I'm an American, veteran of the war in Iraq and the GWOT, and I vote Democratic. I cannot believe an adult would imply that John McCain is the Antichrist. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. Grow up.
Francis Henry New York, NY
I'm a European atheist, so for me the term antichrist does not evoke the same kind of emotional it might do for others. However, the fact that over here in almost all countries over 90% was in favor of Obama should tell you something about how the Republican party, Bush and the way they've been dealing with foreign relations is viewed.
McCain is , as far as I can tell, just a poor old guy who, as his campaign progressed, seemed to become less and less happy about the crap he had to spout to appeal to a certain part of the electorate. My referral to the antichrist was aimed at the organization he was representing and his pick for VP, not so much the poor sap himself.
Nevertheless, watching his principles fold under the strain of the campaign does make me very glad he didn't get elected. I have no qualm with a politician saying things I disagree with, so long as I'm convinced said politician truly believes in them. McCain never managed to convince me of that, and it only got worse with time.
I was working the Logitech helpdesk back then and this doesn't ring a bell whatsoever. As far as I can remember the software package with all the drivers was out pretty quickly after xp came out.
Why do you care how we look to the rest of the world? Let's worry about the problems in our country. I really don't give two shits about how some snoppy European views our country.
Great! Recall the troops from Afghanistan guys! The Yanks can handle it by themselves.
I have never seen such hysteria for a candidate in my life. With the type of overwrought messianic expectations that he faces, there is no way to go for Obama but down.
I'm not saying that he deserves it, but when these pie-in-the-sky types realize that he is human like the rest, and that he won't be able to wipe the tear from every eye, his approval rating will take a serious hit.
As far as a good part of the rest of the world...we don't think you elected a messiah. We're just glad you didn't elect the 3rd incarnation of the fucking antichrist.
Actually it is a somewhat useful setting for those of us who respect copyrights. Programs shouldn't revolve around making it easier for you to steal somebody's property and not get caught.
Really? It's a good idea to keep broadcasting to the world that you downloaded the completely legit amateur production JackandJillfromnextdoordothenasty[avi][xvid].torrent ?
So I can sue someone that destroys my ship in EVE?
If done ingame....no. That's the purpose of the game.
If I hack your account, or I physically threaten you to force you to hand over that faction-fitted Nightmare....then it's a criminal offense. According to this judge that would mean I not only committed the act of hacking or physical assault, but a form of theft as well.
On Slashdot we spend a lot of time complaining about clueless legislators introducing silly new laws for online situations.
This judge uses existing law and rules that there's really no difference between being forced at knifepoint to hand over your wallet or, in your example, your shiny new Dominix. Kinda makes sense, to be honest. Just because it has no real value in terms of real-life money, doesn't mean it doesn't have value for you or me.
So, your definition of accountability is that hundreds of people make off with millions of dollars and serve no jail time? Everyone who "indulged in that binge" is on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean, trying to figure out where they can spend the hundreds of millions of dollars they just swindled. If that's your definition of justice, you can keep it.
You elect the people that write the laws. You elect the people that hand a pile of billions to the banks. If those guys didn't break any laws, it's not them that are at fault for the current situation, it's the voters that keep electing folks based on whether they wear pins with the american flag, how shiny their teeth are and how well they are able to portray themselves as Joe Sixpack.
Governments are not some separate entity, they are an extension of the people they govern. Garbage in....garbage out.
Sorry, but as potentially interesting as that document may be, both its source and the sensational presentation kill its credibility right on the first page.
Besides, many techniques described in there are part of giving a good presentation. If I'm doing a Powerpoint for some hotshots in the company I'll employ similar techniques with regards to hand gestures and pacing to accentuate the message, nothing special about it.
Neither communism or socialism or capitalism or a democratic republic are free of negatives, but it is the communist and socialist systems that are so much more susceptible to corruption.
Why is it that people can't see the difference between the way the leadership is elected and the way the economics are handled? Are americans taught in school that socialism/communism are somehow the opposite of democracy? It's perfectly possible to have a democratic government in a socialist country, or a dictator running a free market.
Wikipedia is socialist in the sense that people freely share their assets(in the form of information). The difference with a country is that, unless I missed something, the leadership isn't elected.
Please, don't make BS assumptions. I don't lie about what I say, least you could do is be a little less ad hominem, eh?
You pretty much stated that all MMO's are grindfests you have to pay for, comparable to taxing people for air. Just how do you console that with your next post?
That is not the case with Wow, or Warhammer or any other mmo. The difference is those games (wow,warhammer, any pay or subscription mmo) are subsidizing their users to pay for the privilege to play an inevitable grind at the cost of the company's bandwidth. It's comparable to taxing people for air usage.
Just because you don't enjoy playing MMO's doesn't mean other people don't either, you know. Anything in particular happen to make you feel this way, or were you just unable to hook up with folks ingame?
Could you imagine the commander-in-chief of any country's armed forces being a declared tree-hugger or separatist?
Ehmm, yes, why not? If said commander-in-chief represents the wishes of the voting populace then so be it? Or is democracy only supposed to yield men-in-the-middle results?
When you torrent a game you first must endure a long wait(they're large) and then burn them to CD/DVD. And you must have necessary knowledge to do that. While with a bought CD/DVD you need to just put it in the drive. Also, for most people asking technical support will be more convenient than searching fan forums.
Actually, what you have to do is leave the pc running during dinner, mount the iso, install a crack and start playing. The amount of knowledge required can be obtained by a 10 year old in under an hour, not to mention nearly all decent pirate releases have a step by step included these days.
Whereas with a storebought game you have to do the research, deal with the conflicts arising from the DRM, not to mention the physical trip to the store.
Pirating is *more* convenient these days than buying a shiny disc in a store.
Yeah. At the macro-level, it makes no sense at all. Sex (consummation of a marriage) is supposed to be more committing than a plain marriage, which is a promise between two people for their commitment to each other. I am not referring to getting a piece of government piece, although that is what people assume marriage is about these days. Without commitment, and with people just having sex with whoever they like, the children will have to bear the pain later in life, in the form of parental neglects or abuses. I cannot see love in a sexual relationship that has no commitment.
Ah, but what you originally stated is that you could not imagine why people would engage in sex, the act of reproducing directly hardwired into our behavior since forever, before marriage, a complete artificial concept only thought up once we became intelligent.
Unless of course you believe we were plopped on the planet 6000 years ago, brains fully functional and all.
Are you trying to imply that call center drones have anything else to talk to each other about? In my experience, pretty much every conversation in a call center revolves around frustrations with the customers. If you don't spend enough time letting off steam by bitching about the customers, you'll eventually just bottle all that frustration in until you show up to work one day with a shotgun.
Luckily, I quit the call center business before I got to the shotgun stage. Lousiest 6 months of my life.
As someone who's been doing various aspects of CSR work for the last 9 years or so, 5 of which were on the actual phone, I can tell you there's lots more to talk about. Of course if you're working for the typical american style production-line setup where the sole function of the CSR is to serve as a barrier betweem the justifiably pissed off customer and the guys raking in the cash, then yeah, i can imagine it being the main topic of conversation. If you happen to work for a company that actually gives a damn, or in the case of outsourcing, a client that gives a damn, one might actually see subjects such as cool products, or gaming, or in the case of most of my co-workers...sex. And if you're really lucky...all 3 at the same time;-)
For the record, about 90% of those co-workers are women...
Slashdot Mirror
How about Bruce Perens running the good ol' NSA? :-)
I'm an American, veteran of the war in Iraq and the GWOT, and I vote Democratic. I cannot believe an adult would imply that John McCain is the Antichrist. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. Grow up.
Francis Henry
New York, NY
I'm a European atheist, so for me the term antichrist does not evoke the same kind of emotional it might do for others. However, the fact that over here in almost all countries over 90% was in favor of Obama should tell you something about how the Republican party, Bush and the way they've been dealing with foreign relations is viewed.
McCain is , as far as I can tell, just a poor old guy who, as his campaign progressed, seemed to become less and less happy about the crap he had to spout to appeal to a certain part of the electorate. My referral to the antichrist was aimed at the organization he was representing and his pick for VP, not so much the poor sap himself.
Nevertheless, watching his principles fold under the strain of the campaign does make me very glad he didn't get elected. I have no qualm with a politician saying things I disagree with, so long as I'm convinced said politician truly believes in them. McCain never managed to convince me of that, and it only got worse with time.
I was working the Logitech helpdesk back then and this doesn't ring a bell whatsoever. As far as I can remember the software package with all the drivers was out pretty quickly after xp came out.
Why do you care how we look to the rest of the world? Let's worry about the problems in our country. I really don't give two shits about how some snoppy European views our country.
Great! Recall the troops from Afghanistan guys! The Yanks can handle it by themselves.
I have never seen such hysteria for a candidate in my life. With the type of overwrought messianic expectations that he faces, there is no way to go for Obama but down.
I'm not saying that he deserves it, but when these pie-in-the-sky types realize that he is human like the rest, and that he won't be able to wipe the tear from every eye, his approval rating will take a serious hit.
As far as a good part of the rest of the world...we don't think you elected a messiah. We're just glad you didn't elect the 3rd incarnation of the fucking antichrist.
wow...individual music collections soon to be more valuable than a majority share in a major bank :-)
Actually it is a somewhat useful setting for those of us who respect copyrights. Programs shouldn't revolve around making it easier for you to steal somebody's property and not get caught.
Really? It's a good idea to keep broadcasting to the world that you downloaded the completely legit amateur production JackandJillfromnextdoordothenasty[avi][xvid].torrent ?
What level does Earth: Final Conflict [wikipedia.org] fit in?
As far as quality of the show was concerned.... -1 or lower.
God...the memories...why did you bring 'm back? :-(
Worst part was that I kept watching thinking it simply *had* to get better at some point...and then the last season started.
Antibiotics aren't even effective against a virus, which is what a cold is.
Afaik, cold = bacteria, flu = virus?
Not that I'd ever take anti-biotics for a cold, there's a reason mankind invented warm sweaters.
So I can sue someone that destroys my ship in EVE?
If done ingame....no. That's the purpose of the game.
If I hack your account, or I physically threaten you to force you to hand over that faction-fitted Nightmare....then it's a criminal offense. According to this judge that would mean I not only committed the act of hacking or physical assault, but a form of theft as well.
On Slashdot we spend a lot of time complaining about clueless legislators introducing silly new laws for online situations.
This judge uses existing law and rules that there's really no difference between being forced at knifepoint to hand over your wallet or, in your example, your shiny new Dominix. Kinda makes sense, to be honest. Just because it has no real value in terms of real-life money, doesn't mean it doesn't have value for you or me.
So, your definition of accountability is that hundreds of people make off with millions of dollars and serve no jail time? Everyone who "indulged in that binge" is on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean, trying to figure out where they can spend the hundreds of millions of dollars they just swindled. If that's your definition of justice, you can keep it.
You elect the people that write the laws. You elect the people that hand a pile of billions to the banks. If those guys didn't break any laws, it's not them that are at fault for the current situation, it's the voters that keep electing folks based on whether they wear pins with the american flag, how shiny their teeth are and how well they are able to portray themselves as Joe Sixpack.
Governments are not some separate entity, they are an extension of the people they govern. Garbage in....garbage out.
Sorry, but as potentially interesting as that document may be, both its source and the sensational presentation kill its credibility right on the first page.
Besides, many techniques described in there are part of giving a good presentation. If I'm doing a Powerpoint for some hotshots in the company I'll employ similar techniques with regards to hand gestures and pacing to accentuate the message, nothing special about it.
Neither communism or socialism or capitalism or a democratic republic are free of negatives, but it is the communist and socialist systems that are so much more susceptible to corruption.
Why is it that people can't see the difference between the way the leadership is elected and the way the economics are handled? Are americans taught in school that socialism/communism are somehow the opposite of democracy? It's perfectly possible to have a democratic government in a socialist country, or a dictator running a free market.
Wikipedia is socialist in the sense that people freely share their assets(in the form of information). The difference with a country is that, unless I missed something, the leadership isn't elected.
Please, don't make BS assumptions. I don't lie about what I say, least you could do is be a little less ad hominem, eh?
You pretty much stated that all MMO's are grindfests you have to pay for, comparable to taxing people for air. Just how do you console that with your next post?
That is not the case with Wow, or Warhammer or any other mmo. The difference is those games (wow,warhammer, any pay or subscription mmo) are subsidizing their users to pay for the privilege to play an inevitable grind at the cost of the company's bandwidth. It's comparable to taxing people for air usage.
Just because you don't enjoy playing MMO's doesn't mean other people don't either, you know. Anything in particular happen to make you feel this way, or were you just unable to hook up with folks ingame?
Could you imagine the commander-in-chief of any country's armed forces being a declared tree-hugger or separatist?
Ehmm, yes, why not? If said commander-in-chief represents the wishes of the voting populace then so be it? Or is democracy only supposed to yield men-in-the-middle results?
When you torrent a game you first must endure a long wait(they're large) and then burn them to CD/DVD. And you must have necessary knowledge to do that. While with a bought CD/DVD you need to just put it in the drive. Also, for most people asking technical support will be more convenient than searching fan forums.
Actually, what you have to do is leave the pc running during dinner, mount the iso, install a crack and start playing. The amount of knowledge required can be obtained by a 10 year old in under an hour, not to mention nearly all decent pirate releases have a step by step included these days.
Whereas with a storebought game you have to do the research, deal with the conflicts arising from the DRM, not to mention the physical trip to the store.
Pirating is *more* convenient these days than buying a shiny disc in a store.
Yeah. At the macro-level, it makes no sense at all. Sex (consummation of a marriage) is supposed to be more committing than a plain marriage, which is a promise between two people for their commitment to each other. I am not referring to getting a piece of government piece, although that is what people assume marriage is about these days. Without commitment, and with people just having sex with whoever they like, the children will have to bear the pain later in life, in the form of parental neglects or abuses. I cannot see love in a sexual relationship that has no commitment.
Ah, but what you originally stated is that you could not imagine why people would engage in sex, the act of reproducing directly hardwired into our behavior since forever, before marriage, a complete artificial concept only thought up once we became intelligent.
Unless of course you believe we were plopped on the planet 6000 years ago, brains fully functional and all.
Why would anyone engage in sexual activity before marriage is completely beyond me.
Woooooaaaah, did you just mean that? Like, seriously?
So they like to run backwards while firing in an FPS? Makes sense to me :)
Are you trying to imply that call center drones have anything else to talk to each other about? In my experience, pretty much every conversation in a call center revolves around frustrations with the customers. If you don't spend enough time letting off steam by bitching about the customers, you'll eventually just bottle all that frustration in until you show up to work one day with a shotgun.
Luckily, I quit the call center business before I got to the shotgun stage. Lousiest 6 months of my life.
As someone who's been doing various aspects of CSR work for the last 9 years or so, 5 of which were on the actual phone, I can tell you there's lots more to talk about. Of course if you're working for the typical american style production-line setup where the sole function of the CSR is to serve as a barrier betweem the justifiably pissed off customer and the guys raking in the cash, then yeah, i can imagine it being the main topic of conversation. If you happen to work for a company that actually gives a damn, or in the case of outsourcing, a client that gives a damn, one might actually see subjects such as cool products, or gaming, or in the case of most of my co-workers...sex. And if you're really lucky...all 3 at the same time ;-)
For the record, about 90% of those co-workers are women...
I would rather eat my own eyes than have to read this game's forums.
In that case don't go anywhere near Eve Online...
Oh, and we don't like people to do something to their own eyes, as we need the tearducts intact.
As a Dad who gave his two sons iPods and then saw them ignore his warnings not to crank them up so loud, this is a particularly sore point for me.
How about...you know...exercising your duty as a parent and do something about it instead of waiting for some guy to sue Jobs?
Nice benefit of a good flick around the ear is that it makes using earbuds quite painful for a while.
The only real power any of these Czars have is to spend taxpayer money like it's (insert a fitting metaphor here).
1999?
do you honestly believe that a man capable of stimulating every erogenic zone of a woman *at the same time* wouldn't get the opportunity to breed? ;-)