I know this may not be a popular stance, but once a sex offender has served their time (probation and all) can we dispense with the whole sex offender registration bullshit? If we can't live with the fact that these people are released from prison, then the whole system is flawed.
And can we please get our sex offender laws in a state in which we can not prosecute kids who sleep with other kids (i.e. 18 year olds and 16 year olds having sex). Personally, I'm tired of the whole sex offender "bogieman". It has gotten to the point where the term gets associated with the worst kinda behavior. Maybe I'm just biased because I've never been "sex offended" but I can't help but think that their are degrees of sex offense, and our system just seems to lump them all together, to the point of hyperbole. As a result, I believe that the whole term "sex offender" is becoming watered down to the point of it being worthless as a metric to judge whether a person is a real threat.
Why stop there? Lets make drug offenders register as well.
Let us think of some possible scenarios: random rape, date rate, child rape, child molestation, groping, lewd conduct, public nudity. Of these, which ones do you consider serious? Do you believe they should all be grouped as sex offenses?
I don't even know if they are all considered sex offenses, I tried to look it up to determine if my list was valid, but in the short time I looked on google for sex offenses, all I got were sex offender registry links, so I can't even look up to determine what constitutes a sex offense.
The other problem is when people get falsely accused of a sex offense. When you have 2 people, one says they did something, and the other denies it, how do you determine who is correct, provided there is a lack of specific evidence? Kids have been known to falsely accuse. Adults have been known to falsely accuse. The whole matter has gotten out of hand.
They don't mind minor drug cases clogging the system, because the state gets large fines from the drug user. But having a lot of spam cases in small claims court, well, that just wastes their time.
As someone who has spent some time in front of a judge, this doesn't surprise me in the least.
false dichotomy. My calculator is a PDA. It's personal, it's digital, and boy does it assist. My HP 48 had it all, serial port, graphic screen, and with the right software, addresses and phone numbers. Built in calendar and clock to boot.
This makes me wonder if there is a reason night vision gear is monochromatic. I would think that the engineers that has developed night vision in the first place knew of this technique. Or has it been a size/weight/power consumption issues that have kept night vision monochromatic? I say this because as a result of a casual conversation I had years ago with someone regarding color night vision, I thought that the color filter wheel system could be applied to night vision. Of course, thinking it and doing it are different things, I just mention it because I never thought that my idea was original, i.e.: if I could think of applying the color wheel system, I would have thought that those in the night vision field have already thought of it. NASA used it on the voyager cameras. Like you said, it isn't a new idea.
I'm wondering if this is a solution in search of a problem?
If they are using rotating color filters (or variations on the idea) then this isn't really new technology. One of the competing color TV standards used this technology. NASA uses similar technology to get color from a monochromatic camera. Not to mention the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii who used the color filter method to produce color pictures for the czar.
I thought that the green color was chosen because the eye was most sensitive to it.
Sorry, can't agree with you there. We've got a large infrastructure in place with non-metric parts. For any given project, you should stick with one system or the other, but that is for another discussion. But I'm coming from an engineering/machining/manufacturing perspective. But you are right, the problem in general is that it is like herding cats. Can we get some smart congress people? Isn't metric and imperial (or SAE or whatever your poison is) equally arbitrary? Sure, the metric system is base 10, and the imperial system has some funny quarks, but I feel like it is getting more irrelevant as technology moves forward. Aside from some spectacular NASA screwups.
Yes. Thank you.
All you need to do is move the TV schedule up an hour along with the work schedule. Then stop fiddling with the clock. I wish we could dispose of AM and PM while we are at it. A 24 hour system makes much more sense to me.
13:00 is non-ambiguous. Except for time zones. I'd almost do away with the time zones too. We can communicate globally in seconds, what is the problem if we used the same time everywhere? The locals will have their own schedule.
And flextime. This is where you can save energy. Instead of traffic jams, we could coordinate work schedules to save energy. I'm tired of fiddling with the clock.
I recently got my codeless technician's license. I have yet to make my first contact. Here are among my interests in amateur radio:
1) the lack of centralized infrastructure, hams own the infrastructure, it is decentralized and therefore it can operate when other infrastructures are down (telephone, power, cell towers, provided the ham has his own power source, be it generator or solar or wind). This is primary reason why ham radio becomes important in time of natural disasters.
2) the ability to communicate over long distances, sorta like having international (and national) pen pals. Sure I could write letters (which are dependent on a working mail service) or send email(again, dependent on infrastructure beyond my control) or make a telephone call (again, dependent on, well, you get the point).
3) it is non-commercial, so I'm not having to pay fees to communicate, as I own the infrastructure (providing power may or may not have to rely on someone else's infrastructure) Talk minutes, ha, they are meaningless on amateur radio.
As far as dropping the morse code requirement, I'm all for it, mostly so I can get international contacts, which is hard to do on 50mhz and above. I still may use CW (morse) but I would be doing it through a computer, as I believe I can type faster than I could code, plus I don't have a huge interest in learning code. What I'm saying is, one can take advantage of CW these days, without actually learning to do the code yourself, you can use a computer to do the interpretation. I'm also interested in packet radio, and other forms of amateur radio which take advantage of the merging of computers, radio and now the internet. The lower frequencies enable international communication, in areas which might not have infrastructure, and I feel it is slightly insulting that I have to learn an arcane code just to take advantage of the HF bands. I have a good technical background, I will now persure the upper license priviliges, which I would have done even if I did have to learn code, now I have a much easier time doing it (in my case). Amateur radio covers a huge spectrum of communication modes. Currently, I only have a 2 meter rig, it appears to be pretty quiet in my neck of the woods. I'd love to have other technical friends of mine get into the hobby such that I can play around with it.
I think the most important rule in amateur radio is to not be an asshole or a prick and intentionally interfere with others, and to play nice with other operators.
Also in light of our (the US) government's meddling with our civil liberties, I believe that the number of proficient ham radio operators should increase. I believe that if the government starts to really crack down on free speach, amateur radio can provide a morally correct outlet of free speech and communications to concerned citizens. I understand the ease of locating active transmitters, but I also believe that a group of technically proficient operators could really make secure communication possible in times of national crisis. I know that amateur radio is, in our currently fuctioning society, supposed to be in plaintext (or speech) and that encryption is not allowed (generally, I do believe their are some special exemptions), but in times of crisis, sometimes the rules have to get thrown out the window. I'm not advocating any amateur operator engage in rule breaking, but I merely mention it because I feel it is a real possibility that "underground" secure communication might one day be a necessity. Owning the infrastruture is vital to this end. I also believe this is why wifi can play an important role, as it provides networking and communication independant of infrastructure.
That the insurgents can kill. Great, this will really win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis. Get a computer to translate, because I'm sure it is difficult to recruit locals to do the tranlating. I guess it is better than nothing at all, but I really question its utility. As the article indicates, it will give the speaker a choice of words if it is uncertain. What if the speaker plays dumb and starts selecting nonsensical options? Will they then proceede to beat the subject, or will they have to get him to a human tranlator? Either option wastes time. And at the rate were burning cash, the insurgents will win Iraq. Imagine some Chinese troops busting open your door, separating the family members, and then try to question you using some computer to do the translating. How would that make you feel, if English was your only language? I merely used Chinese troops as an example, mainly because they use a different alphabet than english.
You can never volunteer to be a Nielsen household. (Yes, I work at Nielsen).
Well, thanks for that clairification. Woundn't be the first time I was wrong.
But you obviously can't force someone to be a Nielsen household. So only those who wish to be are contributers. So I guess I phrased my statement incorrectly.
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Nerves in teeth other than pressure sensors. Dumbest idea ever.
Best argument I've heard today against intelligent design.
I know this may not be a popular stance, but once a sex offender has served their time (probation and all) can we dispense with the whole sex offender registration bullshit? If we can't live with the fact that these people are released from prison, then the whole system is flawed.
And can we please get our sex offender laws in a state in which we can not prosecute kids who sleep with other kids (i.e. 18 year olds and 16 year olds having sex). Personally, I'm tired of the whole sex offender "bogieman". It has gotten to the point where the term gets associated with the worst kinda behavior. Maybe I'm just biased because I've never been "sex offended" but I can't help but think that their are degrees of sex offense, and our system just seems to lump them all together, to the point of hyperbole. As a result, I believe that the whole term "sex offender" is becoming watered down to the point of it being worthless as a metric to judge whether a person is a real threat.
Why stop there? Lets make drug offenders register as well.
Let us think of some possible scenarios: random rape, date rate, child rape, child molestation, groping, lewd conduct, public nudity. Of these, which ones do you consider serious? Do you believe they should all be grouped as sex offenses? I don't even know if they are all considered sex offenses, I tried to look it up to determine if my list was valid, but in the short time I looked on google for sex offenses, all I got were sex offender registry links, so I can't even look up to determine what constitutes a sex offense.
The other problem is when people get falsely accused of a sex offense. When you have 2 people, one says they did something, and the other denies it, how do you determine who is correct, provided there is a lack of specific evidence? Kids have been known to falsely accuse. Adults have been known to falsely accuse. The whole matter has gotten out of hand.
These aren't toy guns, they're art pieces. No self respecting artist is going to make them "safety compliant".
They destroy families, lives, health, and general peace and good order.
It is time to deescalate the drug war.
If Disney is smart, they'll ignore it. They don't want to encourage public discourse on copyright. Sometimes any publicity is bad publicity.
What constitutes a fake account?
Mine has completely fake information about me, but I don't abuse the account (I'm not a spammer or use it for fraudulent purposes).
Mr. Examiner,
I'd like to introduce you to our spokeslawyer, Heidi. She is ready to meet with you for her oral appeal.
Microsoft: Our market is dying. For a Zune!
Perfect. How long will a Zune last? Two years? As long as it outlasts the customer, you're golden!
They aren't interested in spammer lawsuits.
They don't mind minor drug cases clogging the system, because the state gets large fines from the drug user. But having a lot of spam cases in small claims court, well, that just wastes their time.
As someone who has spent some time in front of a judge, this doesn't surprise me in the least.
Isn't a DRM'd edition of Friends preferable to a non-DRM'd version? I would like to see that show locked up as tight as possible.
Not safe as in free from danger or harm, but it is safe as in a secure metal box. Were talking about banks here.
Of course, it is still a useless idea of having a "safe" TLD.
false dichotomy. My calculator is a PDA. It's personal, it's digital, and boy does it assist. My HP 48 had it all, serial port, graphic screen, and with the right software, addresses and phone numbers. Built in calendar and clock to boot.
Like a 11c, 15c, or a 32sII. Ok, I can do without the solar, but I've always wanted a decent RPN calculator that I do not have to get batteries for.
Not that it is a big deal, all the HPs I've owned that ran off the button cells had excellent battery life.
Don't skimp on the keys. Even the later 32sII had printed keys.
Then it becomes, "I do not recall" this and "I don't remember" that...
They are called Agilent now.
This makes me wonder if there is a reason night vision gear is monochromatic. I would think that the engineers that has developed night vision in the first place knew of this technique. Or has it been a size/weight/power consumption issues that have kept night vision monochromatic? I say this because as a result of a casual conversation I had years ago with someone regarding color night vision, I thought that the color filter wheel system could be applied to night vision. Of course, thinking it and doing it are different things, I just mention it because I never thought that my idea was original, i.e.: if I could think of applying the color wheel system, I would have thought that those in the night vision field have already thought of it. NASA used it on the voyager cameras. Like you said, it isn't a new idea.
I'm wondering if this is a solution in search of a problem?
If they are using rotating color filters (or variations on the idea) then this isn't really new technology. One of the competing color TV standards used this technology. NASA uses similar technology to get color from a monochromatic camera. Not to mention the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii who used the color filter method to produce color pictures for the czar.
I thought that the green color was chosen because the eye was most sensitive to it.
'cause it has ethanol in it. It is the latest eco-buzzword! It will cure all our problems!
Just with a spark plug instead. This is similar to water injection and water/methanol injection on a turbo gasoline engine.
Sorry, can't agree with you there. We've got a large infrastructure in place with non-metric parts. For any given project, you should stick with one system or the other, but that is for another discussion. But I'm coming from an engineering/machining/manufacturing perspective. But you are right, the problem in general is that it is like herding cats. Can we get some smart congress people? Isn't metric and imperial (or SAE or whatever your poison is) equally arbitrary? Sure, the metric system is base 10, and the imperial system has some funny quarks, but I feel like it is getting more irrelevant as technology moves forward. Aside from some spectacular NASA screwups.
Then again, maybe you are being sarcastic?
Yes. Thank you. All you need to do is move the TV schedule up an hour along with the work schedule. Then stop fiddling with the clock. I wish we could dispose of AM and PM while we are at it. A 24 hour system makes much more sense to me. 13:00 is non-ambiguous. Except for time zones. I'd almost do away with the time zones too. We can communicate globally in seconds, what is the problem if we used the same time everywhere? The locals will have their own schedule. And flextime. This is where you can save energy. Instead of traffic jams, we could coordinate work schedules to save energy. I'm tired of fiddling with the clock.
Damn nerds. Oh, wait, this is /.
I recently got my codeless technician's license. I have yet to make my first contact. Here are among my interests in amateur radio:
1) the lack of centralized infrastructure, hams own the infrastructure, it is decentralized and therefore it can operate when other infrastructures are down (telephone, power, cell towers, provided the ham has his own power source, be it generator or solar or wind). This is primary reason why ham radio becomes important in time of natural disasters.
2) the ability to communicate over long distances, sorta like having international (and national) pen pals. Sure I could write letters (which are dependent on a working mail service) or send email(again, dependent on infrastructure beyond my control) or make a telephone call (again, dependent on, well, you get the point).
3) it is non-commercial, so I'm not having to pay fees to communicate, as I own the infrastructure (providing power may or may not have to rely on someone else's infrastructure) Talk minutes, ha, they are meaningless on amateur radio.
As far as dropping the morse code requirement, I'm all for it, mostly so I can get international contacts, which is hard to do on 50mhz and above. I still may use CW (morse) but I would be doing it through a computer, as I believe I can type faster than I could code, plus I don't have a huge interest in learning code. What I'm saying is, one can take advantage of CW these days, without actually learning to do the code yourself, you can use a computer to do the interpretation. I'm also interested in packet radio, and other forms of amateur radio which take advantage of the merging of computers, radio and now the internet. The lower frequencies enable international communication, in areas which might not have infrastructure, and I feel it is slightly insulting that I have to learn an arcane code just to take advantage of the HF bands. I have a good technical background, I will now persure the upper license priviliges, which I would have done even if I did have to learn code, now I have a much easier time doing it (in my case). Amateur radio covers a huge spectrum of communication modes. Currently, I only have a 2 meter rig, it appears to be pretty quiet in my neck of the woods. I'd love to have other technical friends of mine get into the hobby such that I can play around with it.
I think the most important rule in amateur radio is to not be an asshole or a prick and intentionally interfere with others, and to play nice with other operators.
Also in light of our (the US) government's meddling with our civil liberties, I believe that the number of proficient ham radio operators should increase. I believe that if the government starts to really crack down on free speach, amateur radio can provide a morally correct outlet of free speech and communications to concerned citizens. I understand the ease of locating active transmitters, but I also believe that a group of technically proficient operators could really make secure communication possible in times of national crisis. I know that amateur radio is, in our currently fuctioning society, supposed to be in plaintext (or speech) and that encryption is not allowed (generally, I do believe their are some special exemptions), but in times of crisis, sometimes the rules have to get thrown out the window. I'm not advocating any amateur operator engage in rule breaking, but I merely mention it because I feel it is a real possibility that "underground" secure communication might one day be a necessity. Owning the infrastruture is vital to this end. I also believe this is why wifi can play an important role, as it provides networking and communication independant of infrastructure.
That the insurgents can kill. Great, this will really win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis. Get a computer to translate, because I'm sure it is difficult to recruit locals to do the tranlating. I guess it is better than nothing at all, but I really question its utility. As the article indicates, it will give the speaker a choice of words if it is uncertain. What if the speaker plays dumb and starts selecting nonsensical options? Will they then proceede to beat the subject, or will they have to get him to a human tranlator? Either option wastes time. And at the rate were burning cash, the insurgents will win Iraq. Imagine some Chinese troops busting open your door, separating the family members, and then try to question you using some computer to do the translating. How would that make you feel, if English was your only language? I merely used Chinese troops as an example, mainly because they use a different alphabet than english.
You can never volunteer to be a Nielsen household. (Yes, I work at Nielsen).
Well, thanks for that clairification. Woundn't be the first time I was wrong.
But you obviously can't force someone to be a Nielsen household. So only those who wish to be are contributers. So I guess I phrased my statement incorrectly.