By definition an effective PR person cannot be embarassed by the stuff that comes out of his/her mouth. The bastards lie -- err -- "manage the truth" with no shame at all.
Right you are.
The term "spin doctor" doesn't go far enough -- "doctor" is too vague -- in this age of specialists, a better title would be "spin anesthesiologist".
People are addicted to TV worse than crack, and if you're the only dealer in town there is nothing to motivate you to improve.
That's for fucking sure. I managed to kick the habit -- but man, if it happens to be on in the corner, like when I'm visiting friends or out at a bar... I gotta sit facing away from it, or my attention span will get sucked into that tube-induced alpha-wave glow....
I just realized that my previous comment may have sounded like a flame, and I just wanted to make sure that you know that it is not. My comment was more a lashing out at the fact that no matter what we do, we still won't change Joe Average's opinions.
No flame taken, I think I know what you mean.
Hell, I'm at least as pessemistic as you -- I've pretty much given up on "saving the world", these days I think it's enough to try and bring some love into the world, have a kind word for strangers, maybe rescue a kitten from a tree once in a while.
As a point of fact, the whole reason I visit slashdot is for the commentary after the articles. That's what makes this site valuable in my opinion.
Well... that and the karma game.;)
Agreed. Although, I get my kicks not from the karma per se -- more from seeing my posts modded up.
Here's the problem with these blanket "If enough consumers blah, blah, blah" statements that I always hear on/. and from my friends. Enough people never do.
You're quite right -- there's virtually no way I can "make a difference" with my ideas, not on the big scale of really changing thing about which I'm complaining.
But that's the nature of SlashDot: it's a forum for the exchange of ideas, nothing more. Use it for what it is, then let it go.
Of course I won't be checking back to see if anyone actually did anything with my suggestion. All I get is my karma-whore points (more, I suspect, for the saucy title of my post, than for the actual contents); and the slim, unknowable possibility that someone found the post interesting.
But real social change? Naw, that ain't gonna happen.
That would be good advice if there was a company selling only the stuff you DO want. If there's no alternative, than competition does not come into play.
I'll repeat myself:
Yes, this means you have to give up the something you want, because it's bundled with a bunch of shit you don't want. Hang in there -- if enough consumers stop consuming the shit, companies will desperately try to save themselves from bankruptcy by selling you what you really wanted in the first place.
I should have added: When you cancel your account, be sure to write -- or better yet, write and call -- to let the company know why you are dropping their service: make clear what they must do to win back your business.
Better to do without, than to settle for second-best.
And William Safire's column today in the New York Times, entitled "Follow-Up to Kofigate', whose first line is: "Never has there been a financial rip-off of the magnitude of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal."
Tell me where all the cash from the "food for oil" programme went? It didn't go to food. It went to bribe top UN, French, German and Russian officials (probably as far up as Putin and Chirac) to support Saddam.
The UN under Kofi Annan has become as corrupt as gangland Chicago.
What are your sources?
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I'd like to see some details.
If companies sell shit you don't want -- don't buy it.
Yes, this means you have to give up the something you want, because it's bundled with a bunch of shit you don't want. Hang in there -- if enough consumers stop consuming the shit, companies will desperately try to save themselves from bankruptcy by selling you what you really wanted in the first place.
Well, the structure and shape of things at these scales sometimes has an effect. Any one of a thousand possibilities. [diatomaceous earth]... nothing really poisonous about the substance chemically, but the nanoscale fractured edges will cut into the insects and draw out moisture, killing them.... an example of how the shape or structure of something can change its effect.
Another example: say you had a thousand lumps of metal. If you form them into cubes and throw them on the ground, they can be walked over relatively easily. If you form them into balls, it may be difficult to walk over them without stumbling. If you form them into caltrops, walking on them will cause injury. These properties are all independent of the raw effect of the metal itself.
Good points. Another example:
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow, CJD, etc.) is caused by deformed proteins (according to the prevailing, although hotly debated, "prion" theory).
Chemically, prions are "just proteins" -- but structurally, they're fucked up in some way which spreads the deformation to adjacent normal proteins.
I think I may be wandering OT here, but where exactly are you getting this from? The first Qin Emperor had the Wall built during his reign, 221 - 207 BCE. It was done in a decade.
Ummm... I'm getting it from memory... since you're citing more detail than I remember, I may have to admit that I'm wrong....
Now that I think about it, maybe what I'm remembering is Kafka's story about the Great Wall -- not exactly the best source for sinology.
Okay, I goofed. Apologies.
See Great Wall @ Wiki for better information than mine.
Here's the gist of what Wiki has to say:
"The Wall was built during the reign of The First Emperor, the main leader of the short-lived Qin dynasty. The Wall was not built out of the blue, but created by the joining of several local walls built by the Warring States. It has been renovated and extended by several later dynasties, getting most of its current shape during the Ming Dynasty."
Hmm... Wiki doesn't support my particulars about training a generation of engineers; nonetheless, it does support some rudiment of my argument, i.e. the thing took a long time to build -- implying that much planning went into the effort. Still, I was kind of a doofus for going off half-cocked.
As for off-topic... I started it. (What's more, I neglected to quote the post to which I was responding -- the parent poster said something to the effect of "fusion is taking too long".)
When the Chinese decided to build the Great Wall, the first thing they did was spend fifty years building schools, researching techniques, and training a generation of engineers to design the Great Wall.
Then they spent several generations building the wall.
hey, communists are anything but luddites. They built reactors (and most of them didn't go bang), launched the first satellite, and got the first human in space....
What's more, some communist achievements, while not firsts in their fields, were spectacular because of their size, e.g. Magnitogorsk.
Let's be clear that we're speaking here of the former Soviet Union, in particular -- other communist states accomplished no such things.
... more people died at Chappaquiddick than Three Mile Island. From this we can naturally conclude that being associated with the Presidency of the USA (even by being related, or being the mistress of a relative) is more dangerous then a Nuclear Power Station (as long as everybody is awake).
On the other hand, nuclear power stations won't give you a drunken blowjob -- whereas the Presidency is a pretty sure path to extramarital nookie.
Countries -> Multicountry pseudo governments (like EU) -> World Government
I agree entirely with your reasoning -- in fact, my own reasoning follows the same line, although I didn't actually spell it out in my original post.
However, I have good reason for sanguine pessimism: I live in America, which would sooner declare war on other nations than share power. (Come to that, it would rather assassinate it's own liberal politicians than share power.)
The trend is for organizations to become wider. The day many people WORLDWIDE are fucked up, because capital respects no country, and cares about nobody, is the day that you'll begin to see a push for a worldwide government that can regulate capitalists worldwide...they will have nowhere to hide.
I hope so. I was being a bit cheeky in my original post -- but all joking aside, I agree with you and I hope you're right.
Truly inspirational words to live by. Are you French by any chance?
Nope. An American, who figured out that the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon Regime, and Bush Dynasty all add up to organized criminal domination of political power in America.
Once human lands on Mars, well, you can kiss goodbye the thought of not infesting the Martian biosphere with Earthness. One furtive pee and it is all over.
That's why colonists on Mars will have to drink their own pee.
By the way, one of the funniest things I ever read on SlashDot is your comment:
Think of it, ladies and gentlemens: tiny Martian bacteria in their microscopic metallic war-tripods stalking over the British landscape, crushing everything in their path...
TiVo actually has research to prove that people will actually rewatch a Pepsi comercial if Britney Spears is performing a dance routine while singing the soda company's jingle.
Sure, I'll rewatch her dance. But I probably won't buy Pepsi.
On the other hand, if I have to buy the Pepsi first, and then I get to rewatch her dance... maybe I will buy a Pepsi.
Okay, I'll be honest: I'll only buy the Pepsi if I then get to refuck her.
But the basic principle remains: reward me, O Corporations, for buying your products.
Socialism is so 19th-century. I happen to be in favor of socialism's ideals, but as a political movement it doesn't stand a snowball's chance, as the 20th century demonstrated.
Some time ago on Slashdot the possibility of a "geek PAC" was discussed.
Not practical. Look at the diversity of opinion on SlashDot -- it's kaleidoscopic... schizophrenic... unsummarizable. Other than the "geek" label, there's no possibility of consensus.
Slashdot Mirror
Is this kind of like in the 50s when some expert said that nuclear power was going to make electricity free?
... which turned out to be overly optimistic.
Not "free": the exact phrase, from Lewis Strauss, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, was:
"Our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter."
-kgj
By definition an effective PR person cannot be embarassed by the stuff that comes out of his/her mouth. The bastards lie -- err -- "manage the truth" with no shame at all.
Right you are.
The term "spin doctor" doesn't go far enough -- "doctor" is too vague -- in this age of specialists, a better title would be "spin anesthesiologist".
-kgj
Without lipids, there'd be nothing to hold your cells together, so you'd just be a puddle of cytoplasm (which would, like, suck).
....
Indeed! And we're damned lucky that oil and water don't mix -- if they did, we would dissolve in ourselves
-kgj
People are addicted to TV worse than crack, and if you're the only dealer in town there is nothing to motivate you to improve.
... I gotta sit facing away from it, or my attention span will get sucked into that tube-induced alpha-wave glow ....
That's for fucking sure. I managed to kick the habit -- but man, if it happens to be on in the corner, like when I'm visiting friends or out at a bar
-kgj
I just realized that my previous comment may have sounded like a flame, and I just wanted to make sure that you know that it is not. My comment was more a lashing out at the fact that no matter what we do, we still won't change Joe Average's opinions.
;)
No flame taken, I think I know what you mean.
Hell, I'm at least as pessemistic as you -- I've pretty much given up on "saving the world", these days I think it's enough to try and bring some love into the world, have a kind word for strangers, maybe rescue a kitten from a tree once in a while.
As a point of fact, the whole reason I visit slashdot is for the commentary after the articles. That's what makes this site valuable in my opinion. Well... that and the karma game.
Agreed. Although, I get my kicks not from the karma per se -- more from seeing my posts modded up.
Thanks for the dialog, nice to meet ya.
-kgj
Here's the problem with these blanket "If enough consumers blah, blah, blah" statements that I always hear on /. and from my friends. Enough people never do.
You're quite right -- there's virtually no way I can "make a difference" with my ideas, not on the big scale of really changing thing about which I'm complaining.
But that's the nature of SlashDot: it's a forum for the exchange of ideas, nothing more. Use it for what it is, then let it go.
Of course I won't be checking back to see if anyone actually did anything with my suggestion. All I get is my karma-whore points (more, I suspect, for the saucy title of my post, than for the actual contents); and the slim, unknowable possibility that someone found the post interesting.
But real social change? Naw, that ain't gonna happen.
-kgj
I'll repeat myself: I should have added: When you cancel your account, be sure to write -- or better yet, write and call -- to let the company know why you are dropping their service: make clear what they must do to win back your business.
Better to do without, than to settle for second-best.
-kgj
And William Safire's column today in the New York Times, entitled "Follow-Up to Kofigate', whose first line is: "Never has there been a financial rip-off of the magnitude of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal."
Thanks.
-kgj
Tell me where all the cash from the "food for oil" programme went? It didn't go to food. It went to bribe top UN, French, German and Russian officials (probably as far up as Putin and Chirac) to support Saddam.
The UN under Kofi Annan has become as corrupt as gangland Chicago.
What are your sources?
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I'd like to see some details.
-kgj
If companies sell shit you don't want -- don't buy it.
Yes, this means you have to give up the something you want, because it's bundled with a bunch of shit you don't want. Hang in there -- if enough consumers stop consuming the shit, companies will desperately try to save themselves from bankruptcy by selling you what you really wanted in the first place.
-kgj
Well, the structure and shape of things at these scales sometimes has an effect. Any one of a thousand possibilities. [diatomaceous earth] ... nothing really poisonous about the substance chemically, but the nanoscale fractured edges will cut into the insects and draw out moisture, killing them. ... an example of how the shape or structure of something can change its effect.
Another example: say you had a thousand lumps of metal. If you form them into cubes and throw them on the ground, they can be walked over relatively easily. If you form them into balls, it may be difficult to walk over them without stumbling. If you form them into caltrops, walking on them will cause injury. These properties are all independent of the raw effect of the metal itself.
Good points. Another example:
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow, CJD, etc.) is caused by deformed proteins (according to the prevailing, although hotly debated, "prion" theory).
Chemically, prions are "just proteins" -- but structurally, they're fucked up in some way which spreads the deformation to adjacent normal proteins.
-kgj
Ummm
Now that I think about it, maybe what I'm remembering is Kafka's story about the Great Wall -- not exactly the best source for sinology.
Okay, I goofed. Apologies.
See Great Wall @ Wiki for better information than mine.
Here's the gist of what Wiki has to say: Hmm
As for off-topic
-kgj
When the Chinese decided to build the Great Wall, the first thing they did was spend fifty years building schools, researching techniques, and training a generation of engineers to design the Great Wall.
Then they spent several generations building the wall.
Big things take time.
-kgj
I get first dibs on the free jetpacks.
Not so fast there, Buck Rogers -- first you've got to fight (and defeat) bug-eyed monsters!
-kgj
We simply cannot risk starting a global experiment that would wipe out the precious sensitive evidence we are seeking.
... and look! the experiment resulted in ... us!
Sure we can risk it!
Our ancestors risked such an experiment, oh, fifty thousand years ago
-kgj
hey, communists are anything but luddites. They built reactors (and most of them didn't go bang), launched the first satellite, and got the first human in space....
What's more, some communist achievements, while not firsts in their fields, were spectacular because of their size, e.g. Magnitogorsk.
Let's be clear that we're speaking here of the former Soviet Union, in particular -- other communist states accomplished no such things.
-kgj
... more people died at Chappaquiddick than Three Mile Island. From this we can naturally conclude that being associated with the Presidency of the USA (even by being related, or being the mistress of a relative) is more dangerous then a Nuclear Power Station (as long as everybody is awake).
On the other hand, nuclear power stations won't give you a drunken blowjob -- whereas the Presidency is a pretty sure path to extramarital nookie.
-kgj
Countries -> Multicountry pseudo governments (like EU) -> World Government
I agree entirely with your reasoning -- in fact, my own reasoning follows the same line, although I didn't actually spell it out in my original post.
However, I have good reason for sanguine pessimism: I live in America, which would sooner declare war on other nations than share power. (Come to that, it would rather assassinate it's own liberal politicians than share power.)
The trend is for organizations to become wider. The day many people WORLDWIDE are fucked up, because capital respects no country, and cares about nobody, is the day that you'll begin to see a push for a worldwide government that can regulate capitalists worldwide...they will have nowhere to hide.
I hope so. I was being a bit cheeky in my original post -- but all joking aside, I agree with you and I hope you're right.
-kgj
Truly inspirational words to live by. Are you French by any chance?
Nope. An American, who figured out that the Kennedy Assassination, the Nixon Regime, and Bush Dynasty all add up to organized criminal domination of political power in America.
-kgj
Once human lands on Mars, well, you can kiss goodbye the thought of not infesting the Martian biosphere with Earthness. One furtive pee and it is all over.
That's why colonists on Mars will have to drink their own pee.
By the way, one of the funniest things I ever read on SlashDot is your comment:
Think of it, ladies and gentlemens: tiny Martian bacteria in their microscopic metallic war-tripods stalking over the British landscape, crushing everything in their path...
-kgj
TiVo actually has research to prove that people will actually rewatch a Pepsi comercial if Britney Spears is performing a dance routine while singing the soda company's jingle.
... maybe I will buy a Pepsi.
Sure, I'll rewatch her dance. But I probably won't buy Pepsi.
On the other hand, if I have to buy the Pepsi first, and then I get to rewatch her dance
Okay, I'll be honest: I'll only buy the Pepsi if I then get to refuck her.
But the basic principle remains: reward me, O Corporations, for buying your products.
-kgj
OK, then how about an Electronic Frontier PAC? NORML (the weed law reform organization) has both a charity and a PAC; why can't EFF?
Excellent idea!
-kgj
Er... like Socialism? Sounds good to me.
Socialism is so 19th-century. I happen to be in favor of socialism's ideals, but as a political movement it doesn't stand a snowball's chance, as the 20th century demonstrated.
-kgj
Or you could continue to take part in the development of newer, more distributed models of power that are more efficient than large corporations...
Optimistic, yet admirable. I think I'll add you to my Friends list.
Are you suggesting some kind of social-P2P metaphor?
-kgj
Some time ago on Slashdot the possibility of a "geek PAC" was discussed.
... schizophrenic ... unsummarizable. Other than the "geek" label, there's no possibility of consensus.
Not practical. Look at the diversity of opinion on SlashDot -- it's kaleidoscopic
-kgj