Well, my point is that these "techno-pundits" are always complaining about superficial things like the language of messagebox text, details of savefile dialogs, help-baloons, "Clippy," ad nauseum. If it works, it works! How hard is it to right-click or hit Ctl-S to save?
Omigod it takes four clicks to save a file instead of two. If we could cut the number of clicks our product would gain 50% efficiency!. This is the sort of stuff that pointy-head marketing types eat up, not "nerds." How did this article even get on/.? WTF?
IMOHO these are minor annoyances and therefore we are wasting energy by even discussing them. Why not discuss real problems, like OS boot times, resourse usage, performance, stability, and let's not forget security! Somebody point us to an article on those topics. That's all I'm saying here.
This article is written by a whiner of the Nth degree (trust me, it takes one to know one).
You have click "Save" and "Quit," you have to right click to move applications, the "filesaver" and "filepicker" don't look alike, etc. etc. BOO-Phunking-HOO. Somebody has too much time on their hands.
According to one source: Once again, while the anime market may seem massive to anime fans, and it's true that the anime industry does have a lot of home video marketing influence and power in America, anime itself is still not nearly as understood or recognized an art form or entertainment medium in America as most anime fans think it is. It seems almost inevitable that America will eventually spawn an anime exclusive television network, but when experienced veterans like the Cartoon Network aren't prepared to venture into extensive anime programming, we should probably take that as a sign that an all-anime TV channel is still quite distant for the American market.
If you need a "quick introduction to SQL" try reading Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. 800+ pages??? If it was a reference book, maybe you could justify the pagecount, but who has the time to thumb through an 800 page introductory text?
Most developers (read: non-DBAs) are just going to do simple SELECT queries. TY SQL in 10 Minutes does the trick for those 95% of cases.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Don't let a forbes article that managed to find some stupid slackers convince you that its not your responsibility and fault whether you retire early or never.
Before I read those wonderful "books," why don't you actually try reading the article. It was Fortune, not Forbes.
I have already started saving - in a conservative bonds-based mutual fund which has grown 30% in the last year while everything else was falling. So don't lecture to me about being prudent. Meanwhile, all the other employees at my job (Baby Boomers the whole lot of them) invested their 401k's in aggressive securities-based funds...and seen them evaporate by 40% in the last year. GUESS WHO IS GOING TO BE PAYING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY IN A FEW - THAT'S RIGHT, ME MUTHFUCKA
*ahem* Therefore, after reading and re-reading your post, I have arrived at the conclusion that you are an idiot. You choose to ignore the facts in favor of the usesless words of some "investment guru."
Enjoy having the last word - as if it were worth anything.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Furthermore, so I don't know why you are making all these ridiculous assumptions about my lifestyle, spending habits and financial investments. You don't know me. The person you described is not anything like me.
I suppose it is easier for your to set up a Straw Man to attack than it is to have an intelligent conversation about the facts.
Hmmm didn't see this anywhere on the site, didn't want to use my journal...and this thread seemed like a good a place as any
here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/14/technology/14S LA S.html
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
No, I am whining because I might have to be working for a living until I am 85 (or until I die). Excuse me for wanting to have at least what my parents had - something every generation - Great Depression excepted - has had until now.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
The idea that the Democrats are the ones responsible for "raiding the Social Security trust" is just plain silly. Both parties are guilty!
And, as a matter of fact, I do think that the world owes me something: opportunity. Opportunity that the Baby Boomers have effectively stolen from us with their irresponsible behavior - both as individuals and as a whole. If you want to live in a fantasy world in which anybody can just "up and move and get a job anywhere whenever they want," that's your choice...but if you want to re-read the Fortune article and see what the facts are, I will be the first to welcome you to Reality.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
For the record, I don't sit on my ass, I work for a living. The problem is that my employer didn't give *anyone* a raise last year (and probably this year, too) because of the "bad economic situation."
And Enron did effect me because I own mutual funds and 401(k)'s, and, if you haven't noticed, the Stock Market has dropped by several thousand points over the past year. Bah.
You may think that parents don't owe their children anything after 18. Well, I disagree. Your kids will be pumping gas while mine are (hopefully) executives that own the chain of filling stations at which your kids work! Why? Because I helped them get started in life and paid for their higher education. Have fun when your loving children have to move back in with you at 26, jerkoff.
Futhermore, I would argue that if parents do not owe their children anything after 18, then the reciprocal also holds. Children have no obligation to aid parents in their retirement years. So, when your parents finish pissing away all their money on bullshit "self discovery" therapy sessions, mid-life crisis sportscars, and frivolous vacations, I encourage you to let them spend the last years of their sorry lives rotting in a cardboard box.
Wotta morron.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Of COURSE they are. its their money! Go get yourself a good job and save so that you can spend it when you're their age.
In my parents case they didn't save jack shit. They blew what paltry income they had "finding themselves" over the past 30 years, and don't plan to stop anytime soon. They are blowing the money that they *inherited* from *their* parents.
Hell, they freaking RAISED YOU and still managed to save the money they are spending now. They certainly have earned it!
Gee, you sound just like my parents! The double standard continues.
"You should be grateful to us for raising you, now get the hell out of my house! By the way, we are going to treat ourselves to luxurious vacations every three months using our parents money because we've 'earned' it. Sorry, none for you.
After all, we protested against Vietnam, what the fuck have you done lately? What's that? You need help paying your rent this month? Tough shit, you are on your own."
Really? Did you have stock in Enron? Were you a worldcom shareholder? I want to get you started. I want to know the exact dollar figure. How much did you loose to enron and worldcom, precisely? How much?
I didn't own any stock, but now I am going to pay more taxes so the government can bail these cheating baby boomers out. Not to mention the fact that 1000's of people were laid off because of their lies and excess. I could go on and on, but it's easier to point your sorry ass to the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Or are you too busy making pathetic, flamebait posts like these on slashdot?
What a joke.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
You are an idiot.
I paid for 50% of my college tutition in the form of loans. Since it was an Ivy (yay, me), that means about $100,000. I thought it would be worth it because it would mean a better chance at a career...but that is another posting.
My parents still drag me over the coals for their paying anything at all. I only was able to go to school because of a small need-based grant from the college, thank you rich alumni. I haven't had a vacation since I started working 1 week after graduation over 4 years ago. I paid for my own wedding, which was extremely modest (in retrospect we should have gone to city hall, but both our parents begged for a wedding - did they pay for it? No.). No honeymoon - not enough money. But I guess I'm just greedy for wanting a small slice of what my parents had?
Meanwhile, my mother has never had a career but gets her mothers SS check every month and travels around the world site-seeing. My father took a job with a non-profit to sate his hippie values, so now they don't have any savings. The party will really begin when she gets her mother's inheritance. But that will only last so long. Guess who is going to end up supporting them in the last few years of their retirement? Hint: it won't be Santa Claus.
Re:Lost bullshit education, work hard
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Hear-hear. I have see so many young people get accepted to top Ivy schools, only to be sent off to East Bumfuck State because their parents didn't want to cut into their six-digit income. If a kid is smart and their parents can afford it, then wtf let them go.
Side Note: On the otherhand, if you can't afford to go to a "top" school, then don't. You aren't missing much anyway, as alexhmit01 points out.
Equally disgusting are parents who think their children should pay for everything themselves when they had no such restrictions. They often think that their children would "blow" the money, well what the hell are they doing with their $2M house and trips to europe? I have to stop, this is making me ill.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Please read my post....it's not "their" savings that are being blown, its their PARENTS money (in other words, my GRANDPARENTS money). Baby boomers do not want to sacrifice themselves for their children like their parents did for them. With a few exceptions, they are on the whole selfish and narcissistic.
Take responsibility and choose wisely, huh? Hah. We are in this mess because the Baby Boomers acted without resposibility and choose poorly! So, once again, we are held to a higher standard AND have to pay for their selfish behavior. Disgusting.
And excuse me for wanting security for my children. Our parents want to spend their money on trips abroad, a new Lexus, or some useless community college courses. Meanwhile, we are going to be in debt the rest of our lives.
If wanting retire when I'm 65 and have the resources to give my kids a better life then I had makes me a "greedy @$$ hole," then I guess that's what I am.
Re:We're screwed, my friends
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
What's more disgusting is that they are judging us for not having the "free-spirit, live for today" worldview that they had when they were all hippies. They were "discovering themselves" and now can blow their own parents inheritance on more selfish "self-discovery." They take for granted everything they got from their parents, but don't think we are deserving of any such help at all.
Maybe we're not, but my point is that the double standard is absurdly unjust.
See, to them, we are "spoiled whiners...children." But when you look at the facts THEY are the ones who were spoiled by THEIR parents, and now we are the ones who are going to foot the bill.
Some posters have said that the X'ers dug their own grave by "wasting money on electronic toys and cars." That's chump change. Most people I know have 10s or even 100s of thousands of dollars in debt from Higher Education. The American Dream is long dead. Time for us to get together and take the system down.
Re:I dont understand how they could have missed th
on
Generation Wrecked
·
· Score: 1
Wow, that's some way to measure your life - by the lowest possible standard. "At least I'm not living in a mud hut in Outer Mongolia." Taken to its logical end, even Cracky down at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York has it "good." Give me a break.
Maybe we are whiners, but that doesn't mean that our parents our justified in to blowing their savings on globe-trotting and hippie weekend camps - while we bust our asses just to avoid living in a box for our retirement. Don't even get me started on the implications of Enron, WorldCom et. al. They've screwed us royally.
It is not that our lives our so horrible...its just that the older generation is living large and screwing us simultaneously. I think even the Cambodians could see the injustice in that.
It's not a matter of making good, careful choices. You can do everything you are supposed to and still get screwed by incompetent management. Re-read the article.
Napier's point is that while these strong women exist in Anime, they are conspicuously ABSENT from actual Japanese society.
In fact, one anecdote Napier relates in her book is that of a female anime fan approaching Miyazaki and asking (verbatim) "Girls like that [in Nausicca], don't really exist, do they?"
In anime, more common than the "strong woman" theme is the "magical girl" cliche, in which one (or multiple) girls angle for the attention of a male protagonist. Think Tenchi Muyo, Ah My Goddess to name two.
There is not doubt that Miyazaki is a great craftsman...however the real power of his films comes from the profound depth of his stories, and the exceptional realism of his characters.
I don't know if it is fair to dismiss the academic style as saying "essentially nothing," nor if this warrants a "severe" cavet in recommending her book. I have found that the academic style actually says a lot...the problem for most being that the authors tend to cram complex ideas into a few (big) words. It takes some getting used to, but is rewarding.
In other words, Anime is definitely not "layman" writting, as most people expect from books on pop culture. A lot of these books tend to be "gee-whiz" triva tomes written by fanboys, and Anime definitely cannot be placed in the same category. It is more a work of film theory.
One could argue that it is impossible for any American to analyze Japanese culture without a degree of Western-bias. In fact, I wish more Japanese works on anime - of which there are many - would be translated to english! However, while I have not read Samurai from Outerspace, its very title - a play on cliched American sci-fi movies - seems to imply the imposition of Western perceptions on Japanese culture. I will have to give it a look to quash (or confirm?) this skepticism.
Still, I think Napier makes an honest attempt to analyze anime from a Japanese context. For example, she cites surveys that contrast the attitudes of Japanese and American fans regarding anime. Furthermore, while her analysis may be her own, she also has read a great deal of Japanese criticism on the anime (as listed in her bibliography). If she writes with a western bias, she is at least familiar with the writtings of her Japanese counter-parts.
One criticism is that she only focuses on Anime that have been exported to the United States. While this may be true to a degree, many of the the works she focuses on were also hits in Japan, and therefore worth of inclusion in a survey work such as this. On the other hand, she also makes a point in her introduction that anime has become an international phenomenon - so it is completely relevant to address the interpretation of anime from an American perspective!
In conclusion, after reading Anime, I certainly looked at mainstream anime films/series (Ramna 1/2, Evangelion, Macross Plus, Princess Mononoke to name a few) very differently. I think many/.'ers will too. If you end up enjoying Spirited Away, check this book out.
Some interesting reading to coincide with Spirited Away: Prof. Susan Napier is author of Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke which offers an insightful introduction to the works of Miyazaki, most of all Naussica (which should be released here in the US on DVD at least, dangit!). Animerica also has a great interview with Prof. Napier about her book.
Last summer, I saw Prof. Napier give a speech on Anime in the US at the Japan Society (as part of the 2001 Big Apple Anime Fest). Her primary thesis was that Princess Mononoke failed in American theaters largely because our audiences didn't "get" its ambiguous morals and "unresolved" ending
(Point of debate acknowledged - many fans complain that Disney did not support the movie. In fact, Disney spent millions on an all-star voice cast and promotions - something then unheard of for foreign animation).
However, more interesting is the revelation concerning Japan that she raises in her book. The strong women protagonists found in Miyazaki's films simply do not exist in Japanese society, whereas they have been a staple here for decades both in film (Aliens, Terminator, Silence of the Lambs, Star Wars (Princess Lea) - also Disney animation such as Little Mermaid, Aladin, etc.) and reality (Oprah, Hillary and so on).
Perhaps the spectacle of a strong independent woman protagonist is what makes Miyazaki's films such runaway successes in Japan. Here, strong women are not uncommon in popular culture - so American viewers come away only remembering the high animation quality? At any rate, it will be interesting to see how the Miyazaki fares this time around.
I am aware of the results of the US Patriot Act, as they have been posted both on/. and elsewhere. In fact, the current issue of 2600 has a very informative article that outlines the more specific impact of the Act on geeks. So, let me make it clear that I am NOT in favor of it remaining on the books.
If you want more anti-Patriot Act fodder, you may be interested in this article. It offers real-worldexamples of the impact of the Patriot Act, rather than an enumeration of its theoretical impact, as you provided.
However, if you bothered to read my previous post, you might have caught one of my points:
Virtually all laws included in the Patriot Act are in the process of being overturned by the Federal Judiciary. Our country still has a system of checks and balances, and the Justices are working to reverse the power-grabbing initiated by Ashcroft & Co.
I should add that while I abhor the Patriot Act, I don't have patience for people who are upset because it might be more difficult (or more illegal) to get away with - hacking and defacing web sites - hoarding child porn - evading federal taxes via offshore banking - file sharing MP3s - trading/selling warez
If you are upset because you are a Muslim American, or you checked out a book on bomb-making - and as a result the FBI wanted to "interview you" - I am share your outrage.
However, if you are upset because now the authorities have a better chance of catching you breaking the law - I suddenly find myself considerably less interested in your plight.
These are all details however. My main point is this:
When I watched those towers fall live on television, I saw 3,000 people die. What I did not see was"My Liberties Vanish," as some others have posted (aside from, perhaps, Freedom from Fear).
No, the horrific loss of life and human tragedy in its aftermath is the real story of 9/11. We should be most concerned with making sure that - within the limits of our sacred Constitution - it doesn't happen again.
Well, I would reply that for several centuries those people have been streaming into this region of North America so they CAN have the opportunity to Live without Fear.
I want our Constitutional Rights protected...but when geeks start whinning that the Patriot Act is the single worst result of 9/11, I don't have much patience.
On the other hand, being forced to move from your childhood home because some cave-dwelling nut-job on the other side of the globe is trying to kill you? I think Homer J said it best:
Did we lose a war? That's not America. Noooooo. That's not even Mexico.
If someone else wants to profess their grief (publicly or privately) that is their Right.
If you choose not to mourn that is your right as well. If you refuse to see a difference between natural occurences and mass-murder...well, that is your right and your opinion but I think many people would agree that it is an extremely insensitive attitude.
Also, I find it grossly inappropriate to lecture mourners, telling them that their personal grief is unjustified. That is the offensive attitude that I was addressing in my previous post.
Well, if we live in constant fear of being killed, and therefore cannot travel, work or even leave our homes...can you truly call that Freedom?
Yes, I think the Terrorists CAN take away our Freedom.
The preamble Constitution of the United States reads:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Without insuring domestic tranquility and providing common defense, the blessings of liberty cannot exist.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, my point is that these "techno-pundits" are always complaining about superficial things like the language of messagebox text, details of savefile dialogs, help-baloons, "Clippy," ad nauseum. If it works, it works! How hard is it to right-click or hit Ctl-S to save?
/.? WTF?
Omigod it takes four clicks to save a file instead of two. If we could cut the number of clicks our product would gain 50% efficiency!. This is the sort of stuff that pointy-head marketing types eat up, not "nerds." How did this article even get on
IMOHO these are minor annoyances and therefore we are wasting energy by even discussing them. Why not discuss real problems, like OS boot times, resourse usage, performance, stability, and let's not forget security! Somebody point us to an article on those topics. That's all I'm saying here.
This article is written by a whiner of the Nth degree (trust me, it takes one to know one).
You have click "Save" and "Quit," you have to right click to move applications, the "filesaver" and "filepicker" don't look alike, etc. etc. BOO-Phunking-HOO. Somebody has too much time on their hands.
According to one source:
Once again, while the anime market may seem massive to anime fans, and it's true that the anime industry does have a lot of home video marketing influence and power in America, anime itself is still not nearly as understood or recognized an art form or entertainment medium in America as most anime fans think it is. It seems almost inevitable that America will eventually spawn an anime exclusive television network, but when experienced veterans like the Cartoon Network aren't prepared to venture into extensive anime programming, we should probably take that as a sign that an all-anime TV channel is still quite distant for the American market.
Indeed!
If you need a "quick introduction to SQL" try reading Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. 800+ pages??? If it was a reference book, maybe you could justify the pagecount, but who has the time to thumb through an 800 page introductory text?
Most developers (read: non-DBAs) are just going to do simple SELECT queries. TY SQL in 10 Minutes does the trick for those 95% of cases.
YES but Homer Simpson was the Internet King
Don't let a forbes article that managed to find some stupid slackers convince you that its not your responsibility and fault whether you retire early or never.
Before I read those wonderful "books," why don't you actually try reading the article. It was Fortune, not Forbes.
I have already started saving - in a conservative bonds-based mutual fund which has grown 30% in the last year while everything else was falling. So don't lecture to me about being prudent. Meanwhile, all the other employees at my job (Baby Boomers the whole lot of them) invested their 401k's in aggressive securities-based funds...and seen them evaporate by 40% in the last year. GUESS WHO IS GOING TO BE PAYING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY IN A FEW - THAT'S RIGHT, ME MUTHFUCKA
*ahem* Therefore, after reading and re-reading your post, I have arrived at the conclusion that you are an idiot. You choose to ignore the facts in favor of the usesless words of some "investment guru."
Enjoy having the last word - as if it were worth anything.
I say it again: Go back and read the article. Even if our generation does all this stuff you are talking about, attaining financial security will still be longer and more difficult then it was for our parents.
Furthermore, so I don't know why you are making all these ridiculous assumptions about my lifestyle, spending habits and financial investments. You don't know me. The person you described is not anything like me.
I suppose it is easier for your to set up a Straw Man to attack than it is to have an intelligent conversation about the facts.
Hmmm didn't see this anywhere on the site, didn't want to use my journal...and this thread seemed like a good a place as any
S LA S.html
here it is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/14/technology/14
No, I am whining because I might have to be working for a living until I am 85 (or until I die). Excuse me for wanting to have at least what my parents had - something every generation - Great Depression excepted - has had until now.
The idea that the Democrats are the ones responsible for "raiding the Social Security trust" is just plain silly. Both parties are guilty!
And, as a matter of fact, I do think that the world owes me something: opportunity. Opportunity that the Baby Boomers have effectively stolen from us with their irresponsible behavior - both as individuals and as a whole. If you want to live in a fantasy world in which anybody can just "up and move and get a job anywhere whenever they want," that's your choice...but if you want to re-read the Fortune article and see what the facts are, I will be the first to welcome you to Reality.
For the record, I don't sit on my ass, I work for a living. The problem is that my employer didn't give *anyone* a raise last year (and probably this year, too) because of the "bad economic situation."
And Enron did effect me because I own mutual funds and 401(k)'s, and, if you haven't noticed, the Stock Market has dropped by several thousand points over the past year. Bah.
You may think that parents don't owe their children anything after 18. Well, I disagree. Your kids will be pumping gas while mine are (hopefully) executives that own the chain of filling stations at which your kids work! Why? Because I helped them get started in life and paid for their higher education. Have fun when your loving children have to move back in with you at 26, jerkoff.
Futhermore, I would argue that if parents do not owe their children anything after 18, then the reciprocal also holds. Children have no obligation to aid parents in their retirement years. So, when your parents finish pissing away all their money on bullshit "self discovery" therapy sessions, mid-life crisis sportscars, and frivolous vacations, I encourage you to let them spend the last years of their sorry lives rotting in a cardboard box.
Wotta morron.
Of COURSE they are. its their money! Go get yourself a good job and save so that you can spend it when you're their age.
In my parents case they didn't save jack shit. They blew what paltry income they had "finding themselves" over the past 30 years, and don't plan to stop anytime soon. They are blowing the money that they *inherited* from *their* parents.
Hell, they freaking RAISED YOU and still managed to save the money they are spending now. They certainly have earned it!
Gee, you sound just like my parents! The double standard continues.
"You should be grateful to us for raising you, now get the hell out of my house! By the way, we are going to treat ourselves to luxurious vacations every three months using our parents money because we've 'earned' it. Sorry, none for you.
After all, we protested against Vietnam, what the fuck have you done lately? What's that? You need help paying your rent this month? Tough shit, you are on your own."
Really? Did you have stock in Enron? Were you a worldcom shareholder? I want to get you started. I want to know the exact dollar figure. How much did you loose to enron and worldcom, precisely? How much?
I didn't own any stock, but now I am going to pay more taxes so the government can bail these cheating baby boomers out. Not to mention the fact that 1000's of people were laid off because of their lies and excess. I could go on and on, but it's easier to point your sorry ass to the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Or are you too busy making pathetic, flamebait posts like these on slashdot?
What a joke.
You are an idiot.
I paid for 50% of my college tutition in the form of loans. Since it was an Ivy (yay, me), that means about $100,000. I thought it would be worth it because it would mean a better chance at a career...but that is another posting.
My parents still drag me over the coals for their paying anything at all. I only was able to go to school because of a small need-based grant from the college, thank you rich alumni. I haven't had a vacation since I started working 1 week after graduation over 4 years ago. I paid for my own wedding, which was extremely modest (in retrospect we should have gone to city hall, but both our parents begged for a wedding - did they pay for it? No.). No honeymoon - not enough money. But I guess I'm just greedy for wanting a small slice of what my parents had?
Meanwhile, my mother has never had a career but gets her mothers SS check every month and travels around the world site-seeing. My father took a job with a non-profit to sate his hippie values, so now they don't have any savings. The party will really begin when she gets her mother's inheritance. But that will only last so long. Guess who is going to end up supporting them in the last few years of their retirement? Hint: it won't be Santa Claus.
Hear-hear. I have see so many young people get accepted to top Ivy schools, only to be sent off to East Bumfuck State because their parents didn't want to cut into their six-digit income. If a kid is smart and their parents can afford it, then wtf let them go.
Side Note: On the otherhand, if you can't afford to go to a "top" school, then don't. You aren't missing much anyway, as alexhmit01 points out.
Equally disgusting are parents who think their children should pay for everything themselves when they had no such restrictions. They often think that their children would "blow" the money, well what the hell are they doing with their $2M house and trips to europe? I have to stop, this is making me ill.
Please read my post....it's not "their" savings that are being blown, its their PARENTS money (in other words, my GRANDPARENTS money). Baby boomers do not want to sacrifice themselves for their children like their parents did for them. With a few exceptions, they are on the whole selfish and narcissistic.
Take responsibility and choose wisely, huh? Hah. We are in this mess because the Baby Boomers acted without resposibility and choose poorly! So, once again, we are held to a higher standard AND have to pay for their selfish behavior. Disgusting.
And excuse me for wanting security for my children. Our parents want to spend their money on trips abroad, a new Lexus, or some useless community college courses. Meanwhile, we are going to be in debt the rest of our lives.
If wanting retire when I'm 65 and have the resources to give my kids a better life then I had makes me a "greedy @$$ hole," then I guess that's what I am.
What's more disgusting is that they are judging us for not having the "free-spirit, live for today" worldview that they had when they were all hippies. They were "discovering themselves" and now can blow their own parents inheritance on more selfish "self-discovery." They take for granted everything they got from their parents, but don't think we are deserving of any such help at all.
Maybe we're not, but my point is that the double standard is absurdly unjust.
See, to them, we are "spoiled whiners...children." But when you look at the facts THEY are the ones who were spoiled by THEIR parents, and now we are the ones who are going to foot the bill.
Some posters have said that the X'ers dug their own grave by "wasting money on electronic toys and cars." That's chump change. Most people I know have 10s or even 100s of thousands of dollars in debt from Higher Education. The American Dream is long dead. Time for us to get together and take the system down.
Wow, that's some way to measure your life - by the lowest possible standard. "At least I'm not living in a mud hut in Outer Mongolia." Taken to its logical end, even Cracky down at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York has it "good." Give me a break.
Maybe we are whiners, but that doesn't mean that our parents our justified in to blowing their savings on globe-trotting and hippie weekend camps - while we bust our asses just to avoid living in a box for our retirement. Don't even get me started on the implications of Enron, WorldCom et. al. They've screwed us royally.
It is not that our lives our so horrible...its just that the older generation is living large and screwing us simultaneously. I think even the Cambodians could see the injustice in that.
It's not a matter of making good, careful choices. You can do everything you are supposed to and still get screwed by incompetent management. Re-read the article.
Napier's point is that while these strong women exist in Anime, they are conspicuously ABSENT from actual Japanese society.
In fact, one anecdote Napier relates in her book is that of a female anime fan approaching Miyazaki and asking (verbatim) "Girls like that [in Nausicca], don't really exist, do they?"
In anime, more common than the "strong woman" theme is the "magical girl" cliche, in which one (or multiple) girls angle for the attention of a male protagonist. Think Tenchi Muyo, Ah My Goddess to name two.
There is not doubt that Miyazaki is a great craftsman...however the real power of his films comes from the profound depth of his stories, and the exceptional realism of his characters.
I don't know if it is fair to dismiss the academic style as saying "essentially nothing," nor if this warrants a "severe" cavet in recommending her book. I have found that the academic style actually says a lot...the problem for most being that the authors tend to cram complex ideas into a few (big) words. It takes some getting used to, but is rewarding.
/.'ers will too. If you end up enjoying Spirited Away, check this book out.
In other words, Anime is definitely not "layman" writting, as most people expect from books on pop culture. A lot of these books tend to be "gee-whiz" triva tomes written by fanboys, and Anime definitely cannot be placed in the same category. It is more a work of film theory.
One could argue that it is impossible for any American to analyze Japanese culture without a degree of Western-bias. In fact, I wish more Japanese works on anime - of which there are many - would be translated to english! However, while I have not read Samurai from Outerspace, its very title - a play on cliched American sci-fi movies - seems to imply the imposition of Western perceptions on Japanese culture. I will have to give it a look to quash (or confirm?) this skepticism.
Still, I think Napier makes an honest attempt to analyze anime from a Japanese context. For example, she cites surveys that contrast the attitudes of Japanese and American fans regarding anime. Furthermore, while her analysis may be her own, she also has read a great deal of Japanese criticism on the anime (as listed in her bibliography). If she writes with a western bias, she is at least familiar with the writtings of her Japanese counter-parts.
One criticism is that she only focuses on Anime that have been exported to the United States. While this may be true to a degree, many of the the works she focuses on were also hits in Japan, and therefore worth of inclusion in a survey work such as this. On the other hand, she also makes a point in her introduction that anime has become an international phenomenon - so it is completely relevant to address the interpretation of anime from an American perspective!
In conclusion, after reading Anime, I certainly looked at mainstream anime films/series (Ramna 1/2, Evangelion, Macross Plus, Princess Mononoke to name a few) very differently. I think many
Some interesting reading to coincide with Spirited Away: Prof. Susan Napier is author of Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke which offers an insightful introduction to the works of Miyazaki, most of all Naussica (which should be released here in the US on DVD at least, dangit!). Animerica also has a great interview with Prof. Napier about her book.
Last summer, I saw Prof. Napier give a speech on Anime in the US at the Japan Society (as part of the 2001 Big Apple Anime Fest). Her primary thesis was that Princess Mononoke failed in American theaters largely because our audiences didn't "get" its ambiguous morals and "unresolved" ending
(Point of debate acknowledged - many fans complain that Disney did not support the movie. In fact, Disney spent millions on an all-star voice cast and promotions - something then unheard of for foreign animation).
However, more interesting is the revelation concerning Japan that she raises in her book. The strong women protagonists found in Miyazaki's films simply do not exist in Japanese society, whereas they have been a staple here for decades both in film (Aliens, Terminator, Silence of the Lambs, Star Wars (Princess Lea) - also Disney animation such as Little Mermaid, Aladin, etc.) and reality (Oprah, Hillary and so on).
Perhaps the spectacle of a strong independent woman protagonist is what makes Miyazaki's films such runaway successes in Japan. Here, strong women are not uncommon in popular culture - so American viewers come away only remembering the high animation quality? At any rate, it will be interesting to see how the Miyazaki fares this time around.
I am aware of the results of the US Patriot Act, as they have been posted both on /. and elsewhere. In fact, the current issue of 2600 has a very informative article that outlines the more specific impact of the Act on geeks. So, let me make it clear that I am NOT in favor of it remaining on the books.
If you want more anti-Patriot Act fodder, you may be interested in this article. It offers real-worldexamples of the impact of the Patriot Act, rather than an enumeration of its theoretical impact, as you provided.
However, if you bothered to read my previous post, you might have caught one of my points:
Virtually all laws included in the Patriot Act are in the process of being overturned by the Federal Judiciary. Our country still has a system of checks and balances, and the Justices are working to reverse the power-grabbing initiated by Ashcroft & Co.
I should add that while I abhor the Patriot Act, I don't have patience for people who are upset because it might be more difficult (or more illegal) to get away with
- hacking and defacing web sites
- hoarding child porn
- evading federal taxes via offshore banking
- file sharing MP3s
- trading/selling warez
If you are upset because you are a Muslim American, or you checked out a book on bomb-making - and as a result the FBI wanted to "interview you" - I am share your outrage.
However, if you are upset because now the authorities have a better chance of catching you breaking the law - I suddenly find myself considerably less interested in your plight.
These are all details however. My main point is this:
When I watched those towers fall live on television, I saw 3,000 people die. What I did not see was"My Liberties Vanish," as some others have posted (aside from, perhaps, Freedom from Fear).
No, the horrific loss of life and human tragedy in its aftermath is the real story of 9/11. We should be most concerned with making sure that - within the limits of our sacred Constitution - it doesn't happen again.
Well, I would reply that for several centuries those people have been streaming into this region of North America so they CAN have the opportunity to Live without Fear.
/.er's have been complaining about the loss of Freedoms due to the US Patriot Act...but what few fail to recognize is that this law is already being sucessfully challenged by the Federal Judiciary!
Al-Queda is trying to change that.
A lot of
I want our Constitutional Rights protected...but when geeks start whinning that the Patriot Act is the single worst result of 9/11, I don't have much patience.
On the other hand, being forced to move from your childhood home because some cave-dwelling nut-job on the other side of the globe is trying to kill you? I think Homer J said it best:
Did we lose a war? That's not America. Noooooo. That's not even Mexico.
If someone else wants to profess their grief (publicly or privately) that is their Right.
If you choose not to mourn that is your right as well. If you refuse to see a difference between natural occurences and mass-murder...well, that is your right and your opinion but I think many people would agree that it is an extremely insensitive attitude.
Also, I find it grossly inappropriate to lecture mourners, telling them that their personal grief is unjustified. That is the offensive attitude that I was addressing in my previous post.
The very notion that the relative significance of human tragedies can be ranked in terms of their respective bodycounts...is itself sickening.
Yes, I think the Terrorists CAN take away our Freedom.
The preamble Constitution of the United States reads:
Without insuring domestic tranquility and providing common defense, the blessings of liberty cannot exist.