I've lived in the south my entire life, and as a whole, it's true that we typically say "coke" as a generic for carbonated soft drinks. However, I've never experianced anyone requesting a coke while wanting a 7-up or Orange Crush, etc... It's typically used more like saying "beer". "Let's grab a coke at the gas station" doesn't mean I want a coke, it means lets get a soft drink at the gas station. However, if I order a coke: "Waiter: And what would you like to drink? Me: A Coke." it doesn't mean I want an orange soda.
Did you ever think that the people that are excited about the Wii are genuinely excited as opposed to jumping on the band wagon?
I own a PS2 because there are a large number of games on it that I like and it was fairly cheap. I don't own an XBOX because there aren't any games on it I care for. I'm not interested in an XBOX 360 at all because of the lack of games I'd actually want to buy, and I'm not paying $600 for a PS3. If they made the PS3 $300 and there were more than 10 games I wanted I'd consider it.
The Wii on the other hand is going to be fairly cheap and there are DOZENS of games that I'll want to get, not including anything new that's released for it.
Graphics are awesome, and certainly have their place. But I'm not dropping a ton of cash on a PS3 or XBOX just for good graphics. The Wii has absolutely everything I could want in a console: classic games, "casual" games, and party games. The controller is just icing on the cake, and I'd buy the Wii even if the controller wasn't available at launch.
I don't have a problem with the PS3 or the XBOX 360, they're just not for me. A lot of Slashdot feels the same way, probably because we don't sit in front of a videogame console as our primary means of entertainment.
Microsoft make a lousy OS, but nice applications. Why are they not selling proprietary software on Linux? They could have killed OpenOffice and ODF years ago if there had been a nice, decently-priced MSOffice for Linux.
I think it's simply because, at the end of the day, Windows is Microsoft's flagship product. Most of MS's software is geared toward Windows, with the notable exception of Office. If MS started offering all their products for Mac and Linux, other vendors would likely do the same, and then what reason would you have for purchasing Windows?
I have the Area 51 7700, and the battery life wasn't a big selling point for me, but it last about an hour when just browsing the web or something similar. When playing WoW with all the goodies turned up it's around 30 mins, but performance starts to go down hill rapidly at about 20 mins.
I got it as a desktop replacement that I could carry around when I wanted/need to though, so the battery life really isn't that important to me. If I need battery life I carry my Toshiba Portege which gets about 4 hours.
I carry the Alienware 2 days a week to school, and 5 days a week to work. It's a bit hefty, but I purchased the backpack alienware offers along with it, which makes if much easier to carry as opposed to a shoulder bag.
Developers and publishers are under no obligation to GIVE you NEW content for a game that you've purchased. If you have a 360, in addition to the FULL, REGULAR game you'll have the OPTION to purchase ADDITIONAL content.
I've put some of the words above in all caps. You should pay special attention to those, because you have obviously missed the point.
No, the only way a traceroute would reveal anything is if AT&T was routing traffic through the NSA. Even then the hops at the NSA wouldn't return any data. No most likely (didn't RTFA) what AT&T is doing is du plicating packets and sending those to the NSA who inspects them and disgards ones they don't find interesting.
No, the only way a traceroute would reveal anything is if AT&T was routing traffic through the NSA. Even then the hops at the NSA wouldn't return any data. No most likely (didn't RTFA) what AT&T is doing is du plicating packets and sending those to the NSA who inspects them and disgards ones they don't find interesting.
[ot] Actually, a bong and a bubbler are two different things, at least in the US. A Bong is (from dictionary.com)"A water pipe that consists of a bottle or a vertical tube partially filled with liquid and a smaller tube ending in a bowl". A Bubbler on the other hand is a small, hand held pipe that has a small resivoir under the bowl. Stupid kids, don't even know what their smoking out of.
My first box was a C-64, but I didn't really get into computers until I found an old (well really new then) 386 while dumpster diving. I didn't know much about computers at the time. Just what I had surmised from the schools computers and watching the techs work on those. Basically someone had thrown out a perfectly good 386 - the power cable had just come loose from the HD.
So now I had to get a modem. I found a huge stash (15) old cardinal 2400 baud industrial modems (big metal cases) and a couple of 9600s dumpster diving at an airport. I was the toast of all my geek friends because I had modems to give to everyone. We used them forever. We were all members on as many BBSes as we could find locally. We'd play LORD on every one of them. It was great.
We progressed to playing Warcraft on direct dial during the week, and on the weekends eveyone would bring their boxes over and we'd play over null modem cables. Pre-curser to the lan party I guess;-).
Rhombic called me an idiot. I didn't insult him. If Cindy Sheehan were here and she called me an asshole I'd say I deserved it for insulting her first.
I don't like Sheehan because she's an attention whore. She's done nothing but dishonor the memory of her son to make herself a political celebrity. Thats dispicable. If she's willing to exploit her dead son this makes me feel she is un-trustworthy. Thus anything she says I hold suspect until incontrovertible evidence shows otherwise.
About Hugo Chavez she said : "I admire him for his resolve against my government and its meddling". She admires a man who has been identified as a human rights violator by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. She admires a man who is involved in a case in the International Criminal Court for human rights violations.
"Step back and think about that statement for a second. Are you really, truly, sure you want to live society where the police can arrest you just because they think you're going to do something? Even when you haven't done anything yet? Anything illegal at all?"
Um, thats the way it is now, and the way it's always been. If the police suspect I am about to commit a crime that could result in public unrest, violence, or damage to property they can arrest me. A cop doesn't have to wait until you bust a window with a rock if he see what he thinks is you about to break a window, or shoot someone, or start a riot. Read up on "reasonable man standard".
I see you can't help but resort to name calling. Pretty mature. I would continue this debate, but you obviously can't do so as a grown up. You know you should probably run for office. You'd fit right in with the bickering partisians that are running this country into the ground.
I don't know what sort of tshirt Beverly Young wore, but it, by it's nature, was inappropriate. If it was a baseball tshirt, ok, inappropriate, but not disruptive. Sheehan and the lady with the Support our Troops shirts were being disruptive and the both should have been removed.
"It was an article that had Sheehan's description of what happened, not "assumptions" about what she did (some mainstream media reacted similarly to the way you did and exaggerated or made up statements about what happened.)"
So you're taking her word as the absolute truth, when you weren't there and didn't see it. I don't take her word for it, nor the officers. The Officer's holds a little more weight with me because Sheehan is a loon. Nothing coming out of her mouth would suprise me. I don't belive anything she says because of the things she's said in the past.
I'm not suprised that the police were watching her. She has a history of making trouble. The officer obviously thought that she was about to start some shit, so he arrested her and took her outside. It's her fault for wearing the stuipd shirt. That wasn't the time or the place for it.
I agree that the "support the troops" shirt could be construed as disruptive, same as Sheehan's shirt. The person wearing that shirt should have been removed - which they were. If Sheehan was complying with the officer and leaving without causing a scene - as she claims, then bad on the officer. They issued her an apology, so appearently this was the case. But it doesn't negate the fact that she wore that tshirt to cause a disruption and to get attention. A State of the Union Address is not the time, nor the place for such things. Had she stayed outside, I could have cared less about what she was wearing.
The Officer thought she was trying to cause a problem. Knowing her history, he reacted, and removed her. She could have been wearing a "Support Our Troops" or a "Bush is my God" shirt and this still would have happened because she wasn't wearing the same mode of dress (ie dress clothes) that a majority of the other people were. It was assumed she was goig to make trouble. Was the officer wrong? Yea, he could have handled it differently. He should have let her cause a big scene if she was going to and THEN arrested her. Was she wrong? Yep, she knew what she was doing was going to cause a fuss, thats why she did it. More attention for her. Had she not wanted attention she was have worn something that didn't draw attention.
No, and you have no idea what happened either. You weren't there. Neither was I. Neither were any of the people that are reporting on it. You're not going to get a straight story from her, she's an attention whore. She's going to say whatever makes her look good and the current administration look bad (worse).
Despite your attack on me I'll not retaliate. Please note however, I'm not a supporter of Bush. Sheehan however is a nutjob. Please read my replies to the other posts in this thread. I don't really feel like replying to democratic apologists. You're just as bad as the republican apologists.
I didn't deem Sheehan an asshat because of this incident. I deemed her an asshat long long ago. She was being disruptive. No question about it. Had she not wanted to be disruptive she would have not worn the shirt at all. The statement she was trying to make was a protest. Protest by definition is disruptful.
Who wears a Tshirt to an event like a State of the Union address anyway? She was being disrespectful to every other person in that room. An event like the State of the Union requires at least modicum of decorum, despite how you feel about the man giving the speech.
Further, if your going to link to a news story try to make it an unbiased one. The article you linked to was on a site that's about as biased as you can get.
I hate the right as much as the left, so please leave your republican apologist comments at the door...
I'd say that Sheehan was arrested while the "support the troops" person was escourted out is because Sheehan had to be an asshat about it. She probably caused a scene so they arrested her. The "support the troops" person likely left when asked.
'Course this is all speculation. But knowing Sheehans record I'd bet she was being very problamatic. Being problmatic with lots of senators/congressmen and the President around is a sure fire way to get your butt throw in the can.
Yep, but you have to have expert knowledge of hardware and the OS that runs on that hardware. Google (as reported by netcraft) is the most visited site on the internet. Have you ever seen it down? Have you ever seen it "slashdotted"? No. This points to excellent hardware/software engineering.
Many large companies "roll their own" linux and write their own tools. Google is just taking that one step further.
Samsung is a great company and the past 3 cellphones I've owned have been Samsungs.
I've never owned one of their TVs, but for TVs I have to reccomend Mitsubishi. My Dad's first bigscreen was a Mitsubishi Diamond Series in the early/mid-90s. When they moved in 2000 it was still going strong, but he wanted a wide-screen, so he sold it as part of the house. The new one is a 52" wide-screen and is great, but it's a monster (it's from 2000, what do you expect).
I just bought a http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/details.a sp?id=53 62" WD-62825 and it's super nice. Dad is a little envious, but his is still going strong. Everyone I've talked to in the home theater business recommends Mitsubishis.
Ouch, you pointed out that I didn't bother to proof my typeing Mr. Coward. Lord knows that smart people never make grammer or spelling errors. All you have proven is that I was to lazy to proof/spell check my post. Quit being pedantic.
I'd like to call bullshit on this post like a couple of other people have. Not that I think that the poster is lying, but I think that a large portion of discrimination is imagined because minorities are conditioned to think people are going to discriminate against them.
I've a personal example of this - myself. I grew up in a rural area where it wasn't hard to be of above average intellegence. Both my parents and my grand-parents are intellegent people and knew that education wasn't just school, but experiance. So they took me to art galleries, museums, their jobs, etc... so I could experiance things outside of my day to day life. Most of the kids I grew up with didn't have these oppertunities, so in addition to being of above average intellegence I was also fairly cosmopolitan. This pretty much made me an outcast. Further, because of my appitite for music I was listening to all kinds of stuff that kids in my area had never heard of (mainly old punk and industrial). I tended to dress in a manner similar to the fashion that these bands displayed in an area where wrangler jeans and cowboy boots was the norm. Yet another reason for persecution. By the time I got to college I had such a persecution complex that I was sure that everyone I met that was different than me was going to be close-minded and would hate me. It took me a while of living in the real world to realize that this simply isn't true and that people weren't reacting to my mode of dress or my intellegence, but rather my eliteism and my attitude.
The gentleman-parent-poster seems to suffer from the same affliction. In the movies people that are smart and persecuted tend to become mad scientists. In the real world they just become assholes.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps this genetleman lives in a small town and works for a small company where he really is the smartest person and all his co-workers and dumb racist rednecks. But I have one question about that. If this man is so smart and able, why isn't he surrounding himself with the same kind of people? If he's as good as he says he is, he would be working in a large company that LOVES intellegence and is blind to skin color.
Another personal example. The company I work for, which is very large and multi-national, has a very diverse technical staff. The networking group, for example, has only one white man in it. The rest are black Americans, a black jamacian, a gentleman from turkey, and an asian American. We have Chinese, Korean, an Angolan, Sweads, Russians, 2 Iranians (both women who both wear veils), Turks, Indians and a myriad of other people. My boss is a black man. His boss is a white woamn. Our VP is a black woman. We're mostly male, but we have the largest percentage of women in any IT department I've ever worked for.
If you're concentrating on race or any other minor thing that makes you "different" or another person "different" then you need to wake up. You're contributing to the problem. Only when EVERYONE, persecutor and persecutee alike stop seeing race, creed, religion, or whatever as a dividing line, rather than just seeing another person, will discrimination end.
Frankly, sir you're logic is flawed. You say people say things like "you wouldn't understand x because your black" but the whole point of your post seems to be "you wouldn't understand me because I'm black (or because I'm a "significant deviation from the norm.") but you're not. Your not the only man who has overcome diversity, or married outside his race, or done any of those things in addition to being highly intellegent. What makes you different is you expect to be treated special because of this. You're not special, or unique. Your a human being, just like everyone you work with. And if they discriminate against you, it's probably because you discriminate against them.
I often read things on Fark days before I read them on slashdot. If it's not directly related to science or technology news I can understand it. But it's pretty sad when Fark scoops slashdot on something that would be of keen intrest to the slashdot crowd by a couple of days.
Re:Big Brother and the iTunes Company
on
iTunes is Malware?
·
· Score: 1
You have a completely valid point, and I totally agree with you. I'm not arguing that this feature could be used to do something bad.
I'm arguing that there isn't anything dishonest going on here because Apple tell's you they are using info from your computer to recommend songs. They don't tell you if they store it and mine the hell out of it, but they none-the-less tell you they are taking it. If you are concerned they might do something nefarious with it you can disable it.
Re:Big Brother and the iTunes Company
on
iTunes is Malware?
·
· Score: 1
No. It's been demonstrated that people don't read click-throughs and EULAs. This is on one of the main feature pages for itunes in bold print. It's even in the very first paragraph of the page, not buried somewhere obscure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/playlists/
Slashdot Mirror
I've lived in the south my entire life, and as a whole, it's true that we typically say "coke" as a generic for carbonated soft drinks. However, I've never experianced anyone requesting a coke while wanting a 7-up or Orange Crush, etc... It's typically used more like saying "beer". "Let's grab a coke at the gas station" doesn't mean I want a coke, it means lets get a soft drink at the gas station. However, if I order a coke: "Waiter: And what would you like to drink? Me: A Coke." it doesn't mean I want an orange soda.
Man, do you think you could whine some more?
Did you ever think that the people that are excited about the Wii are genuinely excited as opposed to jumping on the band wagon?
I own a PS2 because there are a large number of games on it that I like and it was fairly cheap. I don't own an XBOX because there aren't any games on it I care for. I'm not interested in an XBOX 360 at all because of the lack of games I'd actually want to buy, and I'm not paying $600 for a PS3. If they made the PS3 $300 and there were more than 10 games I wanted I'd consider it.
The Wii on the other hand is going to be fairly cheap and there are DOZENS of games that I'll want to get, not including anything new that's released for it.
Graphics are awesome, and certainly have their place. But I'm not dropping a ton of cash on a PS3 or XBOX just for good graphics. The Wii has absolutely everything I could want in a console: classic games, "casual" games, and party games. The controller is just icing on the cake, and I'd buy the Wii even if the controller wasn't available at launch.
I don't have a problem with the PS3 or the XBOX 360, they're just not for me. A lot of Slashdot feels the same way, probably because we don't sit in front of a videogame console as our primary means of entertainment.
Microsoft make a lousy OS, but nice applications. Why are they not selling proprietary software on Linux? They could have killed OpenOffice and ODF years ago if there had been a nice, decently-priced MSOffice for Linux.
I think it's simply because, at the end of the day, Windows is Microsoft's flagship product. Most of MS's software is geared toward Windows, with the notable exception of Office. If MS started offering all their products for Mac and Linux, other vendors would likely do the same, and then what reason would you have for purchasing Windows?
I have the Area 51 7700, and the battery life wasn't a big selling point for me, but it last about an hour when just browsing the web or something similar. When playing WoW with all the goodies turned up it's around 30 mins, but performance starts to go down hill rapidly at about 20 mins.
I got it as a desktop replacement that I could carry around when I wanted/need to though, so the battery life really isn't that important to me. If I need battery life I carry my Toshiba Portege which gets about 4 hours.
I carry the Alienware 2 days a week to school, and 5 days a week to work. It's a bit hefty, but I purchased the backpack alienware offers along with it, which makes if much easier to carry as opposed to a shoulder bag.
And why post under a username when you can hide behind AC?
Want some cheese with that whine?
Developers and publishers are under no obligation to GIVE you NEW content for a game that you've purchased. If you have a 360, in addition to the FULL, REGULAR game you'll have the OPTION to purchase ADDITIONAL content.
I've put some of the words above in all caps. You should pay special attention to those, because you have obviously missed the point.
No, the only way a traceroute would reveal anything is if AT&T was routing traffic through the NSA. Even then the hops at the NSA wouldn't return any data. No most likely (didn't RTFA) what AT&T is doing is du plicating packets and sending those to the NSA who inspects them and disgards ones they don't find interesting.
No, the only way a traceroute would reveal anything is if AT&T was routing traffic through the NSA. Even then the hops at the NSA wouldn't return any data. No most likely (didn't RTFA) what AT&T is doing is du plicating packets and sending those to the NSA who inspects them and disgards ones they don't find interesting.
[ot] Actually, a bong and a bubbler are two different things, at least in the US. A Bong is (from dictionary.com)"A water pipe that consists of a bottle or a vertical tube partially filled with liquid and a smaller tube ending in a bowl". A Bubbler on the other hand is a small, hand held pipe that has a small resivoir under the bowl. Stupid kids, don't even know what their smoking out of.
j pg/ glass/bubbler_1.htm
Bong:
http://www.drbongs.com/acatalog/glass_bong_wb-17.
Bubbler:
http://www.drbongs.com/product_descriptions/pipes
My first box was a C-64, but I didn't really get into computers until I found an old (well really new then) 386 while dumpster diving. I didn't know much about computers at the time. Just what I had surmised from the schools computers and watching the techs work on those. Basically someone had thrown out a perfectly good 386 - the power cable had just come loose from the HD.
;-).
So now I had to get a modem. I found a huge stash (15) old cardinal 2400 baud industrial modems (big metal cases) and a couple of 9600s dumpster diving at an airport. I was the toast of all my geek friends because I had modems to give to everyone. We used them forever. We were all members on as many BBSes as we could find locally. We'd play LORD on every one of them. It was great.
We progressed to playing Warcraft on direct dial during the week, and on the weekends eveyone would bring their boxes over and we'd play over null modem cables. Pre-curser to the lan party I guess
Rhombic called me an idiot. I didn't insult him. If Cindy Sheehan were here and she called me an asshole I'd say I deserved it for insulting her first.
I don't like Sheehan because she's an attention whore. She's done nothing but dishonor the memory of her son to make herself a political celebrity. Thats dispicable. If she's willing to exploit her dead son this makes me feel she is un-trustworthy. Thus anything she says I hold suspect until incontrovertible evidence shows otherwise.
About Hugo Chavez she said : "I admire him for his resolve against my government and its meddling". She admires a man who has been identified as a human rights violator by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. She admires a man who is involved in a case in the International Criminal Court for human rights violations.
"Step back and think about that statement for a second. Are you really, truly, sure you want to live society where the police can arrest you just because they think you're going to do something? Even when you haven't done anything yet? Anything illegal at all?"
Um, thats the way it is now, and the way it's always been. If the police suspect I am about to commit a crime that could result in public unrest, violence, or damage to property they can arrest me. A cop doesn't have to wait until you bust a window with a rock if he see what he thinks is you about to break a window, or shoot someone, or start a riot. Read up on "reasonable man standard".
I see you can't help but resort to name calling. Pretty mature. I would continue this debate, but you obviously can't do so as a grown up. You know you should probably run for office. You'd fit right in with the bickering partisians that are running this country into the ground.
I don't know what sort of tshirt Beverly Young wore, but it, by it's nature, was inappropriate. If it was a baseball tshirt, ok, inappropriate, but not disruptive. Sheehan and the lady with the Support our Troops shirts were being disruptive and the both should have been removed.
"It was an article that had Sheehan's description of what happened, not "assumptions" about what she did (some mainstream media reacted similarly to the way you did and exaggerated or made up statements about what happened.)"
So you're taking her word as the absolute truth, when you weren't there and didn't see it. I don't take her word for it, nor the officers. The Officer's holds a little more weight with me because Sheehan is a loon. Nothing coming out of her mouth would suprise me. I don't belive anything she says because of the things she's said in the past.
I'm not suprised that the police were watching her. She has a history of making trouble. The officer obviously thought that she was about to start some shit, so he arrested her and took her outside. It's her fault for wearing the stuipd shirt. That wasn't the time or the place for it.
I agree that the "support the troops" shirt could be construed as disruptive, same as Sheehan's shirt. The person wearing that shirt should have been removed - which they were. If Sheehan was complying with the officer and leaving without causing a scene - as she claims, then bad on the officer. They issued her an apology, so appearently this was the case. But it doesn't negate the fact that she wore that tshirt to cause a disruption and to get attention. A State of the Union Address is not the time, nor the place for such things. Had she stayed outside, I could have cared less about what she was wearing.
The Officer thought she was trying to cause a problem. Knowing her history, he reacted, and removed her. She could have been wearing a "Support Our Troops" or a "Bush is my God" shirt and this still would have happened because she wasn't wearing the same mode of dress (ie dress clothes) that a majority of the other people were. It was assumed she was goig to make trouble. Was the officer wrong? Yea, he could have handled it differently. He should have let her cause a big scene if she was going to and THEN arrested her. Was she wrong? Yep, she knew what she was doing was going to cause a fuss, thats why she did it. More attention for her. Had she not wanted attention she was have worn something that didn't draw attention.
No, and you have no idea what happened either. You weren't there. Neither was I. Neither were any of the people that are reporting on it. You're not going to get a straight story from her, she's an attention whore. She's going to say whatever makes her look good and the current administration look bad (worse).
Despite your attack on me I'll not retaliate. Please note however, I'm not a supporter of Bush. Sheehan however is a nutjob. Please read my replies to the other posts in this thread. I don't really feel like replying to democratic apologists. You're just as bad as the republican apologists.
I didn't deem Sheehan an asshat because of this incident. I deemed her an asshat long long ago. She was being disruptive. No question about it. Had she not wanted to be disruptive she would have not worn the shirt at all. The statement she was trying to make was a protest. Protest by definition is disruptful.
Who wears a Tshirt to an event like a State of the Union address anyway? She was being disrespectful to every other person in that room. An event like the State of the Union requires at least modicum of decorum, despite how you feel about the man giving the speech.
Further, if your going to link to a news story try to make it an unbiased one. The article you linked to was on a site that's about as biased as you can get.
I hate the right as much as the left, so please leave your republican apologist comments at the door...
I'd say that Sheehan was arrested while the "support the troops" person was escourted out is because Sheehan had to be an asshat about it. She probably caused a scene so they arrested her. The "support the troops" person likely left when asked.
'Course this is all speculation. But knowing Sheehans record I'd bet she was being very problamatic. Being problmatic with lots of senators/congressmen and the President around is a sure fire way to get your butt throw in the can.
Yep, but you have to have expert knowledge of hardware and the OS that runs on that hardware. Google (as reported by netcraft) is the most visited site on the internet. Have you ever seen it down? Have you ever seen it "slashdotted"? No. This points to excellent hardware/software engineering.
Many large companies "roll their own" linux and write their own tools. Google is just taking that one step further.
Samsung is a great company and the past 3 cellphones I've owned have been Samsungs.
a sp?id=53 62" WD-62825 and it's super nice. Dad is a little envious, but his is still going strong. Everyone I've talked to in the home theater business recommends Mitsubishis.
I've never owned one of their TVs, but for TVs I have to reccomend Mitsubishi. My Dad's first bigscreen was a Mitsubishi Diamond Series in the early/mid-90s. When they moved in 2000 it was still going strong, but he wanted a wide-screen, so he sold it as part of the house. The new one is a 52" wide-screen and is great, but it's a monster (it's from 2000, what do you expect).
I just bought a http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/televisions/details.
Ouch, you pointed out that I didn't bother to proof my typeing Mr. Coward. Lord knows that smart people never make grammer or spelling errors. All you have proven is that I was to lazy to proof/spell check my post. Quit being pedantic.
touche'
I'd like to call bullshit on this post like a couple of other people have. Not that I think that the poster is lying, but I think that a large portion of discrimination is imagined because minorities are conditioned to think people are going to discriminate against them.
I've a personal example of this - myself. I grew up in a rural area where it wasn't hard to be of above average intellegence. Both my parents and my grand-parents are intellegent people and knew that education wasn't just school, but experiance. So they took me to art galleries, museums, their jobs, etc... so I could experiance things outside of my day to day life. Most of the kids I grew up with didn't have these oppertunities, so in addition to being of above average intellegence I was also fairly cosmopolitan. This pretty much made me an outcast. Further, because of my appitite for music I was listening to all kinds of stuff that kids in my area had never heard of (mainly old punk and industrial). I tended to dress in a manner similar to the fashion that these bands displayed in an area where wrangler jeans and cowboy boots was the norm. Yet another reason for persecution. By the time I got to college I had such a persecution complex that I was sure that everyone I met that was different than me was going to be close-minded and would hate me. It took me a while of living in the real world to realize that this simply isn't true and that people weren't reacting to my mode of dress or my intellegence, but rather my eliteism and my attitude.
The gentleman-parent-poster seems to suffer from the same affliction. In the movies people that are smart and persecuted tend to become mad scientists. In the real world they just become assholes.
Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps this genetleman lives in a small town and works for a small company where he really is the smartest person and all his co-workers and dumb racist rednecks. But I have one question about that. If this man is so smart and able, why isn't he surrounding himself with the same kind of people? If he's as good as he says he is, he would be working in a large company that LOVES intellegence and is blind to skin color.
Another personal example. The company I work for, which is very large and multi-national, has a very diverse technical staff. The networking group, for example, has only one white man in it. The rest are black Americans, a black jamacian, a gentleman from turkey, and an asian American. We have Chinese, Korean, an Angolan, Sweads, Russians, 2 Iranians (both women who both wear veils), Turks, Indians and a myriad of other people. My boss is a black man. His boss is a white woamn. Our VP is a black woman. We're mostly male, but we have the largest percentage of women in any IT department I've ever worked for.
If you're concentrating on race or any other minor thing that makes you "different" or another person "different" then you need to wake up. You're contributing to the problem. Only when EVERYONE, persecutor and persecutee alike stop seeing race, creed, religion, or whatever as a dividing line, rather than just seeing another person, will discrimination end.
Frankly, sir you're logic is flawed. You say people say things like "you wouldn't understand x because your black" but the whole point of your post seems to be "you wouldn't understand me because I'm black (or because I'm a "significant deviation from the norm.") but you're not. Your not the only man who has overcome diversity, or married outside his race, or done any of those things in addition to being highly intellegent. What makes you different is you expect to be treated special because of this. You're not special, or unique. Your a human being, just like everyone you work with. And if they discriminate against you, it's probably because you discriminate against them.
I often read things on Fark days before I read them on slashdot. If it's not directly related to science or technology news I can understand it. But it's pretty sad when Fark scoops slashdot on something that would be of keen intrest to the slashdot crowd by a couple of days.
You have a completely valid point, and I totally agree with you. I'm not arguing that this feature could be used to do something bad.
I'm arguing that there isn't anything dishonest going on here because Apple tell's you they are using info from your computer to recommend songs. They don't tell you if they store it and mine the hell out of it, but they none-the-less tell you they are taking it. If you are concerned they might do something nefarious with it you can disable it.
No. It's been demonstrated that people don't read click-throughs and EULAs. This is on one of the main feature pages for itunes in bold print. It's even in the very first paragraph of the page, not buried somewhere obscure. http://www.apple.com/itunes/playlists/
First paragraph. Last sentence. IN BOLD!