Not to mention that they allege this was the case six months ago. Curious--albeit not enough to RTFA--as to why they sat on such a golden nugget of PR for so long. My inner cynic is tempted to envision this:
Hrm... Okay, next security vulnerability. This one was submitted 2011/09/29.
(several minutes of analysis pass)
Hey! We fixed this one already. Hey boss! Come here! I GOT ONE!!!
I'm sure it's too late to change my subject to a mod parent up, Interesting, but at least I can finally notice the incorrect spelling of "bankruptcy" and add you to my friends list. I'm still not convinced that beggars do so out of lack of *any* alternative, but you're making a lot of sense with this. It bears further investigation. THanks for hearing me out.
the American economy requires roughly 10% of the population to live below the poverty line. Never heard this, but don't know enough economics to dispute; I'm genuinely curious. Can you elaborate for us laymen?
people think that with enough work, those people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps I used to stop to drop a $20, but before I knew many of them do it for a living and about the programs that have the potential to help them more than my cash. Sure, bad things happen to good people, but I can't believe the *only* choice is to beg. I originally mentioned begging to counter the GGGGGGP who doesn't want to pull his weight.
Bootstraps: I've never lost home, life or limb but have been close to all three. I worked for a company with free sodas that put a $6M renovation on a building when $1M max have worked. Paint many times the cost of good paint, just for trendiness and extravagance. Data center money squandered on hiring vice presidents as if hellbent on a Ripley's title. Friday-Beer-O-Clock and a game room. Perks were nice, but even then I questioned its wisdom, and I'd trade it for my job, but the place is gone. It was my first tech job, so my salary was less than half my co-workers' and a mere fraction of what some of the developers were making. Some were rumored to make over $350k.
When I had learned enough to keep things afloat as senior people kept leaving--1800+ employees 10/2000, 63 in 07/2002, we still carried all the same projects and products--there was no longer any provision for a raise to reflect my skill level. I'm bitter about doing the work of three people whose salaries had each been more than double my own, and stressing through a dozen separate layoffs sucked, but I survived all but the very last and am grateful for that. I'm sure my low salary was part of it. We defined "Dot Bomb: Rise And Fall."
We made http://fuckedcompany.com/ twice inside a couple months.
A baby on the way, I was jobless within twelve days of a mortgage on a new home. The market in Q3 2002 was pathetic, so I started working on my own, also stressful because you never give yourself a day off until the business is established.
they see themselves as people who, through hard work, have become successful. But they work no harder than millions of people making minimum wage. I'd agree 100%, but being paid more is earned through determination and diligence. It's not limited to school, which is why I mentioned plumbers above. A high wage, earned with hundreds of hours learning about keeping poop out of my tub. Any job a 'Brilliant math guy' might land will pay more than minimum wage, but after attending Reed, he'd deserve it. Work now reap later, suffer for one's art, et cetera.
a perfectly rational course of action for those who have bought into the American dream, but it is in reality cold and callous. Double-edged sword. I've seen both sides, even if one didn't cut as deeply as it could have. I'm hoping your explanation of the ten percent can help grey a few B&W areas.
claim that I praise car jackers as noble rebels Well, I have a problem with hyperbole (should I mention brevity?). I wasn't accusing as much as extrapolating where it seemed you were heading.
buying into the shared distorted image of American life and culture. From my perspective, the "American dream" mirrored the cliche. For a while I was despondent and didn't work much (slashdot, gaming). Predictably, more money problems, ironically leading to more stress. It was a tough cycle to break, but only working my ass off fixed the problem, not complaining about taxes as per the G^5 GP. That's why I have a tough time feeling sympathy; I've been there (or almost there, depending on what portion of my post you're talking about), and it was elbow grease that saved me, nothing more.
SOrry for the delay; I hope the discussion isn't archived before you can reply...
Actually, your expecting the same from everyone else does
Oh well, you're probably right...
http://dictionary.com/search?q=conformist A person who uncritically or habitually conforms to the customs, rules, or styles of a group Oops.
Even accepting your apparent overzealous interpretation, it only would mean I want everyone else to conform. But is your overzealous interpretation accurate?
I suppose I'm also a conformist because I think it's wrong to kill someone for their car.
Carjackers are independent thinkers.
I work--as opposed to begging--to earn the money I use to pay expenses.
Existing through the benefits of welfare or via generosity at the on-ramp, defines one's free spirit
I get satisfaction from knowing I have the ability to support myself and my family, and in *using* it.
Satisfaction in living in one's parents' basement or using assistance programs defines independence. Just look at my gaming system.
I'm teaching my son that that's how you accomplish things. On your own.
If only he weren't squashing his kid's potential into conformity by not letting him see the visionaries living in dumpsters.
I'm helping him learn to think for himself...just like everyone else.
Whoah, shit. You got me.
No. It means I don't want to pay more taxes to support someone else's sorry ass after he gets kicked out of his apartment for not paying his rent or his child support....unless wanting to keep my own damn money for my own bills defines me as a conformist too.
This is a pretty limited thought pattern. The above ideals actually make one more independent. You're ignoring that while some common things are common because thousands of conformists mindlessly sustain the3m, others are common simply because that's what works in a "civilized" community. Maybe I'm just trying to get around saying "conforming to a point is a good thing," but I don't think so.
BTW, single mothers, college students, recent widows, laid-off workers, and others are perfectly good examples of why these programs are in place. I am generous, and I like helping people who NEED IT. I'm talking about people who casually don't feel the need to pay their bills, simply because they can habitually get away with wasting their money at the bar and Blockbuster Video instead. I have neither use nor sympathy for those who have the ability to pull their own weight yet don't because they make bad decisions.
Only a loser would actually believe conformism is the chief idea behind paying bills. I truly hope you reconsider your stance on it. You've otherwise made somegoodcomments.
Oops... I dropped a bomb then left the room. Sorry.
FWIW:
Spamming alone doesn't warrant physical violence. However, spammers who are surprised by rulings like this lost the ability to feign shock with conviction (sorry) a couple years ago when the courts began catching spam. "-1, Troll"? Maybe. Or maybe someone with points was a bit frothy over recent unsolicited inbox fodder. Finally the "it" referenced above (...a bit excessive...) was the fine, not the beating.
/disclaimer
Is it the deviancy that bothers you, or is it the fact that the advertisements are misleading? I worry that my grandmother--who's been introduced to a technology she can only partially understand--might lose her life savings to one greedy and malicious jerk. I can offer guidance, but time and distance prohibit regular, educational visits. Yes, I realize I'm mixing spamming with phishing, but the scourges are similar in impersonating legitimate correspondence, and she won't know the difference unless it's too late.
She would have a fair chance telling a door-to-door salesman she's not interested. She'd be polite but firm, and he'd go to the next house. Spam allows that same man to convincingly say he works for Ford, even if he really works for Amway. His card says he can be reached by phone, but the person who answers has never heard of "John Smith, Sales Representative" if it's a valid number at all. The comforting ambiguity provided by cyberspace affords thieves some frightening side benefits.
Anyone whose business model involves or depends on forging contact information is an asshole; I have no sympathy for those who prey on others' vulnerabilities... it's not the same as someone hiring me to repair their cable modem LAN; I've been asked to help them with knowlege they are aware they lack. If my toilet leaks on the floor, I will call a plumber. I have no issue with paying him well due to his years of learning what I can't do, but I will be furious if seemingly random contact with a stranger combines with my lack of plumbing skill to cheat me out of anything. There's no way to "click OK to close" a piece of junk mail and unwittingly garner oneself 10,000 more.
Misleading advertisement is a fact of life. You don't see many marketting firms being hauled in to court over false advertisement. Agreed. But "Heinz 57 is better than A-1," while debatable, is a valid opinion. When an advertising claim simply can't be reinforced by the product or service it represents--Microsoft no longer excepted--the offending company is reprimanded.
And '<a href="http://67.comcast.spam.123/HAHA_j00_d1dn't_R 34D_the_URI">
http://fair-mortgage.com </a>' is not an advertising claim.
Indeed, sometimes they design their advertisements so you don't even know what they're about until the end, if at all. I hope I'm not the only consumer annoyed by these, but I don't think they're doing anything wrong. Then again, I have yet to scrutinize any product's packaging for the phrases, "BASF helped make this product better," or "without plastics, this product would suck total ass," before making a purchase.
If it's the deviancy that bothers you, uhm, keep in mind that America is supposed to be the land of the free, not the land of homogenized conformists. I wholeheartedly agree--that'd be incredibly boring, among other things--but if I started handing out cards emblazoned with BetYouThoughtI'dBeHere@hotmail.com, I'd receive less repeat business. I don't expect to be spoon-fed; I only expect people to be honest with me; I return the same to everyone I meet, and it isn't too much to ask. It's not the "land of the feel free to help yourself to my wallet." If I girl scout sold me cookies on my porch, it's unsolicited, but it stops at cookies, and they don't tell the A
...the government should be at the very bottom of the pile, instead it places itself at the top, even when the pile ceases to exist... I see you've recently paid a bit more taxes than you've cared to pay (this does not render you unique).
...he owes the IRS, they try to steal (yes, steal) his wages for the rest of his life... I see you've no issue with being forgiven debts you're legally obligated to pay (also not unique, but closer).
The concept of paying the IRS seems to strike you too closely to home; did you own a $100M corporation that filed for bankruptcy after two years?
Free Advice:
Next time hire an accountant and a finance manager instead of your Vice President brother-in-law who tired of flipping burgers. They might curb getting $10,000 pool tables and ask your employees to fork over $.50 when they're too lazy to bring soda with them to work.
...US Govt look like idiots... I see you've resided at 123 Desert Island, South Pacific since around 1948.
Why would any sane judge hand down an $11billion judgement against an individual who isn't Bill Gates and doesn't have the capacity to pay? It might be a bit excessive, but I'm pleased each time I hear that someone's held accountable for this deviant and misleading method of "earning" cash. It's also not as excessive as you might think: If he has the capacity to send 280 million emails, he has more money than I.
It's only one more scratch on the tip of the iceberg, but eachlittlebithelps. Those who are too stupid to use technology to earn an *honest* living are finally being shown that they will eventually find themselves scrubbing dishes, which is exactly what they deserve. Until it becomes legal to do worse, at least.
Perhaps the legal system should have metamoderation I agree here, but this case doesn't exemplify why.
By the way, do you actually get a choice whether someone cancels a debt that you owe them or not? Dunno, but to retain control over that choice, pay a debt before the matter requires litigation. And "spammer" ^H^H^H^H^H "Information Masseuse" is no longer a smart career path.
This case--like those similar that are becoming less rare--is a wake-up call to people who continue to dilute the Internet's effiency and appeal with their own distracting greed. I find it surprising that you can show even a hint of what appears to be sympathy.
...then again, spamming is a $100M business that conceivably could be run from a desert island...
After 5 straight years of hurricanes not reaching the mainland it would be safe to assume that the technique was working.
Oh, absolutely.
However, any early attempts would redirect the storm by a fraction of any amount that could prove worthwhile,
let alone enough to shield an entire continent from the 1.21 jigga watts of wind energy represented in a hurricane,
let alone enough to consistently defend against a couple dozen hurricanes per season.
In any system, it's difficult enough to observe miniscule changes and determine whether the changes represent a desired outcome. But it's impossible to distinguish said changes without having complete certainty what would have occurred without having exerted them.
If these techniques had been applied on Katrina and pushed it east--say 100 feet as it got to New Orleans--we could probably have known we'd pushed it east, but is there really a way to know how far? Would less people have died if we'd left it alone? Only Mistress Cleo or John Titor could really be certain, and that's no way to conduct scientific study. We have no business attempting this until we have honed the ability to predict the path of a far more accurately than we now can.
"...an intuition I had a thousand years ago studying chaos theory...
...alter the path of a hurricane by sacrificing a goat..."
in dis tinguishable.
One massive problem with this idea is that weather is still predominantly random from a day-to-day human standpoint.
--
Yeah!!! We deflected Hurricane Vader away from Miami and straight through the heart of downtown Jacksonville! No you didn't, it was heading to Jacksonville anyway!
Yes we did, remember it started to curve south? We reversed that. Did not.
Did huh. --
Until we reduce the chaos in weather prediction enough to know precisely when and where a hurricane will begin--as opposed to "strong liklihood of a possible hurricane in the next few days over in this general area here" or "I'll bet it's hot in Arizona by July"--we'll have no way to know if we changed the hurricane's path sixty miles or six inches.
Of course, if we could get a hurrican through central Minnesota, I suppose that'd be a fair supporting argument for "well, I think it worked."
party. It's a very commendable sentiment, trying to usurp the resident behemoths--and I'd love to see it done myself--but until the collective mindset makes a dramatic about-face, what does it prove to adopt a condescending stance while you "inform" those of us ignorant to this? Instead of rolling your eyes at all the online idiots you can't believe you associate with, you bothered to help educate; is it necessary to be a dick whilst doing it?
I'm an American; I should probably know Nader is Orange or Brick Red or Lavender or whatever "Not Green" color he claims to be, but trajano said in no cryptic terms that he's Canadian and hasn't researched anything having to do with the example you found so offensive. He has no reason to know it, and it wasn't anywhere near his main (valid) point, which you chose to ignore as you shook your tiny virtual fists at him.
BTW, yes your post really was informative, and BTW, no I'm not trolling.
iPods sell like hot-cakes because they work with free. If they didn't, they wouldn't.
This seems to be an attempt at countering the point trapped inside a statement that essentially admits the point. That point was,
Free is not the only basis on which a consumer will make a decision.
Last I checked, the iPod wasn't exactly the cheapest option available for someone with the broad, generic goal of finding a portable player for their mp3 files. Anytime someone without a Mac buys one further makes that point an obvious one.
I almost didn't post because it was offtopic and frankly not very funny, but I did anyway, probably because I have ADD too. All I was doing was making an off-color remark on the groupthink at/. and wouldn't have been surpised at getting no reply at all.
Your site is interesting, I've bookmarked it and will return.
That's really cool that you spend so much on donations. I try to do what I can. Yes, that's a pretty common statement, but I'll bet I spend a higher percentage than the average slashdotter. I see a lot of similarities here, like the music. Well, I don't care much for Ozzy, but Weird Al is one of my faves. Oh, and I gave up on trying to go back to school years ago. You know, I've never even heard of Ubuntu (opens a Google tab)... I like the meaning. No wonder it sounded African.
Wow. I really like that definition.
I remember rekindling a love for Worms2 upon finding it for $9.95 and thinking it criminal to sell it so cheaply. You've got me beat with the $1.42 Q2. I don't play much q3 anymore either, but even if the two copies (Windows and Linux versions) I bought had cost 3x as much, it'd still be the best "bang for buck" game I've ever owned. I've pumped FAR too many hours into it.
I actually own Celerons myself. I don't recall all the stats anymore; when one box dies, the surviving parts go to a box/pile/corner, and redistribute when I upgrade (ahh, I remember the days before becoming a Dad...upgrades came more than 1 per 3 years). I never throw anything away; that's how I'm building my armada;)
I lucked out on the latest, the company where my friend worked was getting rid of machines and gave him two Dell Poweredge 2400 dual proc boxes, and he gave one to me after upgrading the 600s to 933 Celerons. I don't have any spare RAM, so it's stuck at 512. I just got it a couple days ago and haven't installed anything yet. Maybe I'll try Ubuntu.
Sorry, you admitted in public that you use a celeron instead of the required AMD processor. If you do not redeem yourself by immediately bashing microsoft, the RIAA or SCO while supplying illegal software downloads and praising Linux--by flavor, naturally--you may be permanently banned from Slashdot.
Note that if your post is not written in 1337 $p34|<, your 3 in 1d20 chance of being banned anyway will be raised to 13.
Slashdot Mirror
I had a bowl of Insensitive Clods this morning.
Not to mention that they allege this was the case six months ago. Curious--albeit not enough to RTFA--as to why they sat on such a golden nugget of PR for so long. My inner cynic is tempted to envision this:
Hrm... Okay, next security vulnerability. This one was submitted 2011/09/29.
(several minutes of analysis pass)
Hey! We fixed this one already. Hey boss! Come here! I GOT ONE!!!
actually... being nerds, we avoid the clap without all that much effort.
Fergie has had an artificial windpipe for years...
that reminds me. tell your mom to also quit emailing *me*
I'm sure it's too late to change my subject to a mod parent up, Interesting, but at least I can finally notice the incorrect spelling of "bankruptcy" and add you to my friends list. I'm still not convinced that beggars do so out of lack of *any* alternative, but you're making a lot of sense with this. It bears further investigation. THanks for hearing me out.
You seem perfectly reasonable ;)
the American economy requires roughly 10% of the population to live below the poverty line.It's an act
Never heard this, but don't know enough economics to dispute; I'm genuinely curious. Can you elaborate for us laymen?
people think that with enough work, those people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps
I used to stop to drop a $20, but before I knew many of them do it for a living and about the programs that have the potential to help them more than my cash. Sure, bad things happen to good people, but I can't believe the *only* choice is to beg. I originally mentioned begging to counter the GGGGGGP who doesn't want to pull his weight.
Bootstraps: I've never lost home, life or limb but have been close to all three. I worked for a company with free sodas that put a $6M renovation on a building when $1M max have worked. Paint many times the cost of good paint, just for trendiness and extravagance. Data center money squandered on hiring vice presidents as if hellbent on a Ripley's title. Friday-Beer-O-Clock and a game room. Perks were nice, but even then I questioned its wisdom, and I'd trade it for my job, but the place is gone. It was my first tech job, so my salary was less than half my co-workers' and a mere fraction of what some of the developers were making. Some were rumored to make over $350k.
When I had learned enough to keep things afloat as senior people kept leaving--1800+ employees 10/2000, 63 in 07/2002, we still carried all the same projects and products--there was no longer any provision for a raise to reflect my skill level. I'm bitter about doing the work of three people whose salaries had each been more than double my own, and stressing through a dozen separate layoffs sucked, but I survived all but the very last and am grateful for that. I'm sure my low salary was part of it. We defined "Dot Bomb: Rise And Fall." We made http://fuckedcompany.com/ twice inside a couple months.
A baby on the way, I was jobless within twelve days of a mortgage on a new home. The market in Q3 2002 was pathetic, so I started working on my own, also stressful because you never give yourself a day off until the business is established.
they see themselves as people who, through hard work, have become successful. But they work no harder than millions of people making minimum wage.
I'd agree 100%, but being paid more is earned through determination and diligence. It's not limited to school, which is why I mentioned plumbers above. A high wage, earned with hundreds of hours learning about keeping poop out of my tub. Any job a 'Brilliant math guy' might land will pay more than minimum wage, but after attending Reed, he'd deserve it. Work now reap later, suffer for one's art, et cetera.
a perfectly rational course of action for those who have bought into the American dream, but it is in reality cold and callous.
Double-edged sword. I've seen both sides, even if one didn't cut as deeply as it could have. I'm hoping your explanation of the ten percent can help grey a few B&W areas.
claim that I praise car jackers as noble rebels
Well, I have a problem with hyperbole (should I mention brevity?). I wasn't accusing as much as extrapolating where it seemed you were heading.
buying into the shared distorted image of American life and culture.
From my perspective, the "American dream" mirrored the cliche. For a while I was despondent and didn't work much (slashdot, gaming). Predictably, more money problems, ironically leading to more stress. It was a tough cycle to break, but only working my ass off fixed the problem, not complaining about taxes as per the G^5 GP. That's why I have a tough time feeling sympathy; I've been there (or almost there, depending on what portion of my post you're talking about), and it was elbow grease that saved me, nothing more.
SOrry for the delay; I hope the discussion isn't archived before you can reply...
Actually, your expecting the same from everyone else does
Oh well, you're probably right...
http://dictionary.com/search?q=conformist
A person who uncritically or habitually conforms to the customs, rules, or styles of a group
Oops.
Even accepting your apparent overzealous interpretation, it only would mean I want everyone else to conform. But is your overzealous interpretation accurate?
Carjackers are independent thinkers.
Existing through the benefits of welfare or via generosity at the on-ramp, defines one's free spirit
Satisfaction in living in one's parents' basement or using assistance programs defines independence. Just look at my gaming system.
If only he weren't squashing his kid's potential into conformity by not letting him see the visionaries living in dumpsters.
Whoah, shit. You got me.
No. It means I don't want to pay more taxes to support someone else's sorry ass after he gets kicked out of his apartment for not paying his rent or his child support. ...unless wanting to keep my own damn money for my own bills defines me as a conformist too.
This is a pretty limited thought pattern. The above ideals actually make one more independent. You're ignoring that while some common things are common because thousands of conformists mindlessly sustain the3m, others are common simply because that's what works in a "civilized" community. Maybe I'm just trying to get around saying "conforming to a point is a good thing," but I don't think so.
BTW, single mothers, college students, recent widows, laid-off workers, and others are perfectly good examples of why these programs are in place. I am generous, and I like helping people who NEED IT. I'm talking about people who casually don't feel the need to pay their bills, simply because they can habitually get away with wasting their money at the bar and Blockbuster Video instead. I have neither use nor sympathy for those who have the ability to pull their own weight yet don't because they make bad decisions.
Only a loser would actually believe conformism is the chief idea behind paying bills. I truly hope you reconsider your stance on it. You've otherwise made some good comments.
FWIW:
Spamming alone doesn't warrant physical violence. However, spammers who are surprised by rulings like this lost the ability to feign shock with conviction (sorry) a couple years ago when the courts began catching spam. "-1, Troll"? Maybe. Or maybe someone with points was a bit frothy over recent unsolicited inbox fodder. Finally the "it" referenced above (...a bit excessive...) was the fine, not the beating.
/disclaimer
Is it the deviancy that bothers you, or is it the fact that the advertisements are misleading?
I worry that my grandmother--who's been introduced to a technology she can only partially understand--might lose her life savings to one greedy and malicious jerk. I can offer guidance, but time and distance prohibit regular, educational visits. Yes, I realize I'm mixing spamming with phishing, but the scourges are similar in impersonating legitimate correspondence, and she won't know the difference unless it's too late.
She would have a fair chance telling a door-to-door salesman she's not interested. She'd be polite but firm, and he'd go to the next house. Spam allows that same man to convincingly say he works for Ford, even if he really works for Amway. His card says he can be reached by phone, but the person who answers has never heard of "John Smith, Sales Representative" if it's a valid number at all. The comforting ambiguity provided by cyberspace affords thieves some frightening side benefits.
Anyone whose business model involves or depends on forging contact information is an asshole; I have no sympathy for those who prey on others' vulnerabilities... it's not the same as someone hiring me to repair their cable modem LAN; I've been asked to help them with knowlege they are aware they lack. If my toilet leaks on the floor, I will call a plumber. I have no issue with paying him well due to his years of learning what I can't do, but I will be furious if seemingly random contact with a stranger combines with my lack of plumbing skill to cheat me out of anything. There's no way to "click OK to close" a piece of junk mail and unwittingly garner oneself 10,000 more.
Misleading advertisement is a fact of life. You don't see many marketting firms being hauled in to court over false advertisement.
Agreed. But "Heinz 57 is better than A-1," while debatable, is a valid opinion. When an advertising claim simply can't be reinforced by the product or service it represents--Microsoft no longer excepted--the offending company is reprimanded.
And '<a href="http://67.comcast.spam.123/HAHA_j00_d1dn't_R 34D_the_URI"> ://fair-mortgage.com </a>' is not an advertising claim.
http
Indeed, sometimes they design their advertisements so you don't even know what they're about until the end, if at all.
I hope I'm not the only consumer annoyed by these, but I don't think they're doing anything wrong. Then again, I have yet to scrutinize any product's packaging for the phrases, "BASF helped make this product better," or "without plastics, this product would suck total ass," before making a purchase.
If it's the deviancy that bothers you, uhm, keep in mind that America is supposed to be the land of the free, not the land of homogenized conformists.
I wholeheartedly agree--that'd be incredibly boring, among other things--but if I started handing out cards emblazoned with BetYouThoughtI'dBeHere@hotmail.com, I'd receive less repeat business. I don't expect to be spoon-fed; I only expect people to be honest with me; I return the same to everyone I meet, and it isn't too much to ask. It's not the "land of the feel free to help yourself to my wallet." If I girl scout sold me cookies on my porch, it's unsolicited, but it stops at cookies, and they don't tell the A
I see you've recently paid a bit more taxes than you've cared to pay (this does not render you unique).
I see you've no issue with being forgiven debts you're legally obligated to pay (also not unique, but closer).
The concept of paying the IRS seems to strike you too closely to home; did you own a $100M corporation that filed for bankruptcy after two years?
Free Advice:
Next time hire an accountant and a finance manager instead of your Vice President brother-in-law who tired of flipping burgers. They might curb getting $10,000 pool tables and ask your employees to fork over $.50 when they're too lazy to bring soda with them to work.
I see you've resided at 123 Desert Island, South Pacific since around 1948.
Why would any sane judge hand down an $11billion judgement against an individual who isn't Bill Gates and doesn't have the capacity to pay?
It might be a bit excessive, but I'm pleased each time I hear that someone's held accountable for this deviant and misleading method of "earning" cash. It's also not as excessive as you might think: If he has the capacity to send 280 million emails, he has more money than I.
It's only one more scratch on the tip of the iceberg, but each little bit helps. Those who are too stupid to use technology to earn an *honest* living are finally being shown that they will eventually find themselves scrubbing dishes, which is exactly what they deserve. Until it becomes legal to do worse, at least.
Perhaps the legal system should have metamoderation
I agree here, but this case doesn't exemplify why.
By the way, do you actually get a choice whether someone cancels a debt that you owe them or not?
Dunno, but to retain control over that choice, pay a debt before the matter requires litigation. And "spammer" ^H^H^H^H^H "Information Masseuse" is no longer a smart career path.
This case--like those similar that are becoming less rare--is a wake-up call to people who continue to dilute the I nternet's effiency and appeal with their own distracting greed. I find it surprising that you can show even a hint of what appears to be sympathy.
...then again, spamming is a $100M business that conceivably could be run from a desert island...
Oh, absolutely.
In any system, it's difficult enough to observe miniscule changes and determine whether the changes represent a desired outcome. But it's impossible to distinguish said changes without having complete certainty what would have occurred without having exerted them.However, any early attempts would redirect the storm by a fraction of any amount that could prove worthwhile,
If these techniques had been applied on Katrina and pushed it east--say 100 feet as it got to New Orleans--we could probably have known we'd pushed it east, but is there really a way to know how far? Would less people have died if we'd left it alone? Only Mistress Cleo or John Titor could really be certain, and that's no way to conduct scientific study. We have no business attempting this until we have honed the ability to predict the path of a far more accurately than we now can.
Must ran wok befoh ran fry, Danya San.
...alter the path of a hurricane by sacrificing a goat..."
in
dis
tinguishable.
One massive problem with this idea is that weather is still predominantly random from a day-to-day human standpoint.
--
Yeah!!! We deflected Hurricane Vader away from Miami and straight through the heart of downtown Jacksonville!
No you didn't, it was heading to Jacksonville anyway!
Yes we did, remember it started to curve south? We reversed that.
Did not.
Did huh.
--
Until we reduce the chaos in weather prediction enough to know precisely when and where a hurricane will begin--as opposed to "strong liklihood of a possible hurricane in the next few days over in this general area here" or "I'll bet it's hot in Arizona by July"--we'll have no way to know if we changed the hurricane's path sixty miles or six inches.
Of course, if we could get a hurrican through central Minnesota, I suppose that'd be a fair supporting argument for "well, I think it worked."
...and now we know you're part of the consipiracy too.
Heh, for a second you sounded like that was a bad thing...
I say this seriously, but also in criticism of your post. In short, your joke may be funny, but if it requires explanation, it's probably not.
Especially if it's not true.
No way. What the hell do you do with her for the extra 26 minutes?
According to this article, OpenBSD 2.6 has been released, despite still being dead. Linus Torvalds has publicly accused Microsoft of resorting to bully tactics, but Richard Stallman has built a beowulf cluster of supercomputers in Soviet Russia, which promises to defend all our base.
Crosses fingers and eagerly waits for "story accepted" confirmation...
Come to think of it, I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't give a shit who ran for which
"We'll- Get- A- Maximum- Of- One- Third- Of- One- Percent- Of- The- Vote- No- Matter- Where- You- Vote"
party. It's a very commendable sentiment, trying to usurp the resident behemoths--and I'd love to see it done myself--but until the collective mindset makes a dramatic about-face, what does it prove to adopt a condescending stance while you "inform" those of us ignorant to this? Instead of rolling your eyes at all the online idiots you can't believe you associate with, you bothered to help educate; is it necessary to be a dick whilst doing it?
I'm an American; I should probably know Nader is Orange or Brick Red or Lavender or whatever "Not Green" color he claims to be, but trajano said in no cryptic terms that he's Canadian and hasn't researched anything having to do with the example you found so offensive. He has no reason to know it, and it wasn't anywhere near his main (valid) point, which you chose to ignore as you shook your tiny virtual fists at him.
BTW, yes your post really was informative, and BTW, no I'm not trolling.
This seems to be an attempt at countering the point trapped inside a statement that essentially admits the point. That point was,
Free is not the only basis on which a consumer will make a decision.
Last I checked, the iPod wasn't exactly the cheapest option available for someone with the broad, generic goal of finding a portable player for their mp3 files. Anytime someone without a Mac buys one further makes that point an obvious one.
I almost didn't post because it was offtopic and frankly not very funny, but I did anyway, probably because I have ADD too. All I was doing was making an off-color remark on the groupthink at /. and wouldn't have been surpised at getting no reply at all.
Your site is interesting, I've bookmarked it and will return.
That's really cool that you spend so much on donations. I try to do what I can. Yes, that's a pretty common statement, but I'll bet I spend a higher percentage than the average slashdotter. I see a lot of similarities here, like the music. Well, I don't care much for Ozzy, but Weird Al is one of my faves. Oh, and I gave up on trying to go back to school years ago. You know, I've never even heard of Ubuntu (opens a Google tab)... I like the meaning. No wonder it sounded African.
Wow. I really like that definition.
I remember rekindling a love for Worms2 upon finding it for $9.95 and thinking it criminal to sell it so cheaply. You've got me beat with the $1.42 Q2. I don't play much q3 anymore either, but even if the two copies (Windows and Linux versions) I bought had cost 3x as much, it'd still be the best "bang for buck" game I've ever owned. I've pumped FAR too many hours into it.
I actually own Celerons myself. I don't recall all the stats anymore; when one box dies, the surviving parts go to a box/pile/corner, and redistribute when I upgrade (ahh, I remember the days before becoming a Dad...upgrades came more than 1 per 3 years). I never throw anything away; that's how I'm building my armada ;)
I lucked out on the latest, the company where my friend worked was getting rid of machines and gave him two Dell Poweredge 2400 dual proc boxes, and he gave one to me after upgrading the 600s to 933 Celerons. I don't have any spare RAM, so it's stuck at 512. I just got it a couple days ago and haven't installed anything yet. Maybe I'll try Ubuntu.
BTW, you made your saving throw. ;)
Note that if your post is not written in 1337 $p34|<, your 3 in 1d20 chance of being banned anyway will be raised to 13.
Haxxor. AOL sux. BSD is dead. Beowulf.
;)
Ha ha, yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! ;)
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Your honor, we accept the prosecution's submission of "Exhibit G."