The questions were very straightforward. "Should landlords be allowed to decide their own rent?" "Should people under 27 continue to receive social security?" "Should animal rights be included in the constitution?" Even the trickiest hot-button question (in the US, at least) was about as neutral as possible: "Should tackling the terrorism problem take priority over individual freedoms and liberties?"
with the media they are fine - people won't be burning blu-ray cheap enough soon enough
Eh.. One of the benefits of competing formats is that they're prone to price wars. I'd be surprised if BD/HD-DVD recordable media isn't below the $5 mark by this time next year, and burners in the $200-$300 range. That would be cheap enough to attract more than a few people, especially when it's the same cost as buying 3-6 games at $50-$60 a pop.
I don't know how they do things in Canada, but in the US, speed traps are purely a source of revenue -- at least in most states -- rather than anything to do with the conditions of the road, especially since most freeways are relatively straight. Excessive speed is always just that, but most cars can handle 80MPH on a dry freeway without a problem, however that's automatically reckless driving (pretty much the worst ticket you can get outside of a DUI, and can result in suspension of a license) in VA, for example. Pretty ridiculous, but hey, they're "tough on crime!"
This punk was just trying to play the race card without justification, which only makes it harder for people with legitimate complaints to be taken seriously.
Not that the rest of the interaction was justified, or that racism doesn't exist -- of course it does, everywhere, and on both sides -- but this guy was singled out because he was actively refusing to comply with the policy, not because he was brown.
I don't find anything wrong with threatening, especially in a situation where they're significantly outnumbered like that. The time to get the badge numbers is immediately at the start, or after after the situation is under control and everybody has calmed down, not in the heat of the moment. All it would take was one person to become physical, and the whole crowd could have, and likely would have, jumped in. Maybe these guys deserved it, but that wouldn't be justice, it would be vengeance. If it's wrong for cops to abuse someone, then it's also wrong for someone to abuse the cops in turn.
Anyway, it seems clear that the subsequent taserings were unjustified, imprudent, and ineffective, and unless they can present credible evidence to the contrary -- like the guy was reaching in his pockets or trying to kick them in the groin -- I hope they get to see the inside of a cell.
The earth would have to warm significantly more than 2 degrees to cause humans to become extinct. There are plenty of plants and animals both which would thrive in a warmer, wetter earth, there would still be plenty of land above sea level, and that's pretty much all we need to survive comfortably. Increased storm activity and flooding would only affect coastal areas. Sure, 80% of the population lives near the coast, but a) "near" is "within 50 miles", b) not all coasts are equally vulnerable, and c) most people will move if/when it becomes necessary. If sea level rose a bit, and suddenly your neighbor's house was wet during high tide, not too many people would stick around to find out if their house was next. It's not like sea level is going to increase at some inescapable tsunami-like rate. If anyone dies, it will be like the steam-roller scene in Austin Powers stretched out over a decade. People who complain that they can't afford to move are just complaining. Plenty of people with far less money and ZERO federal assistance made the trip across the Atlantic, or across the country, to try to better themselves. Nowhere is it written that people have the right to an easy life with no effort. Maybe I'm an ass, but that's life.
At any rate, the damage that's done is done, but we are, slowly but surely, working toward better energy solutions, and eventually there will be some balance. It's not like the world is saying "screw this, let's juts keep making things worse." Change takes time, but it will happen. Maybe not in time to save someone's summer cottage, or a fishing village in South America, but on the whole, humanity will be okay.
It's also worth noting that not just koreans play this game... there is a huge populace of spanish speaking, european, as well as north american people that play this game, especially on these 'indie' servers.
So, people all over the world of Korean ancestry play it too. Got it.
Exactly.. he's not the only one either. That guy on CNN who ripped off the Packers logo is almost as bad, but at least he doesn't claim to be independant, or repeatedly use the three words he plucked from the dictionary one day.
That chick who comes on after him -- something Grace -- is pretty bad too. As much trouble as she has making any sort of rational observations, it's hard to believe she used to be a lawyer.
Yeah, because Mexican signs look nothing like their American counterparts, and Americans who can't speak Spanish usually crash within 1 mile after crossing into Mexico. Granted, some signs don't look identical, but almost all of the important ones do, and it's a bit racist to assume they wouldn't attempt to learn what the others mean, just like you'd want to know what the signs meant in any foreign country you went to.
Also DUIs account for less than half of fatal accidents in the US, and 7% of total accidents. But maybe your definition of "most" is different from everybody else's.
Exactly, and here's a good description of India's problem. Interestingly, it notes that the US has been the least successful developed nation at reducing fatalities. I'd guess that it's probably because our policy is aimed at speeding, which is easy to enforce, but not necessarily dangerous, rather than bad driving.
Yeah, one of my favorite things to do is study the entomology of words. You'd be surprised how many words actually have microscopic insects crawling around on them, and how those insects can lead to new slang. The word "bugs" itself stemmed from the invertebrate fauna present on punch cards and in old vacuum-tube machines.
As for the word "woot", it was around long before WoW, although the Z was added later, probably by an as yet unidentified insect.
Reducing an activity to stimulus/response may seem clever, but the trouble is that it works for pretty much every human behavior imaginable. And it certainly works for every leisure activity.
I think the implied meaning is that MMORPGs are already reduced to basic stimulus/response, like masturbation. You just keep doing the same thing to get the same result. In other activities -- chess, scrabble, skiing, basketball -- you usually try to increase your actual skills, instead of just having a sign pop up saying "ok, you've played long enough, now you're more skilled!"
Nonsense. There's perception, and there's misperception. Ever had a great friend in a MMORPG? Quit playing and see how well they keep in touch. That's just an example, and there are certainly counterexamples of people who find out they didn't know their spouse, but your basically asserting that "if you think you're close to someone, then you are," which is something most people learn isn't true in their youth.
Relocation and suburbism, as well as rampant inflation and a minimum wage that hasn't kept up with it in twenty years, THESE are the things that keep us separated. We spend less time together because we have less time to spend.
Actually we have more free time than in the past. Minimum wage doesn't matter as long as the average wage of an industry keeps pace, and wages have definately kept up with inflation because -- here's the kicker -- wages drive inflation. Inflation is the devaluation of money, and money only devalues when there's more of it in circulation. You could argue that there's an increasing economic divide, and increasing minimum wage might help to close that, but it will almost definately increase inflation as well. If you think the middle class is unhappy now, just wait until minimum wage goes up, especially if it goes up significantly.
You say tomato, I say BluRay is better than HD-DVD. Just because you're not personally in favor of BluRay doesn't mean Sony's trying to force some sort of undesirable format on the market. Granted, they've done that with a lot of their proprietary media, but BluRay was developed by a consortium of which Sony was merely a part. If you really want to punish the sort of behavior you're describing, then don't buy BluRay OR HD-DVD, because the only reason the formats weren't merged in the first place was ego and stubbornness on both sides.
We have been using technology to bring people closer
Er.. I think most luddites would argue that technology has kept us seperated, as the telephone, the TV, and the internet have directly contributed to the decline in face-to-face contact and communication.
The only reason this is a good idea is that it's a new idea. I can see a group of girls wanting this (at first), or some college buddies so they know what bar their friends are in when they finally finish that paper, but overall it will probably be of limited success. And once people start getting blocked, assuming they add the capability, it will damage relationships when people spot their "best friend" in the food court, but they're not showing up on Boost.
Slashdot Mirror
The questions were very straightforward. "Should landlords be allowed to decide their own rent?" "Should people under 27 continue to receive social security?" "Should animal rights be included in the constitution?" Even the trickiest hot-button question (in the US, at least) was about as neutral as possible: "Should tackling the terrorism problem take priority over individual freedoms and liberties?"
with the media they are fine - people won't be burning blu-ray cheap enough soon enough
Eh.. One of the benefits of competing formats is that they're prone to price wars. I'd be surprised if BD/HD-DVD recordable media isn't below the $5 mark by this time next year, and burners in the $200-$300 range. That would be cheap enough to attract more than a few people, especially when it's the same cost as buying 3-6 games at $50-$60 a pop.
I was thinking more of the moonwalking variety.
"You want me to make a movie with little people? Again?"
But nations are much more than just groups of people. They're groups of people with semi-arbitrary geopolitical borders.
I don't know how they do things in Canada, but in the US, speed traps are purely a source of revenue -- at least in most states -- rather than anything to do with the conditions of the road, especially since most freeways are relatively straight. Excessive speed is always just that, but most cars can handle 80MPH on a dry freeway without a problem, however that's automatically reckless driving (pretty much the worst ticket you can get outside of a DUI, and can result in suspension of a license) in VA, for example. Pretty ridiculous, but hey, they're "tough on crime!"
The cop was also "brown," by the way.
This punk was just trying to play the race card without justification, which only makes it harder for people with legitimate complaints to be taken seriously.
Not that the rest of the interaction was justified, or that racism doesn't exist -- of course it does, everywhere, and on both sides -- but this guy was singled out because he was actively refusing to comply with the policy, not because he was brown.
I don't find anything wrong with threatening, especially in a situation where they're significantly outnumbered like that. The time to get the badge numbers is immediately at the start, or after after the situation is under control and everybody has calmed down, not in the heat of the moment. All it would take was one person to become physical, and the whole crowd could have, and likely would have, jumped in. Maybe these guys deserved it, but that wouldn't be justice, it would be vengeance. If it's wrong for cops to abuse someone, then it's also wrong for someone to abuse the cops in turn.
Anyway, it seems clear that the subsequent taserings were unjustified, imprudent, and ineffective, and unless they can present credible evidence to the contrary -- like the guy was reaching in his pockets or trying to kick them in the groin -- I hope they get to see the inside of a cell.
The earth would have to warm significantly more than 2 degrees to cause humans to become extinct. There are plenty of plants and animals both which would thrive in a warmer, wetter earth, there would still be plenty of land above sea level, and that's pretty much all we need to survive comfortably. Increased storm activity and flooding would only affect coastal areas. Sure, 80% of the population lives near the coast, but a) "near" is "within 50 miles", b) not all coasts are equally vulnerable, and c) most people will move if/when it becomes necessary. If sea level rose a bit, and suddenly your neighbor's house was wet during high tide, not too many people would stick around to find out if their house was next. It's not like sea level is going to increase at some inescapable tsunami-like rate. If anyone dies, it will be like the steam-roller scene in Austin Powers stretched out over a decade. People who complain that they can't afford to move are just complaining. Plenty of people with far less money and ZERO federal assistance made the trip across the Atlantic, or across the country, to try to better themselves. Nowhere is it written that people have the right to an easy life with no effort. Maybe I'm an ass, but that's life.
At any rate, the damage that's done is done, but we are, slowly but surely, working toward better energy solutions, and eventually there will be some balance. It's not like the world is saying "screw this, let's juts keep making things worse." Change takes time, but it will happen. Maybe not in time to save someone's summer cottage, or a fishing village in South America, but on the whole, humanity will be okay.
It's also worth noting that not just koreans play this game... there is a huge populace of spanish speaking, european, as well as north american people that play this game, especially on these 'indie' servers.
So, people all over the world of Korean ancestry play it too. Got it.
I thought it was Lindows Penguine Advantage.
Exactly.. he's not the only one either. That guy on CNN who ripped off the Packers logo is almost as bad, but at least he doesn't claim to be independant, or repeatedly use the three words he plucked from the dictionary one day.
That chick who comes on after him -- something Grace -- is pretty bad too. As much trouble as she has making any sort of rational observations, it's hard to believe she used to be a lawyer.
Oh wait.
Any liquid in space will be roughly spherical under its own gravity. Congratulations constellation urinous: you're now a collection of planets.
Earth only has a "more-or-less circular orbit" right now, but it's not always that way, so we wouldn't be on a planet anymore.
I'm not sure what you mean by "orbital path isn't shared," but that would seem to discount binary planets, among other things.
No, dwarves are not planets. I think that's one thing we can all agree on.
Yeah, because Mexican signs look nothing like their American counterparts, and Americans who can't speak Spanish usually crash within 1 mile after crossing into Mexico. Granted, some signs don't look identical, but almost all of the important ones do, and it's a bit racist to assume they wouldn't attempt to learn what the others mean, just like you'd want to know what the signs meant in any foreign country you went to.
Also DUIs account for less than half of fatal accidents in the US, and 7% of total accidents. But maybe your definition of "most" is different from everybody else's.
Exactly, and here's a good description of India's problem. Interestingly, it notes that the US has been the least successful developed nation at reducing fatalities. I'd guess that it's probably because our policy is aimed at speeding, which is easy to enforce, but not necessarily dangerous, rather than bad driving.
Ironically, as noted in the same article, today is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
You mean EUgurt?
Yeah, one of my favorite things to do is study the entomology of words. You'd be surprised how many words actually have microscopic insects crawling around on them, and how those insects can lead to new slang. The word "bugs" itself stemmed from the invertebrate fauna present on punch cards and in old vacuum-tube machines.
As for the word "woot", it was around long before WoW, although the Z was added later, probably by an as yet unidentified insect.
Quite close to unsolvable?
I'm great at critical reading, and I love to read, but I found your comment too long winded.
Reducing an activity to stimulus/response may seem clever, but the trouble is that it works for pretty much every human behavior imaginable. And it certainly works for every leisure activity.
I think the implied meaning is that MMORPGs are already reduced to basic stimulus/response, like masturbation. You just keep doing the same thing to get the same result. In other activities -- chess, scrabble, skiing, basketball -- you usually try to increase your actual skills, instead of just having a sign pop up saying "ok, you've played long enough, now you're more skilled!"
you're as close to people as you feel.
Nonsense. There's perception, and there's misperception. Ever had a great friend in a MMORPG? Quit playing and see how well they keep in touch. That's just an example, and there are certainly counterexamples of people who find out they didn't know their spouse, but your basically asserting that "if you think you're close to someone, then you are," which is something most people learn isn't true in their youth.
Relocation and suburbism, as well as rampant inflation and a minimum wage that hasn't kept up with it in twenty years, THESE are the things that keep us separated. We spend less time together because we have less time to spend.
Actually we have more free time than in the past. Minimum wage doesn't matter as long as the average wage of an industry keeps pace, and wages have definately kept up with inflation because -- here's the kicker -- wages drive inflation. Inflation is the devaluation of money, and money only devalues when there's more of it in circulation. You could argue that there's an increasing economic divide, and increasing minimum wage might help to close that, but it will almost definately increase inflation as well. If you think the middle class is unhappy now, just wait until minimum wage goes up, especially if it goes up significantly.
if the parts are hard to break and new, how do we know they will still work 1 year from now?
What?!?!
"Goddamnit, I can't break this controller. How the hell am I supposed to calculate the expected lifetime if I can't even break it in the first place?"
You say tomato, I say BluRay is better than HD-DVD. Just because you're not personally in favor of BluRay doesn't mean Sony's trying to force some sort of undesirable format on the market. Granted, they've done that with a lot of their proprietary media, but BluRay was developed by a consortium of which Sony was merely a part. If you really want to punish the sort of behavior you're describing, then don't buy BluRay OR HD-DVD, because the only reason the formats weren't merged in the first place was ego and stubbornness on both sides.
People who don't want to camp out in front of stores just to get a console, AKA people with more money than time, perhaps?
Just a guess...
We have been using technology to bring people closer
Er.. I think most luddites would argue that technology has kept us seperated, as the telephone, the TV, and the internet have directly contributed to the decline in face-to-face contact and communication.
The only reason this is a good idea is that it's a new idea. I can see a group of girls wanting this (at first), or some college buddies so they know what bar their friends are in when they finally finish that paper, but overall it will probably be of limited success. And once people start getting blocked, assuming they add the capability, it will damage relationships when people spot their "best friend" in the food court, but they're not showing up on Boost.