You're assuming that Osama would become some drug dealer's bitch. There would be a lot of people in a New York state prison that would consider him a hero. After all, the government of the state of New York is who put them in prison, and anyone who "teaches the state a lesson" by killing 3000 people, including a bunch of cops, might just be alright in their book.
Plus, there is an Islamic community in prisons. Osama, being a charismatic, persuasive type of guy, could end up recruiting a new Al Qaeda out of the US penal system.
What actual concrete detriment does being in favor of the death penalty bring to my life? Does it make me earn less? Does it raise my property taxes? Does it cause the wheels to fall off of my car while I'm going 65 down the highway? Does it make my wife leave me?
People are always making the argument that being 'barbaric', as you put it, diminishes our lives, but whether I say I believe in the death penalty or not has no effect whatsoever on the reality of my surroundings. It's a straw man that assumes that we all subscribe to the same ethical scale and same right and wrong dictionary. We do not. (If you pull out religion to try to tell me that we do, this conversation is over.)
That is correct. The lease is one of those 100-year deals and it was signed by the guy Castro overthrew (dammit, can't remember the name now.. Batista?) and he can't legally throw us out. If he did, we'd just shoot him. He would like that less than having USians on his property.
That's a good point that a lot of people forget (I did). A lot of tech in the EU (and Asia, for that matter) is new because the old stuff was destroyed in the world wars. It's made the USA's telecomm infrastructure the old fashioned one.
id doesn't release games, they release technology demos for their game engines. They make their money on licensing the Doom3 engine to other development shops.
1) Jar-Jar 2) The midichlorians thing is just fucking idiotic. Lucas ass-raped the entire spiritual subtext of the Star Wars universe with that concept. He turned the Jedi into simple X-Men style superheroes rather than the sort of Shaolin-lite guys they were before. 3) The dialogue, especially the romance dialogue. Again, fucking idiotic. 4) The acting. All of the actors involved in the prequels are good, talented actors - yes, even Hayden, in the right role. However, Lucas can't get a performance out of them that contains one shred of emotion. Or, he might be telling them to downplay their acting in order to not upstage his CGI sets. 5) The complete rejection of all of the expanded universe work. A lot of the SW novels are crap, but the good ones, like the Zahn novels, are brilliant extentions of SW into real sci-fi. Lucas in his arrogance has invalidated all of that work.
The VC can cause it to fail when the VC decides his money is being wasted, so he liquidates the assets and turns it into a paper company that can't be sued for back salary. That's what the VC did to a company I worked for in 2000.
It's interesting how everyday devices are getting less and less stable. My new DVD drive has locked up on me several times. My PVR/cable box has unceremoniously virtual-BSOD and restarted several times, cars electronics are crashing, and soon cell phones. Progress? It's progress for the following people:
- the manufacturer who gets to sell you another one - the shipping carrier who couriers the RMA package from - the retailer who gets to sell you another one or maybe something else while you're there - the tech support rep who gets to log another call - the manufacturer again when they refurb your device and sell it to a bargain basement OEM - the OEM who makes a tidy profit on the refurbed parts sold as new
The disposable culture is a huge step backward for society, but because so many people can make money off of it, it's considered progress, at least in legal terms.
it eFiles both state and federal for cheap and has a better interface than any iteration of turbo tax that I've ever seen.
The downside is that you have to trust the company with your financial info and transmit it to them over SSL. but this is slashdot, we know how to be secure... right?
Ulnar nerve entrapment might be what I started to get. I lost strength and developed pain in my ring and pinky fingers on my right hand and it only went away when I stopped using the armrests on my chairs.
I think the attitude here has to do with it being an EU-based company. Our upper management tends to take a more relaxed, long-term view of business, which has its good and bad points. Sometimes it takes a long time for things we need to get done. There's a massive level of red tape to get the simplest things done. On the other hand, the management here doesn't just lay people off to meet quarterly projections. I am on a project plan through 2008 - I don't think you can get that kind of long term stability out of any American company anymore, short of a defense contractor.
I'm in the same boat (although I'm not quite the youngest person here now) and I love it.
I mean, I still have days where I come home and bitch nonstop and want to strangle people, but those are exceptions. When things are working here, it's a good place to work.
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You're assuming that Osama would become some drug dealer's bitch. There would be a lot of people in a New York state prison that would consider him a hero. After all, the government of the state of New York is who put them in prison, and anyone who "teaches the state a lesson" by killing 3000 people, including a bunch of cops, might just be alright in their book.
Plus, there is an Islamic community in prisons. Osama, being a charismatic, persuasive type of guy, could end up recruiting a new Al Qaeda out of the US penal system.
Devil's advocate time.
What actual concrete detriment does being in favor of the death penalty bring to my life? Does it make me earn less? Does it raise my property taxes? Does it cause the wheels to fall off of my car while I'm going 65 down the highway? Does it make my wife leave me?
People are always making the argument that being 'barbaric', as you put it, diminishes our lives, but whether I say I believe in the death penalty or not has no effect whatsoever on the reality of my surroundings. It's a straw man that assumes that we all subscribe to the same ethical scale and same right and wrong dictionary. We do not.
(If you pull out religion to try to tell me that we do, this conversation is over.)
That is correct. The lease is one of those 100-year deals and it was signed by the guy Castro overthrew (dammit, can't remember the name now.. Batista?) and he can't legally throw us out. If he did, we'd just shoot him. He would like that less than having USians on his property.
That's a good point that a lot of people forget (I did). A lot of tech in the EU (and Asia, for that matter) is new because the old stuff was destroyed in the world wars. It's made the USA's telecomm infrastructure the old fashioned one.
...and you are?
perhaps Mr. Knuth is a sandwich made on a long bun.
I've heard people say that but IMO it sounds stupid.
id doesn't release games, they release technology demos for their game engines. They make their money on licensing the Doom3 engine to other development shops.
Metroid -> Successfully brought a 2D game to a 3D environment.
Wolfenstein 3D, 1991.
Zelda Windwaker -> Tried an artistic cartoon/anime style approach.
Dragon's Lair, 1984.
Nintendo is a good company that puts out quality merchandise, but let's give credit where credit is due.
Here are things I hate about the prequels:
1) Jar-Jar
2) The midichlorians thing is just fucking idiotic. Lucas ass-raped the entire spiritual subtext of the Star Wars universe with that concept. He turned the Jedi into simple X-Men style superheroes rather than the sort of Shaolin-lite guys they were before.
3) The dialogue, especially the romance dialogue. Again, fucking idiotic.
4) The acting. All of the actors involved in the prequels are good, talented actors - yes, even Hayden, in the right role. However, Lucas can't get a performance out of them that contains one shred of emotion. Or, he might be telling them to downplay their acting in order to not upstage his CGI sets.
5) The complete rejection of all of the expanded universe work. A lot of the SW novels are crap, but the good ones, like the Zahn novels, are brilliant extentions of SW into real sci-fi. Lucas in his arrogance has invalidated all of that work.
Darth Binks?
Lucas lost me completely with Attack of the Clones. The only Star Wars material worth the time these days is the expanded universe stuff.
The VC can cause it to fail when the VC decides his money is being wasted, so he liquidates the assets and turns it into a paper company that can't be sued for back salary. That's what the VC did to a company I worked for in 2000.
It's interesting how everyday devices are getting less and less stable. My new DVD drive has locked up on me several times. My PVR/cable box has unceremoniously virtual-BSOD and restarted several times, cars electronics are crashing, and soon cell phones. Progress?
It's progress for the following people:
- the manufacturer who gets to sell you another one
- the shipping carrier who couriers the RMA package from
- the retailer who gets to sell you another one or maybe something else while you're there
- the tech support rep who gets to log another call
- the manufacturer again when they refurb your device and sell it to a bargain basement OEM
- the OEM who makes a tidy profit on the refurbed parts sold as new
The disposable culture is a huge step backward for society, but because so many people can make money off of it, it's considered progress, at least in legal terms.
it eFiles both state and federal for cheap and has a better interface than any iteration of turbo tax that I've ever seen.
The downside is that you have to trust the company with your financial info and transmit it to them over SSL. but this is slashdot, we know how to be secure... right?
Helm's the only lawful neutral god I could think of, sorry
the USA will win the War On Terror because our priesthood favors Helm.
Hillary Swank? That's cheating. She's still all buff from that boxing movie
Ulnar nerve entrapment might be what I started to get. I lost strength and developed pain in my ring and pinky fingers on my right hand and it only went away when I stopped using the armrests on my chairs.
bullshit. I have a file of xrays that will prove it, too.
nope. Shareware means you pay for it eventually. Freeware means you don't pay for it, period.
What, exactly, are the problems that we're trying to solve?
The Luddites' aversion to new technology.
The plaintiffs' financial difficulties.
The peoples' freedom.
IME it's more like:
Newb user: Oh, that is so cool!! Hey, make sure you put these 5 new games that my brother just burnt for me one there?
teh 1377: Uh, ok
[insert 2 hours of banging head against copy protection]
teh 1377: you're on your own
Newb user: waaaah! I want Windooows! waaaah!
I work for a publishing company.
I think the attitude here has to do with it being an EU-based company. Our upper management tends to take a more relaxed, long-term view of business, which has its good and bad points. Sometimes it takes a long time for things we need to get done. There's a massive level of red tape to get the simplest things done. On the other hand, the management here doesn't just lay people off to meet quarterly projections. I am on a project plan through 2008 - I don't think you can get that kind of long term stability out of any American company anymore, short of a defense contractor.
I'm in the same boat (although I'm not quite the youngest person here now) and I love it.
I mean, I still have days where I come home and bitch nonstop and want to strangle people, but those are exceptions. When things are working here, it's a good place to work.