Maybe if you make a sign that describes these most common scams, have it printed on a nice board with a very official looking Wells Fargo logo, and put it on the counter, these people will recognize their situation and believe you when you hear their story and point to it. Then maybe this board would be seen by a district manager, your fiance gets a raise for a great idea that protects the customer and fosters faith in the company, and similar fancy signs go to every Wells Fargo in the country just like that. Then, just maybe, people will see the signs all over the place and we'll see a significant decrease in scams like that all over, which will mean just a few less spam emails in everybodys mailbox, and you're a superhero. Just an idea... is it too optimistic?:)
I've been convinced that leaving our planet serves no function towards increasing our quality of life. Everyone says "get off this rock" like they, and only like-minded friends, would get to go. We will take our problems with us wherever we go, and I think we should do our best to solve them now.
That's not to say we shouldn't be working on bigger goals like what you're talking about, I just don't think leaving earth is a solution to anything.
No, I wouldn't expect this particular event would restore your faith in humanity. What confuses me is why people are so quick to say they've "lost faith in humanity" in the first place.
As morbid as it is, I'm almost pleased to find out that an entire nation is absolutely shocked by an event like a school shooting. To me, that is an indication that the lives of tens of people are worth far more than they were not too long ago. Like it or not, that's real progress for a species.
Wars are also horrible, but we see them happening in smaller and smaller theaters, effecting fewer and fewer people than only decades ago.
There is, what seems to me, a huge upswing in environmental awareness. Vehicles that run with the assistance of batteries, alternative fuels or alternative fuel blends are on the road right this second. That's real.
Private companies are now able (and have plans to) launch people into space with relative ease, at very little expense. Space exploration is clearly further along than it has ever been.
Medical science is making headlines every day in its effort to deal with our worst diseases.
Oh, and for all our squables over politics in one particular nation in the world, the platforms have largely shifted from direct opposition to "which one can convince me they'd do a better job at X". Both parties try to convince us they can protect more lives, both claim they can make real progress in environmental awareness, both claim they can protect our financial futures. They just claim different approaches will be more effective. Still we bicker, but that's OK because it moves us forward and keeps the government in line. That says to me that anyone who doesn't think the government ultimately answers to the people isn't paying attention.
So aside from it being a popular thing to say, I don't understand why people are so upset about the human condition. There is always work to do, but I think we're making constant progress. The only question is whether or not I'm doing what I can to assist.
Funny, that was my thought, except I had a bit more optimistic expectation. I was hoping that it would get filled out in record time with quality info.:)
The contents of the Site may not be distributed, modified, reproduced, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of iParadigms, except that you may download content from the Site to any single computer, provided you keep intact all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices. Except as provided in these Terms and Conditions, any use of these materials on any other Web site or networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited.
Does this mean they get to take my work, use it for future profitable services without my consent, and then it's illegal for me to copy and redistribute my own work from their site if it comes up in a search, as if they now own the copyright on my creations?
Maybe I'm reading to far into that (clearly I'm no lawyer)... but it just turns my stomach seeing a notice like that on a site that makes its living violating copyright.
My question is, how do we search that database to find out if they've got copies of our copyrighted works? Would you have to go through some kind of discovery process, or would you have to pay for searches and submit your own material? I expect this company has some bogus agreement that says you're allowing them to store a copy of anything submitted, so I guess just searching to find out if they have your work would invalidate any claim you have against them. I'd love to find a way to bleed Turnitin dry.
I was scanning the thread to see if anyone would mention this.
The first time I heard about one of these services, I started putting copyright notices at the bottom of my papers before I turned them in.
I don't register them with the copyright office (what is it, $30 per work?), but I'm hoping for situations where I can turn in a paper I've already written, and it comes back as plagarism. Really, I'm fishing for a combination monetary windfall and slap in the face to the companies and schools that do this.
I think you're probably right in many of your observations, but one thing is bothering me about this entire thread.
People are too fast to complain about, "this UI element sucks because of X" or "this guideline is bogus because of Y" and "MS doesn't know what they're talking about", when they should be quietly taking notes.
Lets be honest, the biggest complaints about alternative operating systems and applications have been ease of use. I think people ought to consider taking notes from these people who have managed to be very successful.
They're not supposed to be scientific experiments. You'll notice that they completely ignored the fact that most ventilaiton is small, horizontal and not supported well enough to hold up a full grown man. It's entertainment, with occasional tidbits of information.
Oh, and they say during the episode that they were assigned those techniques, because those were two picked from action movies.
Digg exists so that people can easily tell each other what they want to hear. Sometimes it's cool, sometimes it's bogus. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
I don't think there's an easy answer to this. I think you have to actually understand what you do and how it looks to your children, which unfortunately requires you to think about how other people view your behavior... and a lot of people just seem incapable of that.
I think what you're mentioning here (perhaps accidentally) describes a little theory I've developed. For a long time now teachers and parents have been pounding the "you're special" and "just be yourself" messages into kids until they've developed this "I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm me and I'm pursuing happiness" attitude. We celebrate attitudes like that in adults, too. I think this is a perversion of an idea that was supposed to make you always comfortable enough to do the right thing, regardless of outcome, into an idea that you don't owe anyone anything and anyone who expects anything of you (most of all sacrifice) is trying to prevent you from "being you".
I think we owe everyone arounds us something. I owe it to my neighbors to take my garbage out, keep my music down to a sane level and return their dog if I see him running down the street. I owe it to my parents to come help move furniture when they call. When I have kids, I'll owe it to them to make sure they get what they need, when they need it. In turn, each one of these people has certain responsibilities.
In an effort to bolster childrens sense of self-worth by ridding them of shame or guilt, we've thrown out responsibility with the bath water. I think we SHOULD care about what people think of us, and might have to start teaching kids that.
Look, I can ALMOST see how legalizing marijuana would reduce a tiny bit of crime, but shit... nobody is really worried about "the potheads" in the woods nearby. What are they going to do, paint flowers on your kids cheeks? Worst case, maybe a grateful dead logo?
They're worried about f'ing junkies, and junkies don't become safe because their shit is legal. Likewise, making prostitution legal doesn't make the pimps and drugs go away. We know this.
You make it sound a lot more exciting than I expected. We had a channel or two here on our digital cable (chicagoland) that played game tournaments a bunch. The tournaments were usually some fps, and it was probably the worst few minutes of TV I've ever seen.
It sounds like Starcraft is much better, but I guess that makes sense since the visualization of strategy games like that is much easier to digest. Personally, I can't stand fps games because it's just too much too fast, with too little time to think. Maybe I'm just too thick for them.:)
I've considered this, since my old man does it. The difference is he already owns houses and cars and has enough income to live off of. What do you do when you need to buy your first house? I can't afford hundreds of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. Cars are manageable if you don't have to drive something insane... but I wonder about homes. I own my car now... paid down my 2005 mazda pretty quick (i hate oweing anyone anything) to a point where it's nearly done, but I still had to do it on a loan.
"I played some brutal games and watched some horribly graphic movies while I was a kid"
You're in your late 20s?
I'd say, Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, Kung Fu and Punch-Out weren't exactly like the stuff we're looking at now. Banging a hooker in a stolen car, then jumping out of the car, beating them to death with a baseball bat and taking your money back? Maybe that OTHER Konami code let you do that stuff, but I think I would have cried myself to sleep if I saw that coming from my NES.:)
"Google want their data kept private more than you want that particular data kept private (and this is the crucial point in all privacy discussion on Google) in order to keep their core business model intact."
But what happens when Google isn't at $370+ / share anymore, and they're not the internet hotness they are now? I wonder what happens when companies like that begin to fade away. Will they leverage their only remaining asset to float a sinking boat? If so... -poof- trillions of search and email records end up in shadier hands. Scary thought.
That's true, but I'm not worried about them finding out that I once read up on explosives. In fact, I'd be just fine if I trusted that they were only finding bombers with that stuff.
I'm more worried that some day I'll be a reasonably successful businessman (however unlikely), with a big mouth. Then they'll go find all the most vulgar shit my friends and I have swapped via email and use it as a, "look what a f'ing weirdo this guy is... lets have DCFS take his kids because he replied 'ha ha' to that awful video way back in 2002."
Slashdot Mirror
"Ig Nobel Prizes Awarded" != "Nobel Peace Prize Awarded"
I was hoping someone would point that out.
Not to mention most of the workstations in our office are a year or two old, and they'll all support Aero.
The specs are not exactly insane.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I was referring to what you call "young-earth" creationists. I should probably be more specific.
Creationists are going to have a field day with this.
Maybe if you make a sign that describes these most common scams, have it printed on a nice board with a very official looking Wells Fargo logo, and put it on the counter, these people will recognize their situation and believe you when you hear their story and point to it. Then maybe this board would be seen by a district manager, your fiance gets a raise for a great idea that protects the customer and fosters faith in the company, and similar fancy signs go to every Wells Fargo in the country just like that. Then, just maybe, people will see the signs all over the place and we'll see a significant decrease in scams like that all over, which will mean just a few less spam emails in everybodys mailbox, and you're a superhero. Just an idea... is it too optimistic?
I've been convinced that leaving our planet serves no function towards increasing our quality of life. Everyone says "get off this rock" like they, and only like-minded friends, would get to go. We will take our problems with us wherever we go, and I think we should do our best to solve them now.
That's not to say we shouldn't be working on bigger goals like what you're talking about, I just don't think leaving earth is a solution to anything.
No, I wouldn't expect this particular event would restore your faith in humanity. What confuses me is why people are so quick to say they've "lost faith in humanity" in the first place.
As morbid as it is, I'm almost pleased to find out that an entire nation is absolutely shocked by an event like a school shooting. To me, that is an indication that the lives of tens of people are worth far more than they were not too long ago. Like it or not, that's real progress for a species.
Wars are also horrible, but we see them happening in smaller and smaller theaters, effecting fewer and fewer people than only decades ago.
There is, what seems to me, a huge upswing in environmental awareness. Vehicles that run with the assistance of batteries, alternative fuels or alternative fuel blends are on the road right this second. That's real.
Private companies are now able (and have plans to) launch people into space with relative ease, at very little expense. Space exploration is clearly further along than it has ever been.
Medical science is making headlines every day in its effort to deal with our worst diseases.
Oh, and for all our squables over politics in one particular nation in the world, the platforms have largely shifted from direct opposition to "which one can convince me they'd do a better job at X". Both parties try to convince us they can protect more lives, both claim they can make real progress in environmental awareness, both claim they can protect our financial futures. They just claim different approaches will be more effective. Still we bicker, but that's OK because it moves us forward and keeps the government in line. That says to me that anyone who doesn't think the government ultimately answers to the people isn't paying attention.
So aside from it being a popular thing to say, I don't understand why people are so upset about the human condition. There is always work to do, but I think we're making constant progress. The only question is whether or not I'm doing what I can to assist.
It's not like we were intelligently designed... we evolved.
That's a bold statement of fact, considering even the most avid proponents of evolution refer to it as "theory".
Funny, that was my thought, except I had a bit more optimistic expectation. I was hoping that it would get filled out in record time with quality info. :)
Oh, and I LOVED this, from their site:
The contents of the Site may not be distributed, modified, reproduced, or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of iParadigms, except that you may download content from the Site to any single computer, provided you keep intact all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices. Except as provided in these Terms and Conditions, any use of these materials on any other Web site or networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited.
Does this mean they get to take my work, use it for future profitable services without my consent, and then it's illegal for me to copy and redistribute my own work from their site if it comes up in a search, as if they now own the copyright on my creations?
Maybe I'm reading to far into that (clearly I'm no lawyer)... but it just turns my stomach seeing a notice like that on a site that makes its living violating copyright.
My question is, how do we search that database to find out if they've got copies of our copyrighted works? Would you have to go through some kind of discovery process, or would you have to pay for searches and submit your own material? I expect this company has some bogus agreement that says you're allowing them to store a copy of anything submitted, so I guess just searching to find out if they have your work would invalidate any claim you have against them. I'd love to find a way to bleed Turnitin dry.
You have to love it when IP law turns on itself.
I was scanning the thread to see if anyone would mention this.
The first time I heard about one of these services, I started putting copyright notices at the bottom of my papers before I turned them in.
I don't register them with the copyright office (what is it, $30 per work?), but I'm hoping for situations where I can turn in a paper I've already written, and it comes back as plagarism. Really, I'm fishing for a combination monetary windfall and slap in the face to the companies and schools that do this.
I think you're probably right in many of your observations, but one thing is bothering me about this entire thread.
People are too fast to complain about, "this UI element sucks because of X" or "this guideline is bogus because of Y" and "MS doesn't know what they're talking about", when they should be quietly taking notes.
Lets be honest, the biggest complaints about alternative operating systems and applications have been ease of use. I think people ought to consider taking notes from these people who have managed to be very successful.
I think you're right, and it's an important distinction.
The last thing we need is people assuming they need to keep their kids up-to-date with "skills" like "social networking with myspace".
What they should be doing is keeping their children as far away from that horrifying mess as they can.
Aww, now I have to say it...
Get these mother-f'n Newtonian physicists out of my mother-f'n audience!
Do they speak English in when they give you the Nobel Prize? English mother-f'r! Do, they, speak, it?
God, I'm sorry.
They're not supposed to be scientific experiments. You'll notice that they completely ignored the fact that most ventilaiton is small, horizontal and not supported well enough to hold up a full grown man. It's entertainment, with occasional tidbits of information.
Oh, and they say during the episode that they were assigned those techniques, because those were two picked from action movies.
Digg exists so that people can easily tell each other what they want to hear. Sometimes it's cool, sometimes it's bogus. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
I don't think there's an easy answer to this. I think you have to actually understand what you do and how it looks to your children, which unfortunately requires you to think about how other people view your behavior... and a lot of people just seem incapable of that.
I think what you're mentioning here (perhaps accidentally) describes a little theory I've developed. For a long time now teachers and parents have been pounding the "you're special" and "just be yourself" messages into kids until they've developed this "I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm me and I'm pursuing happiness" attitude. We celebrate attitudes like that in adults, too. I think this is a perversion of an idea that was supposed to make you always comfortable enough to do the right thing, regardless of outcome, into an idea that you don't owe anyone anything and anyone who expects anything of you (most of all sacrifice) is trying to prevent you from "being you".
I think we owe everyone arounds us something. I owe it to my neighbors to take my garbage out, keep my music down to a sane level and return their dog if I see him running down the street. I owe it to my parents to come help move furniture when they call. When I have kids, I'll owe it to them to make sure they get what they need, when they need it. In turn, each one of these people has certain responsibilities.
In an effort to bolster childrens sense of self-worth by ridding them of shame or guilt, we've thrown out responsibility with the bath water. I think we SHOULD care about what people think of us, and might have to start teaching kids that.
Just a thought I had.
You've got to be kidding... insightful?
Look, I can ALMOST see how legalizing marijuana would reduce a tiny bit of crime, but shit... nobody is really worried about "the potheads" in the woods nearby. What are they going to do, paint flowers on your kids cheeks? Worst case, maybe a grateful dead logo?
They're worried about f'ing junkies, and junkies don't become safe because their shit is legal. Likewise, making prostitution legal doesn't make the pimps and drugs go away. We know this.
You're an idiot, not insightful.
You make it sound a lot more exciting than I expected. We had a channel or two here on our digital cable (chicagoland) that played game tournaments a bunch. The tournaments were usually some fps, and it was probably the worst few minutes of TV I've ever seen.
:)
It sounds like Starcraft is much better, but I guess that makes sense since the visualization of strategy games like that is much easier to digest. Personally, I can't stand fps games because it's just too much too fast, with too little time to think. Maybe I'm just too thick for them.
I've considered this, since my old man does it. The difference is he already owns houses and cars and has enough income to live off of. What do you do when you need to buy your first house? I can't afford hundreds of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. Cars are manageable if you don't have to drive something insane... but I wonder about homes. I own my car now... paid down my 2005 mazda pretty quick (i hate oweing anyone anything) to a point where it's nearly done, but I still had to do it on a loan.
"I played some brutal games and watched some horribly graphic movies while I was a kid"
:)
You're in your late 20s?
I'd say, Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, Kung Fu and Punch-Out weren't exactly like the stuff we're looking at now. Banging a hooker in a stolen car, then jumping out of the car, beating them to death with a baseball bat and taking your money back? Maybe that OTHER Konami code let you do that stuff, but I think I would have cried myself to sleep if I saw that coming from my NES.
"Google want their data kept private more than you want that particular data kept private (and this is the crucial point in all privacy discussion on Google) in order to keep their core business model intact."
But what happens when Google isn't at $370+ / share anymore, and they're not the internet hotness they are now? I wonder what happens when companies like that begin to fade away. Will they leverage their only remaining asset to float a sinking boat? If so... -poof- trillions of search and email records end up in shadier hands. Scary thought.
That's true, but I'm not worried about them finding out that I once read up on explosives. In fact, I'd be just fine if I trusted that they were only finding bombers with that stuff.
I'm more worried that some day I'll be a reasonably successful businessman (however unlikely), with a big mouth. Then they'll go find all the most vulgar shit my friends and I have swapped via email and use it as a, "look what a f'ing weirdo this guy is... lets have DCFS take his kids because he replied 'ha ha' to that awful video way back in 2002."
Please excuse me while my head explodes.