That makes perfect sense to me as well. Therefore you and I are old!
My $0.02 on the original topic: too much thought on too trivial an issue. So what if we isolate ourselves? Go to any big city and you'll find that people ignore and dehumanize each other 99.99% of the time anyways. Headphones don't help any experienced city-dweller in that area.
Yes forks and bombs can kill people but that was clearly not the point. Take any NON-WEAPON technology: it can be misused. Any research into disease can be morphed into weapons research. Many forms of power research turns into bomb research. etc. etc.
The point is that almost any technology can be adopted by the Dark Side and turned into something "evil".
"Just because someone has a high IQ doesn't mean jack shit"
You may have a point but high IQ is not a bad thing. It's not a neutral thing either. High IQ is goodness. Perhaps it doesn't automatically mean you will be an uber nerd but it means a lot more than "jack shit".
Um... have you ever seen Southpark? Most episodes are satire of some unbelievably stupid current event. IIRC the episode in question is poking fun at the whole vchip concept.
Look around - this is America. If we had this kind of technology it would take about 2 weeks for some bible-thumping nutbar to propose we all get them installed in our heads to make us more Christian or something similarly lame.
I infrequently visit Starbucks. I drink a fair bit of coffee but for some reason I have just never liked the flavor of Starbucks coffee, and also I'm far too cheap (smart?) to want to pay $5 for a coffee on a regular basis.
Anyways, I find their sizing terms obnoxious so whenever I go in I use small/medium/large instead of their terms. If I say large they'll usually say "do you mean Venti" and I say "yes, large".
Small things amuse small minds. I should know, I'm living proof.:)
How about we sterilize anyone with a substandard IQ - say average minus 10 points or you don't get to breed. Maybe we could fix the problem (in a generate or two).
It would suck to live in a state that was so draconian but on the other hand it would sure be nice if people weren't so farging stupid.
That is the scary truth right there! So much of the stuff we have to put up with in our daily lives is moronic because there are so many morons. Who buys this stuff? I don't know. I can't imagine anyone that stupid. But obviously there are boatloads of these people around or the spammers wouldn't bother.
The same argument can be applied to advertising. Most mass advertising, even the expensive ads by the "good" companies, is patheticly inane. They are clearly targetting people with single-digit IQs. And yet it works. Somehow.
It's sad to think how stupid our society is as a whole, ya know?
"In fact that $11.7 billion is BAD for the economy if it's being spent on fraudulent or overpriced goods."
Yeah, the world would be a better place if all these morons had purchased $150 Nike running shoes (worth about $20 a pair (guess) plus massive advertising costs) instead of crap off the Internet.
Wait... actually no things would be about the same as they are today.
Two weeks ago I cancelled an order for a $1400 projector with Dell because that morning they send me an email saying the projector would be shipping in the middle of March. 15 minutes on hold and the call is disconnected by gremlins. Next try: 45 minutes (yes, really) on the phone and the order is cancelled. I'm a little steamed at this point about the phone time but oh well.
Three days after that I got an email from Dell saying that the projector had shipped. I call Dell. 20 minutes (quick this time, ROFL) later I have my marching orders: "when the projector arrives just refuse delivery". Sounds good to me. I am only slightly pissed off.
The projector arrives two days early so my "DHL: I refuse delivery of Dell's package" sign is not yet hung up on my door. DHL leaves the package on my doorstep. This is a $1400 item, shipped without "signature required". WTF? Now I am annoyed.
The next day I call Dell. Hold time is less than 3 minutes but it still takes 30 minutes for the Customer Care chick to arrange DHL pickup at my house. At the end of the call she asks, "are you satisfied with Dell's service in this matter"? I laugh, exert all my force of will to refrain from swearing, and say "no I am not ".
The next day the package is picked up. Finally! I assume in 2 weeks Dell will charge my VISA for the order and I'll get to do it all again.
This is the reason why people like Dell have all that money but people like you and me don't.
If you're the kind of person who would retire after the first couple million and spend the rest of your life knee-deep in booze and cheap women, you won't ever have that kind of money! Sad, but true... Dell/Gates/etc don't keep working for the money. You could add or subtract a few zeros to their net worth and it wouldn't matter either way. They do it because they don't want to do anything else.
Absolutely. I have done my own car maintenance in the past. (I once owned a Reliant that needed new valve stem seals every 6 months. I was too poor to get a new engine so I just cracked the head and replaced them myself. Cost around $10 for parts plus $10 for a gasket if I didn't feel like reusing the old one.)
But now that I'm all grown up my interests are elsewhere. It costs me about $30 to get an oil change at the Honda dealer on the CR-V. There is NO way that I could do that myself for "less". My time is worth a lot more to me, and I'm sure that the dealer is making less of a mess that I would in there.
"I would sooner trust a random stranger than a copper."
Mods, how is this insightful?
Read the fucking newspaper. Count how many stories you read about crimes committed by police and compare that to the number of crimes committed by non-police. Heck, even do it "per capita" if you want.
I don't know why but nobody in my neck of the woods (Seattle) knows what hazard lights are for. They don't know what turn signals are for either. I guess it's just too complex.
OTOH the feed to a gas range can't develop a wiring fault and cause an electrical fire in your wall.;)
If gas ranges were even remotely dangerous I don't think you'd find them in such widespread use around the world. I've never seen any statistics but I imagine a gas range is just as safe as an electric one. And the gas version is superior in every functional way.
"Gas appliances are fairly uncommon in North America. The majority of stoves, hot water heaters, etc, are electric."
That depends where you live. In all the places I've lived in Canada and the US hot water has always been gas except in old cruddy student housing with ancient water heaters bought back in the day when electric was competitive. Electric furnaces are even more rare, and usually only found (where I've lived anyways) only in older houses.
Stoves yes are mostly electric. Which is silly because a gas stove is just *so* much better!
Wuss! You don't need a block heater at -20 deg F. You need it if you're out in the dang prairies where it can get *much* colder than that. -20 deg is nothing. Southern Ontario gets that regularly. I never needed a block heater even in my cruddy student cars. Until I wised up and moved to a place with a less stupid climate, that is.
The only problem with that theory is that I've heard enough karaoke in my day to know that almost nobody sings well enough to impress a member of the opposite sex. The best most people can hope for is "well, that wasn't *too* bad".
I tried to short it this morning but Ameritrade cancelled the order. I imagine too many people are shorting. Oh well. I bought a few shares of Autozone.
I wonder why the price has dropped by over half? Maybe because they're so farging ugly that even the average moron consumer isn't stupid enough to want desparately to own a pair?
Agreed. The/. tagline says "interesting" but this is frightening as hell. The bottom line is that if you are an enemy of US and you talk on a cellphone anywhere in the world, you may well be screwed. Wow. What else are they listening for, I wonder?
Power is at low frequency (60 Hz). There is no RF traffic at that frequency that I'm aware of. Data will be on the lines at high frequency and will splat into some used part of the RF spectrum (apparently the part used by ham radio).
Never owned a Laserdisc. Even as a child looking at VHS you could see it was crap. Before DVD there was never (IMHO) a video recording format worth investing in except for casual video store runs. Laserdisc was fine but the cost never became realistic. The quality of tape has always just been awful.
Anyways, I was just appalled that you put VHS next to LP.:)
WTH is wrong with you people? 1 Mbps up *and* down for $30 would be absolutely freaking incredible. I'm on MDM cable internet now. For $35 a month (one year special) I'm getting 2-3 Mbps down and about.24 Mbps up. I would KILL to get 1 Mbps up.
The interference thing could be interesting... but I kinda doubt the FCC would let them go live if it proved to be a problem.
Slashdot Mirror
That makes perfect sense to me as well. Therefore you and I are old!
My $0.02 on the original topic: too much thought on too trivial an issue. So what if we isolate ourselves? Go to any big city and you'll find that people ignore and dehumanize each other 99.99% of the time anyways. Headphones don't help any experienced city-dweller in that area.
Yes forks and bombs can kill people but that was clearly not the point. Take any NON-WEAPON technology: it can be misused. Any research into disease can be morphed into weapons research. Many forms of power research turns into bomb research. etc. etc.
The point is that almost any technology can be adopted by the Dark Side and turned into something "evil".
"Just because someone has a high IQ doesn't mean jack shit"
You may have a point but high IQ is not a bad thing. It's not a neutral thing either. High IQ is goodness. Perhaps it doesn't automatically mean you will be an uber nerd but it means a lot more than "jack shit".
Um... have you ever seen Southpark? Most episodes are satire of some unbelievably stupid current event. IIRC the episode in question is poking fun at the whole vchip concept.
Look around - this is America. If we had this kind of technology it would take about 2 weeks for some bible-thumping nutbar to propose we all get them installed in our heads to make us more Christian or something similarly lame.
"despite the fake italian lingo used by starbuck"
:)
I infrequently visit Starbucks. I drink a fair bit of coffee but for some reason I have just never liked the flavor of Starbucks coffee, and also I'm far too cheap (smart?) to want to pay $5 for a coffee on a regular basis.
Anyways, I find their sizing terms obnoxious so whenever I go in I use small/medium/large instead of their terms. If I say large they'll usually say "do you mean Venti" and I say "yes, large".
Small things amuse small minds. I should know, I'm living proof.
generate -> generation
/. postings would also be sterilized under my plan. :)
Obviously, anyone too stupid to preview their
How about we sterilize anyone with a substandard IQ - say average minus 10 points or you don't get to breed. Maybe we could fix the problem (in a generate or two).
It would suck to live in a state that was so draconian but on the other hand it would sure be nice if people weren't so farging stupid.
That is the scary truth right there! So much of the stuff we have to put up with in our daily lives is moronic because there are so many morons. Who buys this stuff? I don't know. I can't imagine anyone that stupid. But obviously there are boatloads of these people around or the spammers wouldn't bother.
The same argument can be applied to advertising. Most mass advertising, even the expensive ads by the "good" companies, is patheticly inane. They are clearly targetting people with single-digit IQs. And yet it works. Somehow.
It's sad to think how stupid our society is as a whole, ya know?
"In fact that $11.7 billion is BAD for the economy if it's being spent on fraudulent or overpriced goods."
Yeah, the world would be a better place if all these morons had purchased $150 Nike running shoes (worth about $20 a pair (guess) plus massive advertising costs) instead of crap off the Internet.
Wait... actually no things would be about the same as they are today.
In a related (and 100% true) note:
Two weeks ago I cancelled an order for a $1400 projector with Dell because that morning they send me an email saying the projector would be shipping in the middle of March. 15 minutes on hold and the call is disconnected by gremlins. Next try: 45 minutes (yes, really) on the phone and the order is cancelled. I'm a little steamed at this point about the phone time but oh well.
Three days after that I got an email from Dell saying that the projector had shipped. I call Dell. 20 minutes (quick this time, ROFL) later I have my marching orders: "when the projector arrives just refuse delivery". Sounds good to me. I am only slightly pissed off.
The projector arrives two days early so my "DHL: I refuse delivery of Dell's package" sign is not yet hung up on my door. DHL leaves the package on my doorstep. This is a $1400 item, shipped without "signature required". WTF? Now I am annoyed.
The next day I call Dell. Hold time is less than 3 minutes but it still takes 30 minutes for the Customer Care chick to arrange DHL pickup at my house. At the end of the call she asks, "are you satisfied with Dell's service in this matter"? I laugh, exert all my force of will to refrain from swearing, and say "no I am not ".
The next day the package is picked up. Finally! I assume in 2 weeks Dell will charge my VISA for the order and I'll get to do it all again.
This is the reason why people like Dell have all that money but people like you and me don't.
If you're the kind of person who would retire after the first couple million and spend the rest of your life knee-deep in booze and cheap women, you won't ever have that kind of money! Sad, but true... Dell/Gates/etc don't keep working for the money. You could add or subtract a few zeros to their net worth and it wouldn't matter either way. They do it because they don't want to do anything else.
Absolutely. I have done my own car maintenance in the past. (I once owned a Reliant that needed new valve stem seals every 6 months. I was too poor to get a new engine so I just cracked the head and replaced them myself. Cost around $10 for parts plus $10 for a gasket if I didn't feel like reusing the old one.)
But now that I'm all grown up my interests are elsewhere. It costs me about $30 to get an oil change at the Honda dealer on the CR-V. There is NO way that I could do that myself for "less". My time is worth a lot more to me, and I'm sure that the dealer is making less of a mess that I would in there.
"I would sooner trust a random stranger than a copper."
Mods, how is this insightful?
Read the fucking newspaper. Count how many stories you read about crimes committed by police and compare that to the number of crimes committed by non-police. Heck, even do it "per capita" if you want.
Cars have hazard lights for a reason. :)
I don't know why but nobody in my neck of the woods (Seattle) knows what hazard lights are for. They don't know what turn signals are for either. I guess it's just too complex.
OTOH the feed to a gas range can't develop a wiring fault and cause an electrical fire in your wall. ;)
If gas ranges were even remotely dangerous I don't think you'd find them in such widespread use around the world. I've never seen any statistics but I imagine a gas range is just as safe as an electric one. And the gas version is superior in every functional way.
"Gas appliances are fairly uncommon in North America. The majority of stoves, hot water heaters, etc, are electric."
That depends where you live. In all the places I've lived in Canada and the US hot water has always been gas except in old cruddy student housing with ancient water heaters bought back in the day when electric was competitive. Electric furnaces are even more rare, and usually only found (where I've lived anyways) only in older houses.
Stoves yes are mostly electric. Which is silly because a gas stove is just *so* much better!
Wuss! You don't need a block heater at -20 deg F. You need it if you're out in the dang prairies where it can get *much* colder than that. -20 deg is nothing. Southern Ontario gets that regularly. I never needed a block heater even in my cruddy student cars. Until I wised up and moved to a place with a less stupid climate, that is.
The only problem with that theory is that I've heard enough karaoke in my day to know that almost nobody sings well enough to impress a member of the opposite sex. The best most people can hope for is "well, that wasn't *too* bad".
Karaoke is lame (IMHO). Videoke? Ugh. Even lamer.
Yes that is a short squeeze.
I tried to short it this morning but Ameritrade cancelled the order. I imagine too many people are shorting. Oh well. I bought a few shares of Autozone.
You can also ram a stick in the forks of a wheelchair, or take a kid's crutch and bust it over your knee.
Does that mean that wheelchairs and crutches are unsuitable for the disabled in schools?
Methinks you are grasping at straws. And a "nearby explosion"? Where do you go to school, exactly?
ROFL good link!
Price $149.99
Now $59.99
I wonder why the price has dropped by over half? Maybe because they're so farging ugly that even the average moron consumer isn't stupid enough to want desparately to own a pair?
Agreed. The /. tagline says "interesting" but this is frightening as hell. The bottom line is that if you are an enemy of US and you talk on a cellphone anywhere in the world, you may well be screwed. Wow. What else are they listening for, I wonder?
Power is at low frequency (60 Hz). There is no RF traffic at that frequency that I'm aware of. Data will be on the lines at high frequency and will splat into some used part of the RF spectrum (apparently the part used by ham radio).
Never owned a Laserdisc. Even as a child looking at VHS you could see it was crap. Before DVD there was never (IMHO) a video recording format worth investing in except for casual video store runs. Laserdisc was fine but the cost never became realistic. The quality of tape has always just been awful.
:)
Anyways, I was just appalled that you put VHS next to LP.
/agree
.24 Mbps up. I would KILL to get 1 Mbps up.
WTH is wrong with you people? 1 Mbps up *and* down for $30 would be absolutely freaking incredible. I'm on MDM cable internet now. For $35 a month (one year special) I'm getting 2-3 Mbps down and about
The interference thing could be interesting... but I kinda doubt the FCC would let them go live if it proved to be a problem.