..of this whole chinese moon mission hullabaloo will be that moon rocks will lose some of their value. Someday, one of us will probably throw out a desk finished entirely in Moonstone(TM) because it's just too retro to seem kitchy anymore.
You had me up until the Eminem bit. This is a little jarring for the reader. Almost as if I posted a lengthy diatribe about Free Software that included the words "ticklish", "backhoe", and "Care Bears".
I thought it was impossible that a Snow Crash reference would go over anyone's head here. I guess next time I'll have to draw some kind of connection between Second Life and Soviet Russia to snag my funny-points =)
Um...millions of hot cheerleaders have had sex with ME! They obviously had a good reason, and you would hate to upset the status quo, right? In fact, many cheerleaders that have refused to have sex with me have been sued by large faceless corporate conglomerates.
I've come to realize that paintings and drawings actually suck, because photos have much clearer resolution. In fact, many times the drawn or painted subject looks nothing like the object in question! Those artists are not going to get their obligatory 'wow' from me though. I mean, it's a completely controlled environment. They didn't actually have to arange fog machines or lights. I mean, the nerve of those people, using and communicationg with their imagination! What a bunch of pretentious assholes!
I get the impression that when fans sit down to look at a painting, all standards which they might otherwise apply go right out the window...because it's ART!!
Losers. I'll keep my pixel perfect interpretation of the world. thank you very much
The single most striking thing about the Atkins Diet has to be the defensiveness of it's adherents. Diet is something of an interest to me, and talking with some of these Atkins folks has been pretty illuminating. My conclusion is that many people would undergo radiation poisoning to lose weight, if possible (and effective), only to tell you how the health risks involved were "questionable". Muck up your own metabolism all you want. But when something this sketchy gets saturated in the American mindshare as "healthy", I think it shows we have a long way to go before our society uses critical thinking in any meaningful way.
AOL users. Their swarming membership will probably be oblivious to all this, and think that they finally got the 'internet security slider in just the right position, or alternately, figure all the replies they sent spammers saying 'take me off your list' just got there.
This is why nobody else thinks your Transformers watch is cool, either. I'm sorry, but every "cool" PC case I've seen reminded me of the infamous "Homer Car" from the simpsons. I would rather hide my computer under the desk than actually flaunt something so awful. Sharp industrial design is not gluing some fins and flashing lights on the same old box, then spray-glossing it all to a high sheen. Please throw Apple this bone, at least.
How many threads do we bitch about the lack of futuristic inventions, and then bash the shit out of them when their precursors arrive? (wearables, Segway, Star Wars movies, fat free Doritos...etc)
Maybe what we really need to do is stop pining for innovative gadgets...they generally suck anyway.
"..if it weren't for the internet, I'd know practically nothing. It makes research so much easier than driving all the way up to the library, sifting through books and magazines and not even finding the right info."
First, I want to make a shirt with that slogan =).
But seriously, if you'll allow me to turn my paranoid rant goggles on, doesn't this allow for the simple erasing of undesirable history, culture, memes, whatever? In many countries, the internet is not exactly a private infrastructure. Governments can and do control access to it, and to some exent, they at least try to control the data on it. Yes, it is much more egalitarian than say, broadcast television. But that is right now. What will the internet be in 20 years? What was it like 10 years ago? While many of us are hoping for The Street ala Snow Crash, I suspect there is a reasonable possibility we will wind up with regionalized AOL-esque services, and a some sort of wasteland like Freenet.
When governments push anything, it is usually all the better to govern us with. =/
When the RIAA uses download statistics, it is only in our best interests as consumers. They are taking the lemons of corrupt human nature, and making sweet corporate lemonade. I, for one, am thankful that such a down home mom and pop operation such as the RIAA, in their infinite wisdom, makes something good, noble, and legal come out of all this theft, piracy, and debauchery. I can't wait for the day that all my activities are monitored for legality by four letter acronyms.
Anyone who disagrees is clearly a criminal/pirate/terrorist! Mend your ways and submit to RIAA amnesty!=)
Yeah, MS may have done the computing world more harm than any other single software company in history, but Bill Gates is really smart and nothing can be all bad, right? I say we approach MS with more objectivity by forgetting all the awful things they have done and focus instead on all those shiny half baked goodies they produce
Oh, and I'll probably get modded down for saying this
You hit on something interesting right there. Clueless newbies really do want something like this, albeit without the horrific spyware factor. I'm sure my little sisters would love a web interface that consisted of Pokemons or "Yodas and shit." And yes, I know grown adults (though not tech savvy ones) that absolutely love this thing....until the aforementioned spyware factor kicks in. If I were a code monkey, I would take a crack at something like that.
Wookies were apparently not adept at pants technology. As a child, my friends and I had some discussions about this that were alarmingly like the goofy/pluto debate in 'Stand By Me', when I saw that film years later.
"He can drive the Falcon, drink in a bar, and crack jokes....but he doesn't wear pants!"
"In both situations, there is no reward for innovation or personal effort, which goes contrary to human nature."
I really hate it when people say this. Production/reward systems are not human nature, they are social constructs. If we go back into the not-so-far past, human nature was plucking fruit off of trees and gathering nuts and grubs. The reward systems you are talking about only became "human nature" when people started locking the food up and needed to explain why it had to be that way. A gazillion screaming linux contributors would disagree with your idea of human nature, and it's dependence on the carrot and the stick./rant
Slashdot Mirror
We really are screwed, aren't we?
I patiently await that day, I tell you.
You had me up until the Eminem bit. This is a little jarring for the reader. Almost as if I posted a lengthy diatribe about Free Software that included the words "ticklish", "backhoe", and "Care Bears".
I thought it was impossible that a Snow Crash reference would go over anyone's head here. I guess next time I'll have to draw some kind of connection between Second Life and Soviet Russia to snag my funny-points =)
2) Play frisbee with my rat-thing.
3) Punch that damn Librarian.
Um...millions of hot cheerleaders have had sex with ME! They obviously had a good reason, and you would hate to upset the status quo, right? In fact, many cheerleaders that have refused to have sex with me have been sued by large faceless corporate conglomerates.
(whoo-hoo!)
I've come to realize that paintings and drawings actually suck, because photos have much clearer resolution. In fact, many times the drawn or painted subject looks nothing like the object in question! Those artists are not going to get their obligatory 'wow' from me though. I mean, it's a completely controlled environment. They didn't actually have to arange fog machines or lights. I mean, the nerve of those people, using and communicationg with their imagination! What a bunch of pretentious assholes!
I get the impression that when fans sit down to look at a painting, all standards which they might otherwise apply go right out the window...because it's ART!!
Losers. I'll keep my pixel perfect interpretation of the world. thank you very much
The single most striking thing about the Atkins Diet has to be the defensiveness of it's adherents. Diet is something of an interest to me, and talking with some of these Atkins folks has been pretty illuminating. My conclusion is that many people would undergo radiation poisoning to lose weight, if possible (and effective), only to tell you how the health risks involved were "questionable". Muck up your own metabolism all you want. But when something this sketchy gets saturated in the American mindshare as "healthy", I think it shows we have a long way to go before our society uses critical thinking in any meaningful way.
AOL users. Their swarming membership will probably be oblivious to all this, and think that they finally got the 'internet security slider in just the right position, or alternately, figure all the replies they sent spammers saying 'take me off your list' just got there.
This is why nobody else thinks your Transformers watch is cool, either. I'm sorry, but every "cool" PC case I've seen reminded me of the infamous "Homer Car" from the simpsons. I would rather hide my computer under the desk than actually flaunt something so awful. Sharp industrial design is not gluing some fins and flashing lights on the same old box, then spray-glossing it all to a high sheen. Please throw Apple this bone, at least.
Maybe what we really need to do is stop pining for innovative gadgets...they generally suck anyway.
This is exactly what I did with my G4 Cube, and we all know how that went over.
First, I want to make a shirt with that slogan =).
But seriously, if you'll allow me to turn my paranoid rant goggles on, doesn't this allow for the simple erasing of undesirable history, culture, memes, whatever? In many countries, the internet is not exactly a private infrastructure. Governments can and do control access to it, and to some exent, they at least try to control the data on it. Yes, it is much more egalitarian than say, broadcast television. But that is right now. What will the internet be in 20 years? What was it like 10 years ago? While many of us are hoping for The Street ala Snow Crash, I suspect there is a reasonable possibility we will wind up with regionalized AOL-esque services, and a some sort of wasteland like Freenet.
When governments push anything, it is usually all the better to govern us with. =/
Anyone who disagrees is clearly a criminal/pirate/terrorist! Mend your ways and submit to RIAA amnesty!=)
*ducks*
Admiral Crunch.
They are incidentally the female analogue of male slashdot posters. They aren't getting laid either.
We can hope that they are cool about being open (I think they have been, for the most part). But who really expects them to be Free?
Hate...MS....hate...Flash....must tolerate Flash.....must....*smoke drifts from ears*
Yeah, MS may have done the computing world more harm than any other single software company in history, but Bill Gates is really smart and nothing can be all bad, right? I say we approach MS with more objectivity by forgetting all the awful things they have done and focus instead on all those shiny half baked goodies they produce
Oh, and I'll probably get modded down for saying this
You hit on something interesting right there. Clueless newbies really do want something like this, albeit without the horrific spyware factor. I'm sure my little sisters would love a web interface that consisted of Pokemons or "Yodas and shit." And yes, I know grown adults (though not tech savvy ones) that absolutely love this thing....until the aforementioned spyware factor kicks in. If I were a code monkey, I would take a crack at something like that.
"He can drive the Falcon, drink in a bar, and crack jokes....but he doesn't wear pants!"
So the 'Phear This!' and 'Calvin pissing on IE' skins will be forthcoming, right? =)
I really hate it when people say this. Production/reward systems are not human nature, they are social constructs. If we go back into the not-so-far past, human nature was plucking fruit off of trees and gathering nuts and grubs. The reward systems you are talking about only became "human nature" when people started locking the food up and needed to explain why it had to be that way. A gazillion screaming linux contributors would disagree with your idea of human nature, and it's dependence on the carrot and the stick.
Maybe I've just been reading too much Noam Chomskylately, but they are some pretty interesting questions, with more than one logical explanation.