Re:You Whipersnappers!
on
The Mod Squad
·
· Score: 1
Shit yeah...
Intently watching the track counter on my Indus GT disk drive as games loaded...
Countless hours poring over the code to Ultima III with a hex editor... redrawing all the cities, changing the dialogue... took a lot of trial and error rebooting to see the results of our handiwork, but we had a great time doing it!
I don't know if Lord British would have approved, but it sure was fun.
Ah... those were the days... teenagers with endless time on our hands, running BBSs, home computers to play with... what could be finer? (and we didn't need no stinkin internet).
Actually, it is not illegal to own a Thompson submachine gun in the United States.
There is quite a paperwork process that you must navigate in order to do so (ATF form 4, etc) in order to own a transferable Class 2 weapon (machine gun or destructive device), but it CAN be done, and quite legally.
It requires such niceties as the signature of a chief law enforcement officer in the area where you live, but is otherwise NOT illegal. There are quite a few operational Thompsons in circulation, but they cost mega-bucks. After 1986, there are no new transferable (via the Form 4 mentioned above) automatic weapons being manufactured, so the supply is set, and finite. Naturally, this means the price goes nowhere but up... and the ATF knows where EVERY SINGLE ONE of those guns are. ATF also can drop by and inspect said gun/destructive device whenever they want. Consider whether you want to give someone an open search warrant before you buy.
Last time I checked, you could buy a GE minigun (ala Jesse Ventura in Predator) for around 75G
Perfectly legal if you know the right people (and don't mind dealing with the ATF)
As a military/.'r I'm actually pleased that we took our time to think and plan. You know the warmonger geeks inside the NSA, NRO, the pentagon, etc have been working overtime... it always, always pays to do your homework first.
If we do hit civilians, at least it's not intentional... intent does count for something. It would not surprise me if the Taliban surrounds their C4 centers with nursery schools... Makes you wonder whether the Taliban cares about the value of innocent human life... it's all just more martyrs for Allah.
The only thing I can ask is that citizens of the US and other countries give us time to fight this war the right way. It's going to require patience, and result in some pretty nasty business before it's all said and done (I don't know that we'll end up like the Israeli Mossad; masters of the exploding cell phone, but we might).
We've been inducted into a brave new world, just give us a chance to adjust to the game's new rules...
We're going to have something for everyone, and they're not going to like it much.
OK... One guy on this thread has already had his head handed to him for suggesting that the Pr0n industry is less than wholesome. I'm kinda libertarian, and wouldn't outlaw it, but I agree with him in principle; hear me out.
Yes, sex is a healthy thing, and a healthy outlook on it is a huge plus towards building a successful relationship, but I see the Pr0n industry as analagous to the Nude Girls! Girls! Girls! bar industry.
As someone who has seen a bit of the nude bar industry (heterosexual) from the inside (NO... not like that. I had friends that did bouncer/bodyguard work for them), there is a lot of pathology that inhabits and is attracted to those places.
I've seen that industry attract some people that were really sick/hurting, with bonafide Axis I and II psychiatric disorders. A significant number of the dancers did drugs and prostitution (some club-sanctioned, some as "independent contractors"). Ironically, a large percentage of the women in the places I knew were hard-core lesbians (they wouldn't have anything to do with a guy if their lives depended on it... ironic, considering what their male audience was thinking).
I knew exactly one (1) girl who made good, was strictly doing it for the money, and had almost six figures saved in the bank, with an eye towards getting out. The rest, it went to their scumbag boyfriend/pimp, or right up their nose... sad.
My point it this... some of the higher profile people in this industry do this as a career because they really, truly want to... between consenting adults, behind closed doors, fine.
However, I've seen some pretty vulnerable people doing this, and it's really pretty close to exploitation in some cases. Yeah, I know everyone is a legal adult, but the ones that I knew didn't last very long in the biz... a year or two max, they left at the first opportunity, and they DID NOT talk about it. You know what that tells me? It tells me that deep down they hated it, and really wanted to be doing something else.
I wouldn't outlaw it; as long as they aren't holding up liquor stores, people need to be free to live their lives in whatever manner seems appropriate for them. That having been said, it still hurts to watch people get in over their heads and self-destruct. Somehow, something about that diminishes all of us.
Heh... you are in a tough spot, but it's only because you are letting your conscience burden you. That is, you are shouldering the responsibility, because you feel like you could save them the pain.
Guess what... you can lead a horse to water, but you CANNOT make 'em drink. The two best teachers in life are pain and loss of money... let them learn a life's lesson.
Once you have made an effort to clue them in (and some would argue that you don't even owe them that courtesy), you are not responsible for their cluelessness. Always remember that power and responsibility must be equal in order to avoid injustice and suffering. You have no power to change their situation, so the responsibility isn't yours.
It's amazing how much the good doctor's page appealed to me on a truly visceral level. This fight has all the elements of a great story...
An underdog (helps that he's funny, well-educated, articulate...)
An evil Villan (TM) (that would be the MPAA, in case you weren't paying attention)
A worthy cause (how about getting what you paid for? You bought the damned DVD.. you outta be able to play it!)
Oppressive, predatory, and loutish behavior on the part of the Villan (mental picture of a wolf-pack of lawyers in spiked collars, chasing hapless Linux users and geeks)
All we need now is a Damsel in Distress... now where to find a model who can act, and speak geek convincingly (nah, you're right... what was I thinking??)
Ideally, the underdog would triumph, but that's far from likely at this point. All this because some of us want to watch our DVDs under "nonstandard" operating systems... I find it hard to believe that any jury of "Joe citizen" types would have a problem with that.
Guess we wait and see. In the meantime, kudos to the good doctor... He's got a set of brass you-know-whats.
It would be nice to get Linux pre-installed on a laptop, hopefully with some options of what distro, what you want in it, etc. Hopefully there would be a selection of *supported* hardware that you could include as options.
I managed to put a Linux distro on my laptop after my hard drive crashed, and corrupted the windows system directory (Grrrrr... not really blaming windows for a bad drive, but windows did lock up on me like that was its freakin' job). It took some work, but the relatively generic hardware in my laptop took to Linux very well. Since I solved the PCMCIA modelm problem (thank you, sourceforge) all is right with the universe.
The beauty of the machine is that it works, everything on it is free, and it has provided a great learning experience. Who could ask for more?
Honestly, how many of us are in computers because they are easy, and come with pre-packaged hold-your-hand-and-don't-let-go OS's? It's all about tinkering, and the challenge of "hey, what happens if I delete this?" Whoops... time to reinstall... damn.
The two best teachers are Pain and Loss of Money. Admit it... there's a little Masochist in all of us.
OK... I happen to agree with the original poster; no question it's adultery. You may not have the Actus Rea, but you sure as hell have the Mens Rea. If I ever got involved in a cyber-romance with another woman, my wife would shoot me, and NOBODY would ever find my body.
Every single personal development seminar/course I have ever heard of, particularly when talking about self-affirmation and actualization, uses a variant of the old biblical adage "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Every geek and programmer in the universe has GIGO engraved on their soul somewhere... words to live by. If you constantly dwell on a cyber romance with another person, vicariously engage in cyber-sex with another person, while you are currently engaged in an intimate, sharing, married relationship with your husband/wife, you are certainly violating the spirit of the above-mentioned biblical verse. Garbage in... Garbage out. If you would never "physically" become an adulterer, then why would you start thinking like one?
Don't go looking trouble.
I know some of you want to have your killer Pr0n collections, and that's fine.. knock yourself out.
Funny how it took less than three hours for somebody to characterize the pre-testing crowd as "incredibly self-centered and greedy"
You've got to be kidding me. Self-centered and greedy to want to keep what you earn, get some credit for doing the right thing, and not pay for someone else's social pathology? It's mighty easy to call names and characterize the pro-testing crowd as evil, pro-Ayn-Rand slime.... It's a lot harder to morally justify your position, so let's see you do it. You want to be generous with somebody else's money... that's pretty easy, and all so you can pat yourself on the back for being "compassionate and caring."
In terms of risky behavior, give people some incentive to do the right thing, and let the chips fall where they may. If they are unwilling to change their risky lifestyle, then I am unwilling to pay for their personal consequences. Call it tough love.
Now, it's true that you can't pick your parents, and that you have no control over your own genome, but FORCING others to pay for you? Nobody promised you a perfect life, and if you are sick, there are many people who will have compassion for you and help you out. Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet... we fight wars to bail out other people, give zillions in foreign aid, rebuild our former enemies after said wars... the list goes on and on (OK you american haters, jump right in). Some genes are only a predisposition, and you may not get sick, but paying more because you have that higher probability is perfectly reasonable. To keep that info secret is to screw everybody else... and THAT, my friends, is truly selfish.
Altruism isn't wrong; it's a very noble and highly valuable concept. Altruism under threat of force is nothing but theft. Call it what you will, but it's theft.
How can you honestly take money from someone under threat of force, or weight of guilt, and call yourself compassionate? That's not compassion... it's extortion and manipulation... but if you want to label it compassion, well, I guess that's your call.
The Zero tolerance stuff is fine for 4yr olds who can't think and reason. It's perfectly appropriate to tell a kid that of age range "We don't hit, now kiss your brother and say you're sorry."
For ADULTS and even adolescents, we are doing them an intellectual disservice by teaching them that all violence is wrong. All violence is NOT wrong (step off me, you pacifists... I'm just warming up...) Self defense is a perfectly legitmate scenario for violence. You can also make a strong argument for the existance of a legitimate WAR (OK, you pacifists... take your best shot).
We are robbing people of the ability to reason and evaluate for themselves their moral justifications for their actions. I'm not just talking about simple rationalization here... a 6yo kid can do that.
We've done this to ourselves by caving into our fear, and promoting simple-minded drivel like this... sheesh.
yeah, I remember that guy from #Netsex!
he kept getting booted for all the "ru single?" messages...
Not that *I* hung out on that channel, no sir! I graciously answered newbie questions in #wasteland...
MOO1 was the best (liked it much better than 2).
I know, I know... people loved the Psilons and the Mecklars.. but the Darlocks were the coolest race to play
Maybe I'm just a sneaky guy (matter of fact, I've got more sneak in my little finger than most people have in their entire body) but the I loved sitting back, building and developing with everybody else's tech... wait... this sounds like Open Source.. Woo Hoo! an analogy!
OK... as we speculate about what the new administration has up its sleeve, let's compare what we just survived in the last administration, and in classic Chicken-little fashion, ask ourselves one simple question: Is the sky really falling??
Nah.
Atty Gen - John Ashcroft: he's a moral guy (I think most people would agree, it's NOT a bad thing, as long as he doesn't foist it on others). He's also a major fan of privacy and crypto... kudos to him! Contrast that to Ole Janet Reno, who never seemed to tire of endless wiretaps and snoop-o-rama.
Pres. Bush - Who knows? Despite his Faux simplicity, he's a smart guy... and you know what's funny? For all that "mental lightweight" flack he endured, he got better grades than Gore. I suspect (speculation) that he's a "If it aint broke, don't fix it" type of guy... but who knows? We'll have to mark him down as an unknown quantity. Compare that to "Mr. Clipper Chip" Albert Gore... *shiver*
Seems to me that we dodged a bullet with these last eight years... C'mon, John, before you whip people into a frenzy about these new guys, at least give 'em a brief honeymoon period... we'll just have to give them time.
Slashdot Mirror
Shit yeah...
Intently watching the track counter on my Indus GT disk drive as games loaded...
Countless hours poring over the code to Ultima III with a hex editor... redrawing all the cities, changing the dialogue... took a lot of trial and error rebooting to see the results of our handiwork, but we had a great time doing it!
I don't know if Lord British would have approved, but it sure was fun.
Ah... those were the days... teenagers with endless time on our hands, running BBSs, home computers to play with... what could be finer? (and we didn't need no stinkin internet).
Actually, it is not illegal to own a Thompson submachine gun in the United States.
There is quite a paperwork process that you must navigate in order to do so (ATF form 4, etc) in order to own a transferable Class 2 weapon (machine gun or destructive device), but it CAN be done, and quite legally.
It requires such niceties as the signature of a chief law enforcement officer in the area where you live, but is otherwise NOT illegal. There are quite a few operational Thompsons in circulation, but they cost mega-bucks. After 1986, there are no new transferable (via the Form 4 mentioned above) automatic weapons being manufactured, so the supply is set, and finite. Naturally, this means the price goes nowhere but up... and the ATF knows where EVERY SINGLE ONE of those guns are. ATF also can drop by and inspect said gun/destructive device whenever they want. Consider whether you want to give someone an open search warrant before you buy.
Last time I checked, you could buy a GE minigun (ala Jesse Ventura in Predator) for around 75G
Perfectly legal if you know the right people (and don't mind dealing with the ATF)
Phoenix was a great script!
I always liked all the megadeth lyrics it would generate whenever you were away, leaving a channel, etc.... cool.
Ahhh, nostalgia.
As much as I hate "me too" posts...
The same thing happened to me with a digital camcorder. I put it into dispute with my credit card company, and got my money back, but what a pain.
As with anything... caveat emptor.
As a military /.'r I'm actually pleased that we took our time to think and plan. You know the warmonger geeks inside the NSA, NRO, the pentagon, etc have been working overtime... it always, always pays to do your homework first.
If we do hit civilians, at least it's not intentional... intent does count for something. It would not surprise me if the Taliban surrounds their C4 centers with nursery schools... Makes you wonder whether the Taliban cares about the value of innocent human life... it's all just more martyrs for Allah.
The only thing I can ask is that citizens of the US and other countries give us time to fight this war the right way. It's going to require patience, and result in some pretty nasty business before it's all said and done (I don't know that we'll end up like the Israeli Mossad; masters of the exploding cell phone, but we might).
We've been inducted into a brave new world, just give us a chance to adjust to the game's new rules...
We're going to have something for everyone, and they're not going to like it much.
Can you say "awwww yeah?"
I knew that you could.
OK... One guy on this thread has already had his head handed to him for suggesting that the Pr0n industry is less than wholesome. I'm kinda libertarian, and wouldn't outlaw it, but I agree with him in principle; hear me out.
Yes, sex is a healthy thing, and a healthy outlook on it is a huge plus towards building a successful relationship, but I see the Pr0n industry as analagous to the Nude Girls! Girls! Girls! bar industry.
As someone who has seen a bit of the nude bar industry (heterosexual) from the inside (NO... not like that. I had friends that did bouncer/bodyguard work for them), there is a lot of pathology that inhabits and is attracted to those places.
I've seen that industry attract some people that were really sick/hurting, with bonafide Axis I and II psychiatric disorders. A significant number of the dancers did drugs and prostitution (some club-sanctioned, some as "independent contractors"). Ironically, a large percentage of the women in the places I knew were hard-core lesbians (they wouldn't have anything to do with a guy if their lives depended on it... ironic, considering what their male audience was thinking).
I knew exactly one (1) girl who made good, was strictly doing it for the money, and had almost six figures saved in the bank, with an eye towards getting out. The rest, it went to their scumbag boyfriend/pimp, or right up their nose... sad.
My point it this... some of the higher profile people in this industry do this as a career because they really, truly want to... between consenting adults, behind closed doors, fine.
However, I've seen some pretty vulnerable people doing this, and it's really pretty close to exploitation in some cases. Yeah, I know everyone is a legal adult, but the ones that I knew didn't last very long in the biz... a year or two max, they left at the first opportunity, and they DID NOT talk about it. You know what that tells me? It tells me that deep down they hated it, and really wanted to be doing something else.
I wouldn't outlaw it; as long as they aren't holding up liquor stores, people need to be free to live their lives in whatever manner seems appropriate for them. That having been said, it still hurts to watch people get in over their heads and self-destruct. Somehow, something about that diminishes all of us.
OK... Flame on.
Heh... you are in a tough spot, but it's only because you are letting your conscience burden you. That is, you are shouldering the responsibility, because you feel like you could save them the pain.
Guess what... you can lead a horse to water, but you CANNOT make 'em drink. The two best teachers in life are pain and loss of money... let them learn a life's lesson.
Once you have made an effort to clue them in (and some would argue that you don't even owe them that courtesy), you are not responsible for their cluelessness. Always remember that power and responsibility must be equal in order to avoid injustice and suffering. You have no power to change their situation, so the responsibility isn't yours.
Let 'em burn.
That does paint AlChin's comments in a better light...
But still, perjury is perjury; looks bad on a resume
Heh...
It's amazing how much the good doctor's page appealed to me on a truly visceral level. This fight has all the elements of a great story...
An underdog (helps that he's funny, well-educated, articulate...)
An evil Villan (TM) (that would be the MPAA, in case you weren't paying attention)
A worthy cause (how about getting what you paid for? You bought the damned DVD.. you outta be able to play it!)
Oppressive, predatory, and loutish behavior on the part of the Villan (mental picture of a wolf-pack of lawyers in spiked collars, chasing hapless Linux users and geeks)
All we need now is a Damsel in Distress... now where to find a model who can act, and speak geek convincingly (nah, you're right... what was I thinking??)
Ideally, the underdog would triumph, but that's far from likely at this point. All this because some of us want to watch our DVDs under "nonstandard" operating systems... I find it hard to believe that any jury of "Joe citizen" types would have a problem with that.
Guess we wait and see. In the meantime, kudos to the good doctor... He's got a set of brass you-know-whats.
It would be nice to get Linux pre-installed on a laptop, hopefully with some options of what distro, what you want in it, etc. Hopefully there would be a selection of *supported* hardware that you could include as options.
I managed to put a Linux distro on my laptop after my hard drive crashed, and corrupted the windows system directory (Grrrrr... not really blaming windows for a bad drive, but windows did lock up on me like that was its freakin' job). It took some work, but the relatively generic hardware in my laptop took to Linux very well. Since I solved the PCMCIA modelm problem (thank you, sourceforge) all is right with the universe.
The beauty of the machine is that it works, everything on it is free, and it has provided a great learning experience. Who could ask for more?
Honestly, how many of us are in computers because they are easy, and come with pre-packaged hold-your-hand-and-don't-let-go OS's? It's all about tinkering, and the challenge of "hey, what happens if I delete this?" Whoops... time to reinstall... damn.
The two best teachers are Pain and Loss of Money. Admit it... there's a little Masochist in all of us.
OK... I happen to agree with the original poster; no question it's adultery. You may not have the Actus Rea, but you sure as hell have the Mens Rea. If I ever got involved in a cyber-romance with another woman, my wife would shoot me, and NOBODY would ever find my body.
Every single personal development seminar/course I have ever heard of, particularly when talking about self-affirmation and actualization, uses a variant of the old biblical adage "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Every geek and programmer in the universe has GIGO engraved on their soul somewhere... words to live by. If you constantly dwell on a cyber romance with another person, vicariously engage in cyber-sex with another person, while you are currently engaged in an intimate, sharing, married relationship with your husband/wife, you are certainly violating the spirit of the above-mentioned biblical verse. Garbage in... Garbage out. If you would never "physically" become an adulterer, then why would you start thinking like one?
Don't go looking trouble.
I know some of you want to have your killer Pr0n collections, and that's fine.. knock yourself out.
Cmon, dude... yer just using your Linux box to view Goatsex..
You're not fooling us.
Funny how it took less than three hours for somebody to characterize the pre-testing crowd as "incredibly self-centered and greedy"
You've got to be kidding me. Self-centered and greedy to want to keep what you earn, get some credit for doing the right thing, and not pay for someone else's social pathology? It's mighty easy to call names and characterize the pro-testing crowd as evil, pro-Ayn-Rand slime.... It's a lot harder to morally justify your position, so let's see you do it. You want to be generous with somebody else's money... that's pretty easy, and all so you can pat yourself on the back for being "compassionate and caring."
In terms of risky behavior, give people some incentive to do the right thing, and let the chips fall where they may. If they are unwilling to change their risky lifestyle, then I am unwilling to pay for their personal consequences. Call it tough love.
Now, it's true that you can't pick your parents, and that you have no control over your own genome, but FORCING others to pay for you? Nobody promised you a perfect life, and if you are sick, there are many people who will have compassion for you and help you out. Americans are some of the most generous people on the planet... we fight wars to bail out other people, give zillions in foreign aid, rebuild our former enemies after said wars... the list goes on and on (OK you american haters, jump right in). Some genes are only a predisposition, and you may not get sick, but paying more because you have that higher probability is perfectly reasonable. To keep that info secret is to screw everybody else... and THAT, my friends, is truly selfish.
Altruism isn't wrong; it's a very noble and highly valuable concept. Altruism under threat of force is nothing but theft. Call it what you will, but it's theft.
How can you honestly take money from someone under threat of force, or weight of guilt, and call yourself compassionate? That's not compassion... it's extortion and manipulation... but if you want to label it compassion, well, I guess that's your call.
We asked for this, you know... we really did.
The Zero tolerance stuff is fine for 4yr olds who can't think and reason. It's perfectly appropriate to tell a kid that of age range "We don't hit, now kiss your brother and say you're sorry."
For ADULTS and even adolescents, we are doing them an intellectual disservice by teaching them that all violence is wrong. All violence is NOT wrong (step off me, you pacifists... I'm just warming up...) Self defense is a perfectly legitmate scenario for violence. You can also make a strong argument for the existance of a legitimate WAR (OK, you pacifists... take your best shot).
We are robbing people of the ability to reason and evaluate for themselves their moral justifications for their actions. I'm not just talking about simple rationalization here... a 6yo kid can do that.
We've done this to ourselves by caving into our fear, and promoting simple-minded drivel like this... sheesh.
yeah, I remember that guy from #Netsex! he kept getting booted for all the "ru single?" messages... Not that *I* hung out on that channel, no sir! I graciously answered newbie questions in #wasteland...
MOO1 was the best (liked it much better than 2). I know, I know... people loved the Psilons and the Mecklars.. but the Darlocks were the coolest race to play Maybe I'm just a sneaky guy (matter of fact, I've got more sneak in my little finger than most people have in their entire body) but the I loved sitting back, building and developing with everybody else's tech... wait... this sounds like Open Source.. Woo Hoo! an analogy!
OK... as we speculate about what the new administration has up its sleeve, let's compare what we just survived in the last administration, and in classic Chicken-little fashion, ask ourselves one simple question: Is the sky really falling??
Nah.
Atty Gen - John Ashcroft: he's a moral guy (I think most people would agree, it's NOT a bad thing, as long as he doesn't foist it on others). He's also a major fan of privacy and crypto... kudos to him! Contrast that to Ole Janet Reno, who never seemed to tire of endless wiretaps and snoop-o-rama.
Pres. Bush - Who knows? Despite his Faux simplicity, he's a smart guy... and you know what's funny? For all that "mental lightweight" flack he endured, he got better grades than Gore. I suspect (speculation) that he's a "If it aint broke, don't fix it" type of guy... but who knows? We'll have to mark him down as an unknown quantity. Compare that to "Mr. Clipper Chip" Albert Gore... *shiver*
Seems to me that we dodged a bullet with these last eight years... C'mon, John, before you whip people into a frenzy about these new guys, at least give 'em a brief honeymoon period... we'll just have to give them time.
They'll declare themselves... they always do.