which is illegal, or pass on the right, which is illegal.
I kind of hate Virginia.
I used to do that back when I lived in Florida. Now I deal with DC Beltway traffic, and I just don't bother any more. In fact, I'll take advantage of it when I see someone else doing it. There's just no point in trying to solve traffic problems in the beltway area. Try to be Mr. Helper and you're commute is twice as long. Be the dick who pulls in front and speeds up then gets back over to do it again, and you end up getting way ahead, and I need those extra hours to live my life . . .
It's a combination of people who ride slow in the left-hand lane and speeders. The people (whom I'd like to shoot) that pull over to the passing lane and then drive the same speed as the car to their right cause rolling road-blocks. When faster-moving traffic inevitably catches up to them, it can't pass, so it builds up into a massive pack of slow-moving crap. Then, sooner or later, someone taps his brakes, and then the one behind him does it just a bit longer, and so on and so forth, until there's a stop for no reason. Meanwhile, the jerk-off in the left hand lane at the head of this rolling traffic jam is still doing just fine at 50 MPH.
If police would enforce rules against driving too slowly (generally defined as being passed on the right (because if traffic is passing you on the right, then you need to get the fuck over)) as they do aggressive driving, the problem would be much less prevalent. Then, the faster moving traffic could pass the slower moving traffic, keep on going, and there wouldn't be any problems. Sadly, though, that's not the case in any metro-area I've dealt with. Instead, the jerkoff Sunday Driver creeping along at 50 in the passing lane just has to be dealt with, usually by getting around him in the right hand lane, then speeding up to 90 and cutting in front of him so you can pass the traffic on the right.
AOL bought TW, then about a year or two later, all the AOL execs were run out, Time Warner execs took over, the name was changed to Time Warner, and the stock symbol from AOL to TWC. Before the merge, AOL had a "poison pill" clause in their charter. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but essentially, if anyone tried to take over AOL, all outstanding options would be paid over-value, and a bunch of other stuff, so no one would want to try to take over AOL. Instead, AOL "took over" TWC. Or at least that's what they thought they were doing. It just didn't work out that way, in the end.
I could easily see that. Or better, she uses a friend's passport to disappear, then gives it to a friend in Russia, who uses it to get into the country, then gives the passport back. She could even charge the one in Russia a pretty good fee for the service.
Work just one day on an ISP's tech support line, and this will seem like a realistic expectation by the time your lunch break starts.
Yeah, I've passed between borders in about 10 countries and it was always easier than in the USA. I got shaken down in Paris, because I was getting off an express train from Amsterdam and was dressed down and looking ragged, but it was still easier than getting into the US, with a US passport, even on a good day.
(I was also shaken down by a cop in Chicago for taking pictures of the L. He took all my drivers license info, "in case something happens to that train".)
Exactly. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. We use the same thing to encourage kids to behave. Of course, "You'll burn in hell forever," is a much better threat than, "you won't get any new toys".
I think it's a little of a lot of things, though. A way to quiet the mind's fear of the strange by giving an explanation for everything, even if it's wrong. A way to keep the population in line; an appeal to authority for the rightness of laws -- as well as a stick & carrot routine to encourage the desired behaviour. A way to encourage a positive (which is, of course, subjective) outlook on life. Also, a way for meglomaniacs to convince teenage girls to take off their pants.