Montgomery Ward, more often called Monkey Wards. My dad was a district manager for 'em back in the 1950s/60s. So your granddad saw to it that my dad got a paycheck. How's THAT for very few degrees of separation?!!
I know nothing about COBOL, and I learned FORTRAN 4 in high school... but your post made me wonder -- is dBase's programming language descended from COBOL at all? I don't know what made me have that thought, since I don't speak dBase either, tho have been exposed to it a few times.
"Sweep away the conditions and install a Dictatorship so far has proven the rule for any revolution that involves violence."
I would revise that slightly, thus:
Sweep away the conditions and install a Dictatorship so far has proven the rule for any revolution that involves violence AGAINST THE EXISTING RULING CLASS (or any class viewed as "privileged").
Unless you don't think the American Revolution involved violence?;) But it wasn't just a bloody purge, which is what most "revolutions" really are. And while I'd agree America has fallen a long way from its initial freedoms, what you and Marx are evidently talking about is a dictatorship immediately following said violent revolution.
I always think of the French Revolution as the quintessential bad example, tho I'm sure there are plenty more.
I read your other posts:) Very well said, both the above and the one about parents vs friends. Can't really improve on either!
Another factor: The "father, mother, and kids, no one else" nuclear family is a recent anomaly, a side effect of the industrial revolution, which financially enabled the nuclear family. Previously, the human social norm across all of history was the extended family, usually with a grandparent or two and a couple of elder aunts or uncles in residence. This provided both a more-experienced counter to New Parent Syndrome, and a "safe haven" for the youngest generation. I don't think it's coincidence that the prevalence of the independent nuclear family parallels the rise of the nanny state -- young parents now drive the culture (and therefore the law), but they lack grandpa's level of experience with the world, so EVERYTHING is a threat yet they still want grandpa to SAVE them from it. In short, I think it's frustrated (thus twisted) social instinct at work.
See, that's one of the problems between parents and kids. Even if the parent isn't an asshole, even if they have the BEST of intentions, they're usually *judgmental*, and that's what kids find impossible to take. So they talk to their peers instead, or talk within a "safe" (read: free of parental *judgment*) fantasy environment like Myspace, or (probably the worst case for the kid) don't talk at all to anyone.
So... if your kid isn't talking to you, consider that maybe your own attitude is driving them elsewhere, because you're not SAFE to talk to about things that matter to kids (often the very things adults will most penalize kids for doing or saying), because when the kid comes to you, he "knows" you'll react negatively. (Even if it's not so, that may be how the kid FEELS.)
And no, I'm not talking about boundaries or punishment for misdeeds (both of which are good and necessary to guide a kid into responsible adulthood). I'm talking about whether the kid feels like his parent is a safe harbour, even when he's sinking fast.
I swear there's a Stupid Gene that turns on when a person becomes a parent, that makes them forget how much it sucked to be a kid!
Not only a chilling effect on free speech, but also on the freedom to think contrary thoughts, as we're trained, a little more with each generation, NEVER to think thoughts that might be hateful to [insert current victim-complex group here].
You are so right. If this case goes forward, we are all in deep shit.
Anonymity and pseudonyms -- gone. Freedom of speech -- curtailed to only what cannot get you into trouble, were you known to be the speaker. Whistle-blowing -- a thing of the past.
And responsibility for another's actions -- where does it end? not only the serious cases like this one, but the frivolous (your insults damaged my self-esteem) or purely moneygrubbing (news reports sharp drop in the DOW, I sold my stocks at a loss, DOW goes back up, now I sue news for making me lose money).
Yet another extension of the nanny state, removing our ability to be responsible for our own actions.
"By using the MySpace Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the MySpace Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation."
This girl was 13 years old, correct??
So she must have also been misrepresenting herself, yes??
And what if it were in meatspace? Do we prosecute every kid who ends a harangue at another kid with "go kill yourself"?? (Given that, very rarely, the 2nd kid will, uh, follow that advice.) I don't think it's relevant that it was online or even that it was a fake identity. Posit that it was a real kid in meatspace, saying the exact same things to the girl, with the same result -- does that make the posited real kid responsible for her suicide?? ie. does it make that murder? if not, then why is it different because it's a fake boy online?
But as the EFF points out, this isn't really what it's about -- the family can file a wrongful death lawsuit if it's about punishment. The problem is that as it's being pursued, it's about whether a TOS can trump anonymity in the form of a pseudonyn, and turn this form of anonymity into a felony.
How many people here have never used anything but their real names online?? How many current users of MySpace and the like are actually registered under real names?? You with the aliases, into the jail cell!!
"This is an adult who pushed a minor, with malice aforethought, into a high state of agitation and personal anguish. In my mind, that's straight up child abuse."
Many parents do that with some regularity. It's not good parenting, but in one form or another it's common as dirt.
So... how do you propose to outlaw bad parenting??
Someone else also expressed astonishment that it didn't fragment.. and I admit I'd expected it to break completely in half. But it didn't, and here we are today discussing it.:)
Could be, tho I've found old silver like this that no one has touched in years -- and skin oil does oxidize over time itself (that's what makes stored clothes sometimes smell nasty). And as I recall from polishing my mom's silver as a kid -- where you touch it tends to oxidize FIRST. So -- probably not skin oil!
Has to be the result of contact with some chemical, but the question is what and when?
I did worry about that, but amazingly, it didn't even rattle in the drive. The break was so clean that it wasn't immediately obvious -- neither I nor the librarian at the checkout counter noticed it, but it probably explains why someone had abandoned it on a table far from the CD rack.
Proved to be a pretty good foot-stompin' country album, so was worth the bother:)
Good to know it works. Yes, well worth it for a disk that would be tough to replace, either for availability or price. I think I'd try ripping it first, tho, just in case (as someone else said can happen) the machine EATS the disk.
I've gotten a couple DVDs from the library that were completely unwatchable, to the point that they'd lock up PowerDVD solid from hardware errors. On a whim I ran one through some basic DVD ripping app, and got a complete perfect watchable copy -- tho it took 14 hours, and the logfile recorded something like 20,000 retries -- no freakin' wonder it wouldn't play!! the disk didn't LOOK bad, no significant scratches either. Might be the media was starting to break down, which obviously no amount of polishing will fix.:(
Yikes! the tests I read of were short-term, nothing like overnight. Red Alert, indeed!!
I've had drives that don't spin down when idle... main reason I never leave a disk in those drives is because they get VERY hot after a couple hours of useless spinning. I expect your friend's drive did the same, and that much prolonged heat certainly could start microcracks in a disk, which over time become macrocracks and shrapnel.
[thinking] My Plextor CDRWs are the ones I had that didn't spin down when idle (they've all been retired in favour of LiteOn DVD-RW units). All my LiteOns DO spin down after a few minutes without being accessed, even when the machine is sitting in plain DOS. Suddenly this sounds like a wonderful safety feature, not to mention easier on the lifespan of the disks themselves.
I don't know about Soft Scrub on CDs, but I can tell you that Amway's soft-scrub product 'guaranteed not to scratch' RUINED the surface on my brand new enamel sink.
Paper towels can scratch them. Use microfibre towels instead -- they do a really good job, especially when brand new (don't seem to work as well once they've been washed). Bonus: they last longer and re-use better than paper towels;)
I've managed to get library CDs to playable condition by polishing them with a brand new microfibre cloth (once the cloth has been washed, it doesn't seem to work so well anymore) -- so I'm wondering if dirt/grease in the scratches is as much of a culprit as the scratches themselves.
The most amazing library disk encountered to date: broken clear from edge to middle. It wouldn't play, but it DID rip nice and clean.
I recall reading somewhere that this works because the timeout on SCSI is handled differently, so it just keeps grinding away til it has the data, rather than giving up. Might be settable on the SCSI controller??
I'm also wondering if something like Ghost could be used in "get every last bit" mode. With Ghost, I managed to copy all the data 100% INTACT from a failed HD (disk surface apparently had a major problem, as even low-level disk tools would not touch it), tho it took a full day to pull 200mb of data.
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Montgomery Ward, more often called Monkey Wards. My dad was a district manager for 'em back in the 1950s/60s. So your granddad saw to it that my dad got a paycheck. How's THAT for very few degrees of separation?!!
I know nothing about COBOL, and I learned FORTRAN 4 in high school... but your post made me wonder -- is dBase's programming language descended from COBOL at all? I don't know what made me have that thought, since I don't speak dBase either, tho have been exposed to it a few times.
"Sweep away the conditions and install a Dictatorship so far has proven the rule for any revolution that involves violence."
I would revise that slightly, thus:
Sweep away the conditions and install a Dictatorship so far has proven the rule for any revolution that involves violence AGAINST THE EXISTING RULING CLASS (or any class viewed as "privileged").
Unless you don't think the American Revolution involved violence? ;) But it wasn't just a bloody purge, which is what most "revolutions" really are. And while I'd agree America has fallen a long way from its initial freedoms, what you and Marx are evidently talking about is a dictatorship immediately following said violent revolution.
I always think of the French Revolution as the quintessential bad example, tho I'm sure there are plenty more.
I read your other posts :) Very well said, both the above and the one about parents vs friends. Can't really improve on either!
Another factor: The "father, mother, and kids, no one else" nuclear family is a recent anomaly, a side effect of the industrial revolution, which financially enabled the nuclear family. Previously, the human social norm across all of history was the extended family, usually with a grandparent or two and a couple of elder aunts or uncles in residence. This provided both a more-experienced counter to New Parent Syndrome, and a "safe haven" for the youngest generation. I don't think it's coincidence that the prevalence of the independent nuclear family parallels the rise of the nanny state -- young parents now drive the culture (and therefore the law), but they lack grandpa's level of experience with the world, so EVERYTHING is a threat yet they still want grandpa to SAVE them from it. In short, I think it's frustrated (thus twisted) social instinct at work.
See, that's one of the problems between parents and kids. Even if the parent isn't an asshole, even if they have the BEST of intentions, they're usually *judgmental*, and that's what kids find impossible to take. So they talk to their peers instead, or talk within a "safe" (read: free of parental *judgment*) fantasy environment like Myspace, or (probably the worst case for the kid) don't talk at all to anyone.
So... if your kid isn't talking to you, consider that maybe your own attitude is driving them elsewhere, because you're not SAFE to talk to about things that matter to kids (often the very things adults will most penalize kids for doing or saying), because when the kid comes to you, he "knows" you'll react negatively. (Even if it's not so, that may be how the kid FEELS.)
And no, I'm not talking about boundaries or punishment for misdeeds (both of which are good and necessary to guide a kid into responsible adulthood). I'm talking about whether the kid feels like his parent is a safe harbour, even when he's sinking fast.
I swear there's a Stupid Gene that turns on when a person becomes a parent, that makes them forget how much it sucked to be a kid!
Not only a chilling effect on free speech, but also on the freedom to think contrary thoughts, as we're trained, a little more with each generation, NEVER to think thoughts that might be hateful to [insert current victim-complex group here].
You are so right. If this case goes forward, we are all in deep shit.
Anonymity and pseudonyms -- gone. Freedom of speech -- curtailed to only what cannot get you into trouble, were you known to be the speaker. Whistle-blowing -- a thing of the past.
And responsibility for another's actions -- where does it end? not only the serious cases like this one, but the frivolous (your insults damaged my self-esteem) or purely moneygrubbing (news reports sharp drop in the DOW, I sold my stocks at a loss, DOW goes back up, now I sue news for making me lose money).
Yet another extension of the nanny state, removing our ability to be responsible for our own actions.
"By using the MySpace Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the MySpace Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation."
This girl was 13 years old, correct??
So she must have also been misrepresenting herself, yes??
And what if it were in meatspace? Do we prosecute every kid who ends a harangue at another kid with "go kill yourself"?? (Given that, very rarely, the 2nd kid will, uh, follow that advice.) I don't think it's relevant that it was online or even that it was a fake identity. Posit that it was a real kid in meatspace, saying the exact same things to the girl, with the same result -- does that make the posited real kid responsible for her suicide?? ie. does it make that murder? if not, then why is it different because it's a fake boy online?
But as the EFF points out, this isn't really what it's about -- the family can file a wrongful death lawsuit if it's about punishment. The problem is that as it's being pursued, it's about whether a TOS can trump anonymity in the form of a pseudonyn, and turn this form of anonymity into a felony.
How many people here have never used anything but their real names online?? How many current users of MySpace and the like are actually registered under real names?? You with the aliases, into the jail cell!!
"This is an adult who pushed a minor, with malice aforethought, into a high state of agitation and personal anguish. In my mind, that's straight up child abuse."
Many parents do that with some regularity. It's not good parenting, but in one form or another it's common as dirt.
So... how do you propose to outlaw bad parenting??
[pulls out secret decoder pen]
"Open Channel D."
Thanks, saved for reference -- some day, gods willing, there will be a linux I can truly love!
Someone else also expressed astonishment that it didn't fragment.. and I admit I'd expected it to break completely in half. But it didn't, and here we are today discussing it. :)
Britney albums, eh? ;)
Yep, but it doubtless depends on what sort of dirt or grease, and whether it's filling in cracks or overflowing onto the otherwise-flat surface.
Man, these things are SO fragile compared to tapes...
Could be, tho I've found old silver like this that no one has touched in years -- and skin oil does oxidize over time itself (that's what makes stored clothes sometimes smell nasty). And as I recall from polishing my mom's silver as a kid -- where you touch it tends to oxidize FIRST. So -- probably not skin oil!
Has to be the result of contact with some chemical, but the question is what and when?
I did worry about that, but amazingly, it didn't even rattle in the drive. The break was so clean that it wasn't immediately obvious -- neither I nor the librarian at the checkout counter noticed it, but it probably explains why someone had abandoned it on a table far from the CD rack.
Proved to be a pretty good foot-stompin' country album, so was worth the bother :)
Good to know it works. Yes, well worth it for a disk that would be tough to replace, either for availability or price. I think I'd try ripping it first, tho, just in case (as someone else said can happen) the machine EATS the disk.
I've gotten a couple DVDs from the library that were completely unwatchable, to the point that they'd lock up PowerDVD solid from hardware errors. On a whim I ran one through some basic DVD ripping app, and got a complete perfect watchable copy -- tho it took 14 hours, and the logfile recorded something like 20,000 retries -- no freakin' wonder it wouldn't play!! the disk didn't LOOK bad, no significant scratches either. Might be the media was starting to break down, which obviously no amount of polishing will fix. :(
I for one welcome our new plastic-spitting overlords ;)
Yikes! the tests I read of were short-term, nothing like overnight. Red Alert, indeed!!
I've had drives that don't spin down when idle... main reason I never leave a disk in those drives is because they get VERY hot after a couple hours of useless spinning. I expect your friend's drive did the same, and that much prolonged heat certainly could start microcracks in a disk, which over time become macrocracks and shrapnel.
[thinking] My Plextor CDRWs are the ones I had that didn't spin down when idle (they've all been retired in favour of LiteOn DVD-RW units). All my LiteOns DO spin down after a few minutes without being accessed, even when the machine is sitting in plain DOS. Suddenly this sounds like a wonderful safety feature, not to mention easier on the lifespan of the disks themselves.
I don't know about Soft Scrub on CDs, but I can tell you that Amway's soft-scrub product 'guaranteed not to scratch' RUINED the surface on my brand new enamel sink.
Paper towels can scratch them. Use microfibre towels instead -- they do a really good job, especially when brand new (don't seem to work as well once they've been washed). Bonus: they last longer and re-use better than paper towels ;)
I've managed to get library CDs to playable condition by polishing them with a brand new microfibre cloth (once the cloth has been washed, it doesn't seem to work so well anymore) -- so I'm wondering if dirt/grease in the scratches is as much of a culprit as the scratches themselves.
The most amazing library disk encountered to date: broken clear from edge to middle. It wouldn't play, but it DID rip nice and clean.
I recall reading somewhere that this works because the timeout on SCSI is handled differently, so it just keeps grinding away til it has the data, rather than giving up. Might be settable on the SCSI controller??
I'm also wondering if something like Ghost could be used in "get every last bit" mode. With Ghost, I managed to copy all the data 100% INTACT from a failed HD (disk surface apparently had a major problem, as even low-level disk tools would not touch it), tho it took a full day to pull 200mb of data.
There are always spots on fine silver that do NOT tarnish, even when all the silver around them has turned totally black. What's with that??