I strongly believe that cheating in online games is one of the biggest problems facing humanity today. The only thing that could possibly be worse than drugs and violent crime in urban areas, terrorism, war, disease, hunger... is cheating in online games.
Perspective, a friend. Friend, this is perspective. You haven't met, have you?
You need to see these guys in the right light. Cheaters are gaming trolls. They enjoy disrupting games and getting people's panties in a bunch. Not a lot different from the mentality of your typical -1 Slashdot post.
So you regurgitate press releases for a living, then?
Way to start an intelligent discussion. Ad hominem plus uninformed opinion rolled in a short sentence. Nice.
I don't know you, your work, or the outlet for your work,
Which didn't stop you from emmiting an insulting opinion on my work. Again, nice.
but the amount of lazy journalism I see in the tech sections of the dailies just beggars belief. It's probably gone down a little now that the volume of tech articles has decreased, but, still, it's pretty woeful.
There is lazy journalism in every section of the dailies; you just notice it in the tech section because it is your specialty. See my previous comment on the fictional LOTR ubergeek. There is also good journalism (I dare say, most of it), but it gows unsung, for exactly the same reasons nobody congratulates a sysadm on a server that doesn't crashes. It's expected. Now, if a server crashes and you start shouting about how all sysadmins are lazy bastards, you'll get a lot of odd looks and maybe a quick kick in the ass. That's how we feel when you point at a bad story and start screaming "all reporters are shit!". Plus, read my original post. What you attribute to laziness is often an honest attempt to write the story at a level that is understandable to everyone. Yes, Joe Sixpack, reading it on his pickup truck on the way to a poaching spot, should be able to understand it on the first read. You try to do that sometimes in 1000 words or less and come back to tell me how lazy we are. Then again, some journalists are lazy. And some Linux geeks are fat, virgin bastards living in their parents basements, and you won't go around saying that all of them are. Right?
The specialist tech press is a different issue. It's still got serious problems, mind you.
Most of my points won't apply to specialist tech press, and it's a lot harder to excuse lack of depth in those articles. All I'm saying is, not every mistake or lack of depth in a story comes down to "lazy journalist" or "stupid reporter". Remember the old saying: Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity. And don't attribute to stupidity what can be attributed to a deadline, a 1000 words limit and an editor who keeps repeating "simpler, dammit, make it simpler".
As a journalist (a tech journalist, mind you), I think I know what the problem might be. You are an expert in the computer field. But an article, generally speaking, should not be directed to the expert. Not even to the average reader. It's geared toward the lowest common denominator. The editor's point of view usually runs along the lines of "anyone should read this article once and get it". Good, then we have to make a really in-depth exposé, right? Wrong. Then again, the editor: "In exactly 800 words". This is a gross generalization, and does not excuse flagrant errors or carelessness. But remember that it is downright impossible to write a story that everyone will like (it is even harder as your readers increase). And for a parting consideration: You will never like a tech article in a general interest publication, for exactly the same reason that a LOTR ubergeek will not enjoy the Peter Jackson films. Because they know better, and don't try to understand that the article (film) is directed toward a less knowing audience.
So... This kind of study is obviously flawed, as it tends to consider the movie as a business vehicle instead of as a work of art. It's like considering software in light of its purported cost-benefit, as M$ lusers would, brainwashed as they have been by the Gates Propaganda Machine. Instead, movies should be like Linux, lovingly made by devoted enthusiasts. It is obvious that the end product is a lot better when it is open source. Not that JonKatz would understand it, busy as he is emailing Afghanistan on his Commodore 64. Then again, both Linux and Windows are not as good as FreeBSD, which opens an interesting question as to what filmmaking method would emulate FreeBSD's. Of course, it would produce only cinematographic jewels. On the other hand, not to nitpick, but pc is not an appropiate abreviation for "percent". You should have used the % sign. Plus, you should have used commas and colons, instead of spaces and commas. Ans it's not "good v evil". Your missing the "s" in "vs.". Not that I'm a gret spaller meself. And 2+2=4.
No... that doesn't sound right. It needs more RIAA bashing, and a pinch of Natalie Portman. We need more research.
You know what would be funny? Being the clerk that assigns numbers to these bills. Then you could make: HB 2892 = Open Source Promotion HB 2982 = UCITA.
And watch people changing sides without even realizing it >:)
Adventure games. Really, The Longest Journey would make a pretty good movie. And I'm sure that The Grim Fandango made by Pixar would be an orgasmic experience. And who could resist Tim Burton's Sam and Max Hit the Road? Monkey Island would make a fine live action comedy too.
Slashdot Mirror
If you named your computers after Winnie Pooh characters, you were already screwed...
I guess our good friend Bernard Shifman has secured a place in posterity...
Whatever you do, don't name him BSD.
If you do, the trolls will kill him.
...by not adding anything. Guess we learned something from the "Lone Gunmen are dead" fiasco? ;)
What? Yeah, they're dead. Get over it.
Deja vu...
"There's no way they can copy this..."
"There's no way they can crack it..."
Infinite sex!
Does that mean we're all screwed?
If winter is the problem, then don't rub sheep against themselves. Rub yourself against the sheeps. Problem solved.
I thought this was kiddie porn.
I'd think boobs would be (oddly enough) a turn-off.
It's immoral and unethical because it wastes bandwidth that should be used for transferring FreeBSD ISOs around instead.
Yeah, that's why it's immoral and unethical.
In Slashdotland, that is.
I strongly believe that cheating in online games is one of the biggest problems facing humanity today. The only thing that could possibly be worse than drugs and violent crime in urban areas, terrorism, war, disease, hunger... is cheating in online games.
Perspective, a friend. Friend, this is perspective. You haven't met, have you?
You need to see these guys in the right light.
Cheaters are gaming trolls. They enjoy disrupting games and getting people's panties in a bunch. Not a lot different from the mentality of your typical -1 Slashdot post.
So you regurgitate press releases for a living, then?
Way to start an intelligent discussion. Ad hominem plus uninformed opinion rolled in a short sentence. Nice.
I don't know you, your work, or the outlet for your work,
Which didn't stop you from emmiting an insulting opinion on my work. Again, nice.
but the amount of lazy journalism I see in the tech sections of the dailies just beggars belief. It's probably gone down a little now that the volume of tech articles has decreased, but, still, it's pretty woeful.
There is lazy journalism in every section of the dailies; you just notice it in the tech section because it is your specialty. See my previous comment on the fictional LOTR ubergeek.
There is also good journalism (I dare say, most of it), but it gows unsung, for exactly the same reasons nobody congratulates a sysadm on a server that doesn't crashes. It's expected.
Now, if a server crashes and you start shouting about how all sysadmins are lazy bastards, you'll get a lot of odd looks and maybe a quick kick in the ass. That's how we feel when you point at a bad story and start screaming "all reporters are shit!".
Plus, read my original post. What you attribute to laziness is often an honest attempt to write the story at a level that is understandable to everyone. Yes, Joe Sixpack, reading it on his pickup truck on the way to a poaching spot, should be able to understand it on the first read. You try to do that sometimes in 1000 words or less and come back to tell me how lazy we are.
Then again, some journalists are lazy. And some Linux geeks are fat, virgin bastards living in their parents basements, and you won't go around saying that all of them are. Right?
The specialist tech press is a different issue. It's still got serious problems, mind you.
Most of my points won't apply to specialist tech press, and it's a lot harder to excuse lack of depth in those articles.
All I'm saying is, not every mistake or lack of depth in a story comes down to "lazy journalist" or "stupid reporter".
Remember the old saying: Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity. And don't attribute to stupidity what can be attributed to a deadline, a 1000 words limit and an editor who keeps repeating "simpler, dammit, make it simpler".
Yep, one bad reporter will cancel the good work of 350 others. And over 100 years of good journalism.
Troll.
As a journalist (a tech journalist, mind you), I think I know what the problem might be.
You are an expert in the computer field. But an article, generally speaking, should not be directed to the expert. Not even to the average reader. It's geared toward the lowest common denominator. The editor's point of view usually runs along the lines of "anyone should read this article once and get it".
Good, then we have to make a really in-depth exposé, right? Wrong. Then again, the editor: "In exactly 800 words".
This is a gross generalization, and does not excuse flagrant errors or carelessness. But remember that it is downright impossible to write a story that everyone will like (it is even harder as your readers increase).
And for a parting consideration: You will never like a tech article in a general interest publication, for exactly the same reason that a LOTR ubergeek will not enjoy the Peter Jackson films. Because they know better, and don't try to understand that the article (film) is directed toward a less knowing audience.
They probably did. That's why the strapline is shite.
Thanks for that lovely image. Now that it is firmly planted in my head, I'm ready for a life of celibacy.
Hate to break the news to the wife, tough.
What do you mean? Toilet paper IS useful.
So...
This kind of study is obviously flawed, as it tends to consider the movie as a business vehicle instead of as a work of art. It's like considering software in light of its purported cost-benefit, as M$ lusers would, brainwashed as they have been by the Gates Propaganda Machine. Instead, movies should be like Linux, lovingly made by devoted enthusiasts. It is obvious that the end product is a lot better when it is open source.
Not that JonKatz would understand it, busy as he is emailing Afghanistan on his Commodore 64.
Then again, both Linux and Windows are not as good as FreeBSD, which opens an interesting question as to what filmmaking method would emulate FreeBSD's. Of course, it would produce only cinematographic jewels.
On the other hand, not to nitpick, but pc is not an appropiate abreviation for "percent". You should have used the % sign. Plus, you should have used commas and colons, instead of spaces and commas.
Ans it's not "good v evil". Your missing the "s" in "vs.".
Not that I'm a gret spaller meself.
And 2+2=4.
No... that doesn't sound right. It needs more RIAA bashing, and a pinch of Natalie Portman. We need more research.
1. You read and are a registered member of Slashdot, therefore your intelligence is likely at least 40 points above the average population.
You never read at -1 do you?
Offtopic: :) Anyway, thanks for the nice Daffy Duck memory :)
Love your sig. But it's missing the "Plonk" at the end... my brain keeps adding it
Ripping them to MP3 and placing them on Kazaa - Priceless.
;)
(Trolling a bit... but I still got a chuckle from reading that "50 Cent - $9.99". Talk about a ripoff)
A man was run over nearby my house and killed. Also near my house, an elderly woman was murdered by a burglar
One word. Move.
Dude, he only asked for one. ;)
Showoff.
You know what would be funny? Being the clerk that assigns numbers to these bills. Then you could make:
HB 2892 = Open Source Promotion
HB 2982 = UCITA.
And watch people changing sides without even realizing it >:)
Adventure games.
Really, The Longest Journey would make a pretty good movie. And I'm sure that The Grim Fandango made by Pixar would be an orgasmic experience.
And who could resist Tim Burton's Sam and Max Hit the Road?
Monkey Island would make a fine live action comedy too.