I dont think thats the issue. The issue that people have is - given Gators track record, how could you possibly trust them with any information - *ESPECIALLY YOUR PASSWORDS*
No kidding! I mean, how do you know someone at Gator couldn't just rifle through the data to get his/. password, then log in and post nonsense under his username?
Hey, wait a minute...
Re:Cruel Intentions...
on
Shocking Clothing
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
scripsit SuiteSisterMary:
If you say to a buddy 'Hey, man, on your way out, take out the garbage,' nobody will bat an eye. If you say to a femail friend 'Hey, woman, on your way out, take out the garbage,' you're in trouble.
Or, if you happen to be white and in the States, try this: Say to a female African-American friend, ``Hey, girl, can you grab that for me?'' Now say to a male African American, ``Hey, boy, can you grab that for me?'' Talk about a world of difference.
It doesn't have to make sense; that's just the way the language has evolved.
It is still amazing to me that the scientific community has such antiquated ideas about how unique and exceptional humans are.
Um, I think you're confusing `scientific' and `nonscientific' here; it's the religious types (and even a number of philosophers) who tenaciously cling to human uniqueness, not the biologists or astronomers. Hell, the latter can't even be convinced of the Earth's uniqueness any more...
Yes, but did you notice that every monorail station can only be accessed from the street by first walking about 1/4 mile through a casino lobby?
Sounds like Vegas. Shouldn't expect anything different from a city that puts slot machines in public toilets. Do they have video poker in elementary schools yet?
To expect full FORWARD-compatibility (that you should be able to open a Word97 document in Word95) is ridiculous.
Um, why?
What is ridiculous about expecting a vendor not to break compatibility for no purpose? WordPerfect has managed to keep the same file format for quite a few generations (back to 6 IIRC). I can save a JPEG in the latest GIMP and open it in early-90s vintage xv with no trouble... Properly written HTML4 Strict should render fine in Mosaic 1.0... Why break things?
I am glad you said that, sir. A long HEX string to represent an Outlook "identity"?... [long rant]
Sir, you just made my day. It isn't every day I get such a beautifully-written reminder of why I use that evilness no more. I'm getting a warm fuzzy sitting here at my Debian box...
Thank you.
Re:Looks like a Normal Accident to me
on
Shuttle Politics
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
scripsit Interrobang:
there are always going to be the 2% accidents -- total, unpredictable, catastrophic failures.
Lots of things operate with far lower failure rates than two percent -- my car, for instance. If there were a two percent chance of catastrophic failure every time I put my car on the freeway, I would be dead many times over.
My guess is that Zola was using it ironically, but I don't know for sure.
Here is what he actually said, inter alia (my quick-and-dirty translation):
I accuse Lieutenant-Colonel du Paty de Clam of having been the diabolic worker of the judicial error [the conviction of Dreyfus], unwittingly, I would like to think, and of having since defended his nefarious work for three years by the craziest and guiltiest machinations.
I accuse General Mercier of being rendered complicit, at least by weakness of spirit, in
the one of the greatest iniquities of the century.
I accuse General Billot of having had in his hands certain proof of the innocence of Dreyfus and of having suppressed it, of having rendered himself guilty of the crime of wronging humanity and justice, for a political end and to save a compromised headquarters. . ..
He certainly was naming names, yes, but I have never heard it said that he was evoking (ironically or otherwise) the memory of the Terror. His tone overall is not very ironic; it is more one of moral outrage.
WTF ? Why is this rated as "funny" ? This is not funny!
Well, it was meant to be. I sometimes write "This is sarcasm" at the end of my posts if I think they will be misinterpreted, but I hoped in this case it was obvious that I was joking.
People in this country (i.e., the U.S. of A.) really say such things in dead earnest. That's why, on one level, there's absolutely nothing funny about it. On the other hand, the edge that gives such humor can heighten its impact.
When you employ such humor, you have to be prepared for the possibility that it will hit too close to home for some people.
I've had family members detained by redneck cops because they ``looked foreign'' -- and that was before the Ashcroft régime...
and "suspicious" activity becomes a matter of "j'accuse."
``J'accuse'' is a rather strange term to use in this context. That was the title of Émile Zola's ``lettre au Président de la République'' accusing the army of a coverup in the Dreyfus affair (1899 IIRC). Dreyfus had been set up and convicted of espionage for Germany because he was a Jew. The point is that Zola was denouncing (at the cost of a libel conviction and possible imprisonment) the abuse of state power -- and in particular, the abuse of ``homeland security'' laws to persecute a Jew.
What Zola was denouncing in ``J'accuse'' is very much what I fear with this sort of thing. The raving anti-Semites in fin-de-siècle France were very willing to believe that any Jew in the army must really be a German spy. Imagine a bunch of these guys sitting in a fin-de-siècle cybercafé (this is a thought exercise, OK?) calling up the gendarmes every time they see a Jew somewhere they think a Jew oughtn't be.
Now imagine Rufus in Arkansas getting on line to make sure no nonwhite people do anything suspicious (like breathe) in the vicinity of a powerplant.
Granted I have some rage issues, but doesn't it just piss you off when you middle click on winshit in M$IE only to get some damn scrolling icon instead of pasting text!!!!!!!
Or look like an idiot trying to paste something after just highlighting it. I'm waiting for some kid to helpfully explain ``^C to copy'' to me when I have to use the NT/MSIE terminals at the library...
That's the same New York with a Republican governor and a Republican mayor in its largest city, right? Sounds pretty lefty.
if you're left-wing enough, and have lots of money and powerful friends, you'll be elected Senator in less than a year.
What a sad commentary it is that you can refer to a Clinton as `left wing'... Center-right is more like it. Making a big show out of being pro-choice and gay-friendly does not qualify someone as a leftist, only a talk-the-talk cultural liberal. Or was there a genuinely leftist senator you were referring to?
You show me someone who is actually willing to talk unhysterically about state ownership of the means of production and who is willing actively to pursue redistribution of wealth, and I'll show you a leftist. AFAIK there aren't any in national politics.
While most liberals are not young and naive, it seems the majority of young and naive people are liberals.
Where do you live and do they allow immigration?
Seriously, where I live the ``young and naive'' are so far to the right it's scary. My university had pro-war rallies, and recently had a big creationism shindig. Most students seem to think the current U.S. administration is ``moderate.'' They're so far from left they can't even recognize it when they see it; anti-establishment isn't Ché Guevara, it's Jesse Ventura.
Slashdot Mirror
scripsit genka:
You don't happen to have Gator's federal ID number handy, do you? You should find it printed on your pay stub.
scripsit _ph1ux:
No kidding! I mean, how do you know someone at Gator couldn't just rifle through the data to get his /. password, then log in and post nonsense under his username?
Hey, wait a minute...
scripsit SuiteSisterMary:
Or, if you happen to be white and in the States, try this: Say to a female African-American friend, ``Hey, girl, can you grab that for me?'' Now say to a male African American, ``Hey, boy, can you grab that for me?'' Talk about a world of difference.
It doesn't have to make sense; that's just the way the language has evolved.
scripsit MsGeek:
You misspelled Debian...
*duck*
scripsit johny_qst:
Um, I think you're confusing `scientific' and `nonscientific' here; it's the religious types (and even a number of philosophers) who tenaciously cling to human uniqueness, not the biologists or astronomers. Hell, the latter can't even be convinced of the Earth's uniqueness any more...
scripsit jafac:
Sounds like Vegas. Shouldn't expect anything different from a city that puts slot machines in public toilets. Do they have video poker in elementary schools yet?
scripsit NanoGator:
Lemme guess: Gateway is the [ie]Macs?
scripsit poot rootbeer:
Um, why?
What is ridiculous about expecting a vendor not to break compatibility for no purpose? WordPerfect has managed to keep the same file format for quite a few generations (back to 6 IIRC). I can save a JPEG in the latest GIMP and open it in early-90s vintage xv with no trouble... Properly written HTML4 Strict should render fine in Mosaic 1.0... Why break things?
scripsit bellings:
Other than Google?
scripsit Blkdeath:
Sir, you just made my day. It isn't every day I get such a beautifully-written reminder of why I use that evilness no more. I'm getting a warm fuzzy sitting here at my Debian box...
Thank you.
scripsit Interrobang:
Lots of things operate with far lower failure rates than two percent -- my car, for instance. If there were a two percent chance of catastrophic failure every time I put my car on the freeway, I would be dead many times over.
scripsit jpsst34:
Hmm. I've never heard a girl call it her `word' before...
scripsit Daniel Dvorkin:
Here is what he actually said, inter alia (my quick-and-dirty translation):
The full text is on line, BTW.
He certainly was naming names, yes, but I have never heard it said that he was evoking (ironically or otherwise) the memory of the Terror. His tone overall is not very ironic; it is more one of moral outrage.
scripsit pubjames:
People in this country (i.e., the U.S. of A.) really say such things in dead earnest. That's why, on one level, there's absolutely nothing funny about it. On the other hand, the edge that gives such humor can heighten its impact.
When you employ such humor, you have to be prepared for the possibility that it will hit too close to home for some people.
I've had family members detained by redneck cops because they ``looked foreign'' -- and that was before the Ashcroft régime...
scripsit Daniel Dvorkin:
``J'accuse'' is a rather strange term to use in this context. That was the title of Émile Zola's ``lettre au Président de la République'' accusing the army of a coverup in the Dreyfus affair (1899 IIRC). Dreyfus had been set up and convicted of espionage for Germany because he was a Jew. The point is that Zola was denouncing (at the cost of a libel conviction and possible imprisonment) the abuse of state power -- and in particular, the abuse of ``homeland security'' laws to persecute a Jew.
What Zola was denouncing in ``J'accuse'' is very much what I fear with this sort of thing. The raving anti-Semites in fin-de-siècle France were very willing to believe that any Jew in the army must really be a German spy. Imagine a bunch of these guys sitting in a fin-de-siècle cybercafé (this is a thought exercise, OK?) calling up the gendarmes every time they see a Jew somewhere they think a Jew oughtn't be.
Now imagine Rufus in Arkansas getting on line to make sure no nonwhite people do anything suspicious (like breathe) in the vicinity of a powerplant.
scripsit royalblue_tom:
And until they figure out how not to grant BS patents, there should be a moratorium on any new patents.
scripsit ces:
Like, um, let's see... Oh wait, this is a stretch, but: Linus?
scripsit ComputerSlicer23:
Don't be so sure. If Amazon can patent a single mouse click...
scripsit Howard Beale:
I thought it was ``Up against the -Wall''...
scripsit SHEENmaster:
Or look like an idiot trying to paste something after just highlighting it. I'm waiting for some kid to helpfully explain ``^C to copy'' to me when I have to use the NT/MSIE terminals at the library...
scripsit geekoid:
...or they could just use four simple flat screens.
scripsit dvk:
That's the same New York with a Republican governor and a Republican mayor in its largest city, right? Sounds pretty lefty.
What a sad commentary it is that you can refer to a Clinton as `left wing'... Center-right is more like it. Making a big show out of being pro-choice and gay-friendly does not qualify someone as a leftist, only a talk-the-talk cultural liberal. Or was there a genuinely leftist senator you were referring to?
You show me someone who is actually willing to talk unhysterically about state ownership of the means of production and who is willing actively to pursue redistribution of wealth, and I'll show you a leftist. AFAIK there aren't any in national politics.
scripsit t0ny:
Just put down the shovel; the hole's not getting any shallower.
scripsit t0ny:
BTW, you spelled it's wrong.
scripsit Jimithing DMB:
Where do you live and do they allow immigration?
Seriously, where I live the ``young and naive'' are so far to the right it's scary. My university had pro-war rallies, and recently had a big creationism shindig. Most students seem to think the current U.S. administration is ``moderate.'' They're so far from left they can't even recognize it when they see it; anti-establishment isn't Ché Guevara, it's Jesse Ventura.