Screening Soldiers
on
Brain Privacy
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
"Could soldiers be screened for homosexuality?"
No, because that violates the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regulation. Half of that policy is "Don't Ask."
Of course, screening someone's brain with that kind of precision will probably tell you that homosexuality has little impact in one's ability to serve in the military.
Re:This is scary, or is it just over-reaction?
on
Brain Privacy
·
· Score: 1
"Get a search warrant or get the hell out."
They're the ones paying you money. If anybody is going to "get the hell out," it will be you, not your employer. While you have a right to say "no" to screening, they also have the right to fire you for saying "no." Deal with it.
"to test people with no Probable Cause whatsoever"
They're not a government agency, they're a private business. They won't be depriving you of life, liberty or property, just depriving you of employment.
Re:Got a whole lotta hype
on
Brain Privacy
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
"Chemical screens for drug metabolites say absolutely nothing about whether you are a safety issue."
If you see no problem with either violating state and federal laws or ignoring medical reccomendations just to feel good, why should a potential employer believe you would pay any attention to company and government health and safety requirements?
"If that was the issue, impairment tests would be used."
Impairment tests only tell employers about the here and now. Potential employers aren't interested in if you can show one sober on one particular day to pass a test, they're more concerned about a pattern of use over the course of weeks and months, which chemical screening is much better at spotting. Passing a breathalizer doesn't mean you never drive drunk.
"Drug screens are about what you're doing in your own time"
But what you're doing "on your own time" does have effects on the employer's time. And again, why should a potential employer believe that it's only on your own time? If you're having difficulty not breaking the law, why wouldn't you violate company policy?
"Game & Watch Gallery series brings their 1980s Game & Watch devices to the GameBoy and then GameBoy Color and then GameBoy Advance."
Ignoring all the information and history put into the carts as well as the modern touch-ups (something Squaresoft only recently figured out how to do), consider all the gamers that never lived in the 1980's, let alone heard of the phrase "Game & Watch."
The keychains you mention weren't produced by Nintendo. The manufacturer licensed the games and the Game Boy Pocket image.
"E-Reader cards with rehashed NES games."
Little more than a perk on top of the device's main focus on more innovative uses, such as Pokemon-e, Animal Crossing-e and Mario Party-e. Note the way NOA waited until they were able to get the link cable to work with the e-Reader before releasing it, a feature none of the NES re-releases make use of.
And how much income can they be making when the games are only $5.00 a pop?
"SNES games reworked for the GBA, including a remake of SNES Zelda."
Games that have been out of publication for a decade or so. The Zelda franchise is 17 years old and A Link to the Past itself is 12.
"Port of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a bonus for GameCube Zelda preorders"
A freebie gimmick originally intended to boost pre-sales of Wind Waker, now used as a freebie gimmick to sell consoles and Nintendo Power subscriptions. It's difficult to say that Nintendo is making any money on this game directly.
"Remake of Resident Evil for GameCube using all new graphics and some new features."
Something to go along with Resident Evil 0 without requiring gamers to go out and buy a competing console. At any rate, you seem to beconfusing Nintendo with Capcom. They're not the same thing, despite recent "megaton" rumors.
I fail to see how the copyrights are able "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" if all the copyright does is keep things out of publication...
Personally, I would have gone with the barcode system. The expensive RFID tagger either has to be moved to the merchandise (and potentially dropped and broken in the process) or have all the merchandise brought to it (which itself could be a nightmare). The barcode reader may be expensive, but you never have to move it.
"And yet the press got hold of Clinton as soon as they knew he was getting his willy sucked."
Except when he was saying "Hey! Look! I'm bombing Baghdad/Khartoum/Kabul/Belgrade!" And he did manage to slide that whole PNTR with PRC through fairly quietly. It could be said that the press only got wise on Clinton's big scandal after they got used to the way he operated for over five years.
And even then, the press helped push the idea that the impeachment proceedings were "He got a blowjob!" and not "He committed perjury in a criminal trial against himself and used his power as president to try to cover it up!"
"The point is, it hasn't been since Maccarthy"
Then you should be heartened by what both the press and the Senate eventually did to McCarthy.
"The ping denial doesn't work, which is good because a port scan found some pretty interesting things, including this string in the TCP/IP fingerprint: 'i586-pc-linux-gnu'. Does that mean Microsoft must provide Linux source to purchasers of this product?"
I'm thinking "no." Ping denial also doesn't work on my XP Pro box running ICP, so it sounds like the router is running Microsoft's own software. I doubt a router running Linux would have that problem.
"However, recently the Bush Administration has stated that it is unacceptable if the Iraqi people attempt to build an Islamic government (like that in Iran)."
You're twisting words to an extent. The Bush Administration is against the formation of an "Islamic Republic" like Iran, one where the only real government is what the religious leaders say. The current vision is for an "Islamic Democracy," where the Iraqis, unlike the Iranians (or any other of Iraq's neighbors save Turkey), have real say in what happens in their government.
Also, in many ways the call for shaping Iraq in the image of Iran comes from within Tehran itself, which really doesn't fall into the "Iraq for Iraqis" vision, IMNSHO. Even various Iraqi Shi'a leaders who are outspoken opponents of US/UK "occupation" are against the idea of modeling their government on Iran's.
"I hear also abortion is now illegal there, thanks to G.W."
Assuming you're not just talking out of your rear end...
And this has nothing to do with local interpretation of Islamic scripture how? Can you think of other countries whose form of government has "Islamic" in the name that allow abortions?
"This is an administration which plays the press perfectly and gets away with an astounding amount of this bullshit."
You do realize, of course, that you are talking about every White House administration since at the very least McKinley? And I can think of a few Nineteenth Century examples as well.
The thing is, if you're going to find that particular strip of Penny Arcade "creepy and offensive," you're bound to find the whole darned strip is in that category and wouldn't be reading it to begin with. This just fuels my little conspiracy theory that whoever this "concerned citizen" is has an agenda against either PA in general or that strip in particular.
But they probably won't get any money the next time they want to send you a card, or the time after that, or the time after that, or...
"Probably won't get a complaint from your friend/relative anyway (in fact, they're more likely to complain to you)"
If they can't accept that you're taking a political stand on an issue that's important to you, then you should probably reconsider whether you really want this person sending you cards to begin with.
"Will probably have a fairly large non-slashdot-reading consumer base."
Sending the card back is an easy and probably effective method way to get the word out about AG's actions to the non-Slashdot-reading crowd.
"if you really must do something, just don't buy the damn things yourself!"
What part of "aside from" hare you having trouble with? My idea is to not only to not buy the cards myself, but also to make sure nobody I know buys them in the future as well.
"They'd probably have a strong legal leg to stand on if McGee came to them with a lawsuit."
But American McGee knows better than to alienate the vast majority of their customer base by getting a bad rep on both Penny Arcade and Slashdot.
Which brings up an interesting question: How exactly did American Greetings discover the specific Penny Arcade strip to begin with? I don't believe the text "Strawberry Shortcake" appeared anywhere on the website before AG sent out the C&D letter; It only appeared within the image itself. So either AG has an extremely good search engine they're hogging for themselves, or somebody tipped them off.
"a class of people who do nothing but argue the meaning(s) of poorly written rules."
"The really smart people (physicists, chemists, et al.) look down on lawyers. You should too."
If you think you can do a better job, why don't you do it yourself? Or are you too busy looking down your nose to realize that somebody has to do it and that, if you do nothing but bitch and moan without even bothering to vote, you deserve whatever you get?
Aside from the usual "don't buy anything from these people," it seems the easiest and surest way to get the word out is to refuse any mail with AG's logo on the envelope. Just write "Refused, return to sender" along with a note on the envelope that says something to the effect of "Nothing personal, I'm just boycotting the publishers of this card."
Slashdot Mirror
"Could soldiers be screened for homosexuality?"
No, because that violates the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regulation. Half of that policy is "Don't Ask."
Of course, screening someone's brain with that kind of precision will probably tell you that homosexuality has little impact in one's ability to serve in the military.
"Get a search warrant or get the hell out."
They're the ones paying you money. If anybody is going to "get the hell out," it will be you, not your employer. While you have a right to say "no" to screening, they also have the right to fire you for saying "no." Deal with it.
"to test people with no Probable Cause whatsoever"
They're not a government agency, they're a private business. They won't be depriving you of life, liberty or property, just depriving you of employment.
"Chemical screens for drug metabolites say absolutely nothing about whether you are a safety issue."
If you see no problem with either violating state and federal laws or ignoring medical reccomendations just to feel good, why should a potential employer believe you would pay any attention to company and government health and safety requirements?
"If that was the issue, impairment tests would be used."
Impairment tests only tell employers about the here and now. Potential employers aren't interested in if you can show one sober on one particular day to pass a test, they're more concerned about a pattern of use over the course of weeks and months, which chemical screening is much better at spotting. Passing a breathalizer doesn't mean you never drive drunk.
"Drug screens are about what you're doing in your own time"
But what you're doing "on your own time" does have effects on the employer's time. And again, why should a potential employer believe that it's only on your own time? If you're having difficulty not breaking the law, why wouldn't you violate company policy?
"Game & Watch Gallery series brings their 1980s Game & Watch devices to the GameBoy and then GameBoy Color and then GameBoy Advance."
Ignoring all the information and history put into the carts as well as the modern touch-ups (something Squaresoft only recently figured out how to do), consider all the gamers that never lived in the 1980's, let alone heard of the phrase "Game & Watch."
The keychains you mention weren't produced by Nintendo. The manufacturer licensed the games and the Game Boy Pocket image.
"E-Reader cards with rehashed NES games."
Little more than a perk on top of the device's main focus on more innovative uses, such as Pokemon-e, Animal Crossing-e and Mario Party-e. Note the way NOA waited until they were able to get the link cable to work with the e-Reader before releasing it, a feature none of the NES re-releases make use of.
And how much income can they be making when the games are only $5.00 a pop?
"SNES games reworked for the GBA, including a remake of SNES Zelda."
Games that have been out of publication for a decade or so. The Zelda franchise is 17 years old and A Link to the Past itself is 12.
"Port of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a bonus for GameCube Zelda preorders"
A freebie gimmick originally intended to boost pre-sales of Wind Waker, now used as a freebie gimmick to sell consoles and Nintendo Power subscriptions. It's difficult to say that Nintendo is making any money on this game directly.
"Remake of Resident Evil for GameCube using all new graphics and some new features."
Something to go along with Resident Evil 0 without requiring gamers to go out and buy a competing console. At any rate, you seem to beconfusing Nintendo with Capcom. They're not the same thing, despite recent "megaton" rumors.
I fail to see how the copyrights are able "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" if all the copyright does is keep things out of publication...
When I saw "frames patent," I immediately thought "Layer 2 PDUs." Now that patent would be a cash cow...
"I remember first seeing something like this on Star Wars when I was kid ... now it's really happening. Life imitates art. ;)"
Me-sa be wishing you not saying that...
At least they're not trying to get me to look at their webcam...
Then the question is "Would people think you're gay?"
Personally, I would have gone with the barcode system. The expensive RFID tagger either has to be moved to the merchandise (and potentially dropped and broken in the process) or have all the merchandise brought to it (which itself could be a nightmare). The barcode reader may be expensive, but you never have to move it.
"And yet the press got hold of Clinton as soon as they knew he was getting his willy sucked."
Except when he was saying "Hey! Look! I'm bombing Baghdad/Khartoum/Kabul/Belgrade!" And he did manage to slide that whole PNTR with PRC through fairly quietly. It could be said that the press only got wise on Clinton's big scandal after they got used to the way he operated for over five years.
And even then, the press helped push the idea that the impeachment proceedings were "He got a blowjob!" and not "He committed perjury in a criminal trial against himself and used his power as president to try to cover it up!"
"The point is, it hasn't been since Maccarthy"
Then you should be heartened by what both the press and the Senate eventually did to McCarthy.
"The ping denial doesn't work, which is good because a port scan found some pretty interesting things, including this string in the TCP/IP fingerprint: 'i586-pc-linux-gnu'. Does that mean Microsoft must provide Linux source to purchasers of this product?"
I'm thinking "no." Ping denial also doesn't work on my XP Pro box running ICP, so it sounds like the router is running Microsoft's own software. I doubt a router running Linux would have that problem.
"However, recently the Bush Administration has stated that it is unacceptable if the Iraqi people attempt to build an Islamic government (like that in Iran)."
You're twisting words to an extent. The Bush Administration is against the formation of an "Islamic Republic" like Iran, one where the only real government is what the religious leaders say. The current vision is for an "Islamic Democracy," where the Iraqis, unlike the Iranians (or any other of Iraq's neighbors save Turkey), have real say in what happens in their government.
Also, in many ways the call for shaping Iraq in the image of Iran comes from within Tehran itself, which really doesn't fall into the "Iraq for Iraqis" vision, IMNSHO. Even various Iraqi Shi'a leaders who are outspoken opponents of US/UK "occupation" are against the idea of modeling their government on Iran's.
"I hear also abortion is now illegal there, thanks to G.W."
Assuming you're not just talking out of your rear end...
And this has nothing to do with local interpretation of Islamic scripture how? Can you think of other countries whose form of government has "Islamic" in the name that allow abortions?
"This is an administration which plays the press perfectly and gets away with an astounding amount of this bullshit."
You do realize, of course, that you are talking about every White House administration since at the very least McKinley? And I can think of a few Nineteenth Century examples as well.
"But as the section grows, we expect that readers will use the Games Submissions Bin to submit stories directly to Simoniker and CowboyNeal."
Which means each article will be posted by Simoniker and CowboyNeal.
"Slashdot has about the ugliest layout of any major site out there."
Which explains why this is your 2556th post here.
6) Matches the color of my GameCube.
"that's a smooth move by some concerned citizen."
The thing is, if you're going to find that particular strip of Penny Arcade "creepy and offensive," you're bound to find the whole darned strip is in that category and wouldn't be reading it to begin with. This just fuels my little conspiracy theory that whoever this "concerned citizen" is has an agenda against either PA in general or that strip in particular.
"Already have your friend/relative's money"
But they probably won't get any money the next time they want to send you a card, or the time after that, or the time after that, or...
"Probably won't get a complaint from your friend/relative anyway (in fact, they're more likely to complain to you)"
If they can't accept that you're taking a political stand on an issue that's important to you, then you should probably reconsider whether you really want this person sending you cards to begin with.
"Will probably have a fairly large non-slashdot-reading consumer base."
Sending the card back is an easy and probably effective method way to get the word out about AG's actions to the non-Slashdot-reading crowd.
"if you really must do something, just don't buy the damn things yourself!"
What part of "aside from" hare you having trouble with? My idea is to not only to not buy the cards myself, but also to make sure nobody I know buys them in the future as well.
"They'd probably have a strong legal leg to stand on if McGee came to them with a lawsuit."
But American McGee knows better than to alienate the vast majority of their customer base by getting a bad rep on both Penny Arcade and Slashdot.
Which brings up an interesting question: How exactly did American Greetings discover the specific Penny Arcade strip to begin with? I don't believe the text "Strawberry Shortcake" appeared anywhere on the website before AG sent out the C&D letter; It only appeared within the image itself. So either AG has an extremely good search engine they're hogging for themselves, or somebody tipped them off.
That, or she'd be happy that you're doing something vaguely meaningful in your life.
"a class of people who do nothing but argue the meaning(s) of poorly written rules."
"The really smart people (physicists, chemists, et al.) look down on lawyers. You should too."
If you think you can do a better job, why don't you do it yourself? Or are you too busy looking down your nose to realize that somebody has to do it and that, if you do nothing but bitch and moan without even bothering to vote, you deserve whatever you get?
"However, because they're using a third party's intellectual property in the context of the parody, it's a little fuzzier."
On the other hand, it's a piece of intellectual property the owners haven't done anything with for, what, 15 or 20 years?
Aside from the usual "don't buy anything from these people," it seems the easiest and surest way to get the word out is to refuse any mail with AG's logo on the envelope. Just write "Refused, return to sender" along with a note on the envelope that says something to the effect of "Nothing personal, I'm just boycotting the publishers of this card."