"Why the hell shouldn't I be "that guy" that slows everything down? I am not, in fact, the one slowing everything down anyway; the security people are. I don't see why I should go out of my way to make inconvenient, useless security work slightly more smoothly."
don't be an ass. Just because they have a job to do that you don't appreciate or respect doesn't give you the right to waste more time for everyone else by being unreasonable. Taking reasonable measures to help the line move along better shows respect for those behind you as well as for the screeners.
... or do you think *you* are just *so* special that you can just play your little attitude to entertain the line? I assure you, noone else is entertained nor do they think you are special...
As far as respecting the screeners, perhaps they aren't perfect, nor is the system... but those people screening you didn't make up the rules of how it works, so being a pain in everyone's butts won't change the system, it'll just annoy everyone and make the job harder for screeners legitimately trying to do a job that is important, even if flawed... Regardless of what you think of the security system, the people trying to keep you from blowing up do deserve respect, as anyone in any job who is trying to do their best does...
"Adama is now a badass. He killed a Cylon with a fickin' FLASHLIGHT!"
yeah, that was an ultimate tough-guy scene...
and the fact that he wasn't trusting the guy and knew that he was a cylon even though he'd never seen a human-like cylon before... he didn't need the guy to give him hints or surprise-attack him first to know...
it is another bit that I like in Adama's character... from the start you see that he is not just assuming that the cylon will never attack again just because they haven't for a long while (as everyone else seems to assume)... and he doesn't compromise his security rules for the sake of convenience, being ordered to, assumptions, etc. For instance, early on, even though he thought the BG was going to be a museum, he wouldn't let networked educational systems on-board. He knew first-hand the consequences of small gaps in security and didn't let down his guard.
I think the scenes with #6 appearing to Baltar are well done, and following that ongoing secret, in-head relationship should be interesting... especially when both of them are obviously conflicted in their relationship. She has interesting insights into him while obviously going against cylon interests by some of the things she tells him.
Overall, I liked the show, would be glad if they make a series of it, and think so far Adama and Baltar are the most interesting characters... (with the possible exception of #6, but she has a physical advantage;-)
"but think about today's high-tech design & fabrication... we rarely design by hand anymore, we use a computer to do our calculations for us: to draw our VLSI circuits, to solve our calculus problems, to do the computationally hard work for us."
Uh, as a hardware designer, I'd say you're off a bit... our systems for CAD (computer aided design) of VLSI are great, but they are still mostly advanced drafting, compilation and simulation systems. We don't yet have computers designing most of the logic in things yet... we may design with more complex building blocks, but those have still been designed in detail by people, etc.
Admittedly, that's just now, not saying that your point about the cylons isn't correct.
I have had 3 minolta bodies over the years and have been very happy with each. (3xi, 500si, maxxum 5)
I have found lately that, while minolta-made lenses can be very expensive, the 3rd party lenses are quite good. (sigma, promaster, etc).
I got one when someone (wife, cough) dropped my minolta zoom on the brick porch... I've been quite happy with it so far. Very sharp, short and lightweight.
BTW, many of the reviews of the maxxum 5 body mention that it's small and the controls can be difficult if you don't have small hands. That was a concern for me when I bought it, (particularly when I had the option of repairing my old 500si body that was definitely larger) so I got it from a store where I could get a feel for it (and where they had a 30-day return policy).
So far I can say it's no problem to handle, even with my big hands.
In sept, I bought a minolta maxxum 5 to replace my older minolta 500si. (and a 3xi before that) So far I love it. It's light, very fast in auto-focus and responsiveness, great pics, and various auto and manual modes. It also has spot metering and spot focus, which I think the Canon Rebels don't have.
I got a nice 28-90mm zoom lens to go with the fixed length 50mm I had before and I'm good to go. works great for all sorts of situations from fast shots of the kids, close-up of florals, scenary, other...
I've had 3 minolta mid-range cameras now and I've been very happy with all of them.
FWIW, my mom and aunt both love the Canon Rebel's they have. My mom just got a rebel ti (2000? whatever is current) and, while she's not a camera geek, loves it. It weighs about 3 lbs less than her old dog of a camera that she was replacing.
On the Diane Rehm Show (NPR, WAMU), they also just had a good discussion of Congressional Redistricting and how much gerrymandering is going on now.
They covered some of the why's, how all parties do it when they have the control of the state legislatures to do so, and a bit about how better demographic and mapping technology helps make the process easier technically. Discussed some of the state court cases trying to oppose particularly gerrymandered redistricting plans (colorado, texas, etc).
Also discussed how the one-person, one-vote supreme court decisions directly led states away from districts generally based on towns, cities, county lines, etc, and to base them more closely on actual population distribution within the state, and giving more opportunity for gerrymandering as a result.
The date of the show was Thursday, December 4, 2003. It should be up on the WAMU.org site soon. Find it under the Diane Rehm show archives. (by date or titled "Congressional Redistricting")
I do understand that there is established legal basis for a 'right' of privacy, and that it's certainly something we all like to think is protected at the highest levels. Many people seem to think though that it is a right clearly spelled out in the constitution in the same way as freedom of speech, press, etc.
I'm certainly no expert in law, but I would tend to assume that a right based upon interpretation would be less strong and more prone to change or limitation by reinterpretation than a right spelled out clearly in the constitution. Is that not true?
(FWIW, it does sound like you have far more background on this or have at least read far more on the details of the topic than I have. Thanks for your informative reply)
you wrote: "No one had to tell me to do this. It's just logic. Not being stupid, as it were."
That's the point, some know that, others have to be taught... and being told is sometimes not enough.
the number of kids going missing to online predators every year is proof of this... as is the experience of some of the parents who have posted their stories here.
nice to have someone post some real experience rather than all the smoke and sounds-nice I'm reading on most of this thread...
kids are kids. they don't take most warnings seriously until something has bitten them on it, but, as I wrote above, some consequences are too dangerous and damaging to let them learn just by trial and error.
trust, but verify somewhat too...
it's irresponsible as a parent not to.
Duffy Robbins was talking about the issue of letting your kids learn recently... he had a good point, you can let your children learn things by experience in areas where the consequences are not *too* damaging. For instance, it's one thing learn not to touch hoth things by touching them once... but you don't learn from things that kill you the first time or cause severe damage, physical or otherwise...
"Sure son, you can toddle across that busy highway if you want... or use my circular saw... " "Sure honey, you can email and visit that pedofile for a while..."
Anyway, one thing to consider is that not all lessons can be learned by trial and error. Sometimes the consequences are just too severe and you have to learn by other ways...
Seriously, saying 'just don't get sick' is sort-of trivializing something where prevention isn't as easy as we'd like... and I'm sure few patients would appreciate that response from their doc when they go in for treatment of a disease or injury... that's what I meant.
Catbella wrote: "To defeat the enemy he had to let Smith win, something he had never done before. Most likely he just kept fighting until he died, in the prior cycles of his last confrontation with Smith. But this time, with Trinity's loss and sacrifice still fresh as a bloody wound in his mind, Neo was able to understand that he had to lose, and in losing, take control of Smith."
that sounds a lot like the final answer that Thomas Covenant found in Stephen Donaldson's white gold wielder series... interesting...
have you heard of this medical concept called vaccination? or even just encouraging good nutrition and health? That helps the body to resist disease in the first place... that's probably more analogous to what we'd like to hope MS would do... make the OS more secure and quit just passing out aspirin.
it was probably dumbed *way* down either by the press or so that they could explain it *to* the press...
Come on, you know how the press gets everything completely wrong if you try to give them too much detail... you have to reduce any issue to a 3rd grade level for them... even then they are likely to screw up the few details you give them.
yeah, but do we *really* want every joe schmoe who can barely run windows trying to print to everything in his/her house with it? I can see all sorts of potential for disaster, even aside from the already mentioned writing to butane lighters and trying to tattoo yourself... "now which color was score and which was cut? OUCH!!"
I have to admit, if I had one that I'd just hooked up, the first thing *I'd* do would be to look around the room, thinking "hmm, what can I test this with..." those can be famous last words...
I'll bet it'd really contribute to keeping our fire departments and hospital emergency rooms busy...
At least we wouldn't need to shell out $30 a month/week/whatever to HP/lexmark/canon/blah for ink cartridges, though we might be spending that much more in power bills...
Slashdot Mirror
don't be an ass. Just because they have a job to do that you don't appreciate or respect doesn't give you the right to waste more time for everyone else by being unreasonable. Taking reasonable measures to help the line move along better shows respect for those behind you as well as for the screeners.
... or do you think *you* are just *so* special that you can just play your little attitude to entertain the line? I assure you, noone else is entertained nor do they think you are special...
As far as respecting the screeners, perhaps they aren't perfect, nor is the system... but those people screening you didn't make up the rules of how it works, so being a pain in everyone's butts won't change the system, it'll just annoy everyone and make the job harder for screeners legitimately trying to do a job that is important, even if flawed... Regardless of what you think of the security system, the people trying to keep you from blowing up do deserve respect, as anyone in any job who is trying to do their best does...
yeah, that was an ultimate tough-guy scene...
and the fact that he wasn't trusting the guy and knew that he was a cylon even though he'd never seen a human-like cylon before... he didn't need the guy to give him hints or surprise-attack him first to know...
it is another bit that I like in Adama's character... from the start you see that he is not just assuming that the cylon will never attack again just because they haven't for a long while (as everyone else seems to assume)... and he doesn't compromise his security rules for the sake of convenience, being ordered to, assumptions, etc. For instance, early on, even though he thought the BG was going to be a museum, he wouldn't let networked educational systems on-board. He knew first-hand the consequences of small gaps in security and didn't let down his guard.
I think the scenes with #6 appearing to Baltar are well done, and following that ongoing secret, in-head relationship should be interesting... especially when both of them are obviously conflicted in their relationship. She has interesting insights into him while obviously going against cylon interests by some of the things she tells him.
Overall, I liked the show, would be glad if they make a series of it, and think so far Adama and Baltar are the most interesting characters... (with the possible exception of #6, but she has a physical advantage ;-)
Ironic considering that Adama killed him by clubbing him to death with a flashlight shortly afterwards... not some high-tech weapon...
Uh, as a hardware designer, I'd say you're off a bit... our systems for CAD (computer aided design) of VLSI are great, but they are still mostly advanced drafting, compilation and simulation systems. We don't yet have computers designing most of the logic in things yet... we may design with more complex building blocks, but those have still been designed in detail by people, etc.
Admittedly, that's just now, not saying that your point about the cylons isn't correct.
I have found lately that, while minolta-made lenses can be very expensive, the 3rd party lenses are quite good. (sigma, promaster, etc).
I got one when someone (wife, cough) dropped my minolta zoom on the brick porch... I've been quite happy with it so far. Very sharp, short and lightweight.
So far I can say it's no problem to handle, even with my big hands.
I got a nice 28-90mm zoom lens to go with the fixed length 50mm I had before and I'm good to go. works great for all sorts of situations from fast shots of the kids, close-up of florals, scenary, other...
I've had 3 minolta mid-range cameras now and I've been very happy with all of them.
FWIW, my mom and aunt both love the Canon Rebel's they have. My mom just got a rebel ti (2000? whatever is current) and, while she's not a camera geek, loves it. It weighs about 3 lbs less than her old dog of a camera that she was replacing.
Thinking Unconventionally
There are more engineering and science jokes on my humor section fwiw...
Wilk4: Humor, enjoy.
They covered some of the why's, how all parties do it when they have the control of the state legislatures to do so, and a bit about how better demographic and mapping technology helps make the process easier technically. Discussed some of the state court cases trying to oppose particularly gerrymandered redistricting plans (colorado, texas, etc).
Also discussed how the one-person, one-vote supreme court decisions directly led states away from districts generally based on towns, cities, county lines, etc, and to base them more closely on actual population distribution within the state, and giving more opportunity for gerrymandering as a result.
The date of the show was Thursday, December 4, 2003. It should be up on the WAMU.org site soon. Find it under the Diane Rehm show archives. (by date or titled "Congressional Redistricting")
I do understand that there is established legal basis for a 'right' of privacy, and that it's certainly something we all like to think is protected at the highest levels. Many people seem to think though that it is a right clearly spelled out in the constitution in the same way as freedom of speech, press, etc.
I'm certainly no expert in law, but I would tend to assume that a right based upon interpretation would be less strong and more prone to change or limitation by reinterpretation than a right spelled out clearly in the constitution. Is that not true?
(FWIW, it does sound like you have far more background on this or have at least read far more on the details of the topic than I have. Thanks for your informative reply)
That's the point, some know that, others have to be taught... and being told is sometimes not enough.
the number of kids going missing to online predators every year is proof of this... as is the experience of some of the parents who have posted their stories here.
but was *that* a lie then? ;-)
good post Java Ape. someone please mod it up.
that was an unnecessary attack. boy scouts is an honorable group, that's why they work so hard to keep pedophiles *out* of it...
kids are kids. they don't take most warnings seriously until something has bitten them on it, but, as I wrote above, some consequences are too dangerous and damaging to let them learn just by trial and error.
trust, but verify somewhat too...
it's irresponsible as a parent not to.
Hate to tell you, but there is no constitutional right to privacy... at least not in the USA... perhaps whereever you live?
"Sure son, you can toddle across that busy highway if you want... or use my circular saw... " "Sure honey, you can email and visit that pedofile for a while..."
Anyway, one thing to consider is that not all lessons can be learned by trial and error. Sometimes the consequences are just too severe and you have to learn by other ways...
my foot hit me right in the mouth..
Seriously, saying 'just don't get sick' is sort-of trivializing something where prevention isn't as easy as we'd like... and I'm sure few patients would appreciate that response from their doc when they go in for treatment of a disease or injury... that's what I meant.
that sounds a lot like the final answer that Thomas Covenant found in Stephen Donaldson's white gold wielder series... interesting...
good points on the architect's conversation and the issues of choice.
what doctor do *you* go to that would say such a stupid thing...
doctors are there to encourage us to be healthy and resistant to disease, but even more so to treat it when we get sick...
If I were you, I'd change docs immediately!
have you heard of this medical concept called vaccination? or even just encouraging good nutrition and health? That helps the body to resist disease in the first place... that's probably more analogous to what we'd like to hope MS would do... make the OS more secure and quit just passing out aspirin.
Come on, you know how the press gets everything completely wrong if you try to give them too much detail... you have to reduce any issue to a 3rd grade level for them... even then they are likely to screw up the few details you give them.
glad someone else read that story... ;-)
I have to admit, if I had one that I'd just hooked up, the first thing *I'd* do would be to look around the room, thinking "hmm, what can I test this with..." those can be famous last words...
I'll bet it'd really contribute to keeping our fire departments and hospital emergency rooms busy...
At least we wouldn't need to shell out $30 a month/week/whatever to HP/lexmark/canon/blah for ink cartridges, though we might be spending that much more in power bills...