And, to add to that, even the people who are "victims" to those things that lead to such disclaimers don't even need them, in many cases. I'm sure the lady who scorched her crotch with coffee in her car knew full well that coffee is fucking hot and that she probably shouldn't hold it inbetween her legs in a moving vehicle. Then when she scorched her crotch she became very angry... but who does she blame? Of course not herself. I know! The McDonald's cup didn't say "Do not hold me in your crotch or I will burn it to hell", so I can sue them and get millions out of it, too!
But stupid disclaimers like that keep greedy/vengeful people from filing those kinds of lawsuits by removing the ambiguity.
So really it is merely an indication that our system of law is too welcoming of stupid lawsuits.
That's okay, I figured it was just that. The only real problem I had with the joke itself is that it was too obvious (like a joke Jay Leno would make).
Did you even see what I was replying to that led me to bring up "racial" stereotypes?
It doesn't appear you did, so here is the part that I responded to:
Most of the big mob bosses in America are Italian. Of those, a majority of them are Sicilian. That's not some sort of stereotype, it's a fact. Why don't you hold the Italians accountable for their actions...
Do you really not see a racial stereotype going on in that statement? If not, there's not really anything else I can say.
Well, the guy I was replying to was defending the joke under the premise that it was rooted in fact. I know it was just a joke, and although I don't care all that much, you have to come to grips with the fact that it is a racial stereotype, funny or not. We probably should be able to joke about these things, and even make ridiculous comments like the original joke, but people need to understand that a stereotype is just that. And truly applying it across the board is dangerous.
it wouldn't be funny if they were actually building a 3km bridge to drop bodies off of.
So let's say I get mugged by a black man someday, or even worse... I can now consider blacks to be a bunch of thieves and thugs?
This is what is going on if you can consider all Silicians (*living in Siciliy even*) to be mafia hitmen. Who cares if some or even all the mafia guys are Sicilian? Does that mean that most Sicilians are in the mafia? No. Hence the fact that it is a racial stereotype.
Most of the big mob bosses in America are Italian. Of those, a majority of them are Sicilian. That's not some sort of stereotype, it's a fact.
The whole thing that makes it a racist stereotype is taking the actions of a small minority from a group and attributing it unfairly to the entire group. Yes, there is an Italian mafia in the US, and perhaps many of those involved are Sicilian. Does this mean the people of Sicily are a bunch of mafia hitmen, and are running out of places to dump the bodies? You just said yourself that these were American mafia guys. Are you following me here?
Also, I wonder if it really is a fact that most American mafia guys are Sicilian. Do you even really know that to be a fact?
I predict that in the short term, English will continue to be the dominant language until we have the same kind of internationalization support for web pages that we have now in operating systems.
I think it will remain the dominant language even with this, simply because it is the dominant language anyway, Internet or not. The fortunate thing about the Internet starting out initially in English is that a lot of people knew it as their second language already.
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Re:Produce more energy than it uses?
on
Cradle to Cradle
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· Score: 2
Building buildings that produce more (presumably electrical) energy than they use doesn't require a violation of the 2nd law... just a little attention to detail.
Adding in "electrical" changes the meaning completely, and kills my joke (yes, it was supposed to be a joke). By using rainwater, sunlight, and wind, you are still taking in more energy than you are producing. You are just taking advantage of other prevalent energy sources that are normally wasted. Of course this is good.
Since you're the second person not to get the joke I'll just admit that it bombed.
=P
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Re:Produce more energy than it uses?
on
Cradle to Cradle
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· Score: 2
The book talks about putting solar panels on buildings. These fellas are really thinking clearly, please give them some credit and respect, no?
I was just making a joke because of the wording of the article here actually, don't worry.
It is physically impossible to produce more energy than you take in. If you have solar panels on a building, you are taking in that energy, so you aren't producing more than you are taking in. It just comes from the sun instead of a power plant. And I support ideas like that, of course.
Oh--and you might want to find a few other games that are considered "non-violent". All the ones you listed involve some type of guns/missiles/bombs and the destruction of other's in the game. Obviously, first-person shooters are out--but maybe Civilization or Starcraft? Yeah, I know these have war as part of the game--but the goal could be considered as more constructive than simply shooting others. Heck, even silly computer card games could be "options" but not played--so at least students would be given a choice (might help when that parent complains).
Why do this only for PR purposes? Since this is a school, and in some way interested in educating and stimulating the minds of kids, why in the world would you not have games that are educational?
Kids love video games. So use that to your advantage! Think about games like Civilization and Carmen Sandiego, and then there are games like Lemmings and The Incredible Machine. These games are a lot of fun AND are constructive (problem solving, world history/geography). There are probably newer games that are along these lines, but you get the idea. I loved these games as a kid, right up alongside of Megaman and Street Fighter. I think they can hold their own!
I don't think violent games are bad for kids, nor do I think that any game labelled "Educational" is good (the kid has to like it!)... but why not play something beneficial to the kids' education? Everybody wins.
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Produce more energy than it uses?
on
Cradle to Cradle
·
· Score: 2
Buildings should produce more energy than they use.
See? All he wants is for us to invent a perpetual motion machine. It's not so much to ask, we're just thinking about it wrong.
why do you think they charge for the player, something unheard of in other media formats.
That's funny, I didn't pay for mine. Yes, there is an upgrade to the pro version, which gives you video editing skills, importing features and the ability to watch the exclusive previews of Episode III when they come out.
Real has a pro version also that you would pay for, so... unheard of? I think not.
Why should I buy a copy of Pro when I won't need its features?
Actually.mp3 is the one that is not really fully logical. MP3 is MPEG-2 layer 3. It should be.mp2, or something. MPEG-4 ->.mp4 makes total and complete sense.
Let's move on with talking about the Mac platform, not the missteps of a website that talks about the Mac platform.
Why the heck shouldn't he mention where MacSlash has been relocated? A site that talks about Apple isn't close enough to "Apple" to be mentioned? Why does the subject matter have to be strictly the Mac platform and nothing in the periphery?
While it's not root, it's damn near as dangerous and has free reign to write to many parts of your drive that you probably wouldn't like it to.
Like what? The fact that this is an admin account means that they can create and delete user accounts. It also means that they can enter an admin password to install things (they are prompted each time). What are these "many parts" that they can just get into?
Apple probably should have made the default account a non-admin account. At least that way you would have to go through explicit authorization before writing to dangerous parts of the drive.
You do. If any program wants to get access to sensitive areas then you are prompted and must explicitly give an admin password.
Did you just hear this from some guy or what?
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Re:ways to tell you're not an average listener...
on
lowercase music
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· Score: 1
Mine too, that's the track that got me into Aphex Twin. I downloaded MP3s of that one and "Alberto Balsam" from someone on my college network a few years ago and it took off from there.
For systems that need security, I think the best plan is to force periodic password changes, disallow reusing old passwords, enforce a few simple rules on password creation (like the password can't appear in the dictionary)
Okay, that's good and all... except that the whole problem is that people don't remember their passwords. So by forcing periodic changes, the difficulty is increased, and you'll probably have an even better chance of people writing down their passwords.
Perhaps a safe can be broken into... but it's certainly tougher than "breaking into" a sticky note on a monitor or piece of paper in someone's pocket.
Nothing is totally secure, but if you know you are going to have to write down a password, maybe putting that paper in a safe will at least provide some protection.
Oh... well I was thinking more along the lines of it being in the same DVD. There would just be certain places where the two movies were different, and DVDs are capable of diverging in that way.
The gut feeling I had about this idea is that George wouldn't allow it. It seems like he wouldn't want to imply that any of his additions didn't improve on the original, because of his ego. Like, "why do you want to watch the original when I made it better?"
Slashdot Mirror
And, to add to that, even the people who are "victims" to those things that lead to such disclaimers don't even need them, in many cases. I'm sure the lady who scorched her crotch with coffee in her car knew full well that coffee is fucking hot and that she probably shouldn't hold it inbetween her legs in a moving vehicle. Then when she scorched her crotch she became very angry... but who does she blame? Of course not herself. I know! The McDonald's cup didn't say "Do not hold me in your crotch or I will burn it to hell", so I can sue them and get millions out of it, too!
But stupid disclaimers like that keep greedy/vengeful people from filing those kinds of lawsuits by removing the ambiguity.
So really it is merely an indication that our system of law is too welcoming of stupid lawsuits.
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Yes, and we hope that those on the more gullible end are not our journalists for major newspapers.
(That's the *real* context.)
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That's okay, I figured it was just that. The only real problem I had with the joke itself is that it was too obvious (like a joke Jay Leno would make).
Cheers,
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It doesn't appear you did, so here is the part that I responded to:
Do you really not see a racial stereotype going on in that statement? If not, there's not really anything else I can say.
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Don't worry, I won't reply again.
Aw crap. Sorry.
No? Sounds funny to me.
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So let's say I get mugged by a black man someday, or even worse... I can now consider blacks to be a bunch of thieves and thugs?
This is what is going on if you can consider all Silicians (*living in Siciliy even*) to be mafia hitmen. Who cares if some or even all the mafia guys are Sicilian? Does that mean that most Sicilians are in the mafia? No. Hence the fact that it is a racial stereotype.
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The whole thing that makes it a racist stereotype is taking the actions of a small minority from a group and attributing it unfairly to the entire group. Yes, there is an Italian mafia in the US, and perhaps many of those involved are Sicilian. Does this mean the people of Sicily are a bunch of mafia hitmen, and are running out of places to dump the bodies? You just said yourself that these were American mafia guys. Are you following me here?
Also, I wonder if it really is a fact that most American mafia guys are Sicilian. Do you even really know that to be a fact?
mark
I think it will remain the dominant language even with this, simply because it is the dominant language anyway, Internet or not. The fortunate thing about the Internet starting out initially in English is that a lot of people knew it as their second language already.
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Adding in "electrical" changes the meaning completely, and kills my joke (yes, it was supposed to be a joke). By using rainwater, sunlight, and wind, you are still taking in more energy than you are producing. You are just taking advantage of other prevalent energy sources that are normally wasted. Of course this is good.
Since you're the second person not to get the joke I'll just admit that it bombed.
=P
mark
I was just making a joke because of the wording of the article here actually, don't worry.
It is physically impossible to produce more energy than you take in. If you have solar panels on a building, you are taking in that energy, so you aren't producing more than you are taking in. It just comes from the sun instead of a power plant. And I support ideas like that, of course.
mark
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Why do this only for PR purposes? Since this is a school, and in some way interested in educating and stimulating the minds of kids, why in the world would you not have games that are educational?
Kids love video games. So use that to your advantage! Think about games like Civilization and Carmen Sandiego, and then there are games like Lemmings and The Incredible Machine. These games are a lot of fun AND are constructive (problem solving, world history/geography). There are probably newer games that are along these lines, but you get the idea. I loved these games as a kid, right up alongside of Megaman and Street Fighter. I think they can hold their own!
I don't think violent games are bad for kids, nor do I think that any game labelled "Educational" is good (the kid has to like it!)... but why not play something beneficial to the kids' education? Everybody wins.
mark
See? All he wants is for us to invent a perpetual motion machine. It's not so much to ask, we're just thinking about it wrong.
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Yes, "gay"... good point, Sir Dumbfuck.
Really? Are they threatening the lives of your loved ones as well, or just you personally?
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Yeah, sorry...
I don't know. I guess more than three letters are needed to distinguish all of these.
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Well, I guess my point was more that .mp4 wasn't obviously just cashing in on .mp3 in some way... the extensions are pretty dang confusing overall.
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That's funny, I didn't pay for mine. Yes, there is an upgrade to the pro version, which gives you video editing skills, importing features and the ability to watch the exclusive previews of Episode III when they come out.
Real has a pro version also that you would pay for, so... unheard of? I think not.
I don't know. Who is making you?
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Actually .mp3 is the one that is not really fully logical. MP3 is MPEG-2 layer 3. It should be .mp2, or something. MPEG-4 -> .mp4 makes total and complete sense.
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Why the heck shouldn't he mention where MacSlash has been relocated? A site that talks about Apple isn't close enough to "Apple" to be mentioned? Why does the subject matter have to be strictly the Mac platform and nothing in the periphery?
Get over it!
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Someone already has.
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Like what? The fact that this is an admin account means that they can create and delete user accounts. It also means that they can enter an admin password to install things (they are prompted each time). What are these "many parts" that they can just get into?
You do. If any program wants to get access to sensitive areas then you are prompted and must explicitly give an admin password.
Did you just hear this from some guy or what?
mark
Mine too, that's the track that got me into Aphex Twin. I downloaded MP3s of that one and "Alberto Balsam" from someone on my college network a few years ago and it took off from there.
mark
Okay, that's good and all... except that the whole problem is that people don't remember their passwords. So by forcing periodic changes, the difficulty is increased, and you'll probably have an even better chance of people writing down their passwords.
Perhaps a safe can be broken into... but it's certainly tougher than "breaking into" a sticky note on a monitor or piece of paper in someone's pocket.
Nothing is totally secure, but if you know you are going to have to write down a password, maybe putting that paper in a safe will at least provide some protection.
mark
Oh... well I was thinking more along the lines of it being in the same DVD. There would just be certain places where the two movies were different, and DVDs are capable of diverging in that way.
The gut feeling I had about this idea is that George wouldn't allow it. It seems like he wouldn't want to imply that any of his additions didn't improve on the original, because of his ego. Like, "why do you want to watch the original when I made it better?"
Hard to say.
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