If you haven't, read some of Thomas Jefferson's writings. It's shameful how far we've turned from our original ideal, embodied in the Constitution - I know, "just a god damned piece of paper!" - but he warned about just such a possibility. 200+ years can dull the senses and purpose of a country. Seems like it might be time to learn our lesson all over again.
Not trying to troll, but where does lying by the police fit into "you can't break the law to enforce it"? Police lie to suspects all the time with no repercussions, though citizens can get into even bigger trouble if they're not truthful - and are found out.
Categorically not true. I was lead developer for over 7 years for a blood chemistry diagnostics tool sold in the US and under FDA regulation. I never once saw an actual FDA auditor nor did I have to produce any code listings for their audits. They wanted to see check-ins and make sure every form was properly signed. Didn't give a whit about the code.
"Qualified experts" still fuck up. Example: I performed a common UI operation to show the parameters for a portion of the configuration on the ready-for-release version of a blood chemistry diagnostic tool that my mega-global-corp sells. Simply requesting that UI screen immediately crashed the machine. Curious, I tried it on another machine in the lab: same results. It's not like I asked it to do 10 complicated things at the same time: I merely asked it to display some information from the database on the UI that's been in place for over 10 years. I didn't write that part of it, but I know the guys that did and I'm not one bit surprised that it crashed. That's not even the dumbest crash I've seen from this software.
I also work for an FDA regulated company - blood chemistry immuno diagnostics device - and we are certainly audited, periodically, but not to the extent that you portray. We have code check-in forms and the auditors look at traceability: can they show that the files checked in were traced back to a particular defect record or change request item, etc. And our check-in forms are simple "Who wrote this change? Who reviewed it? Who's the manager signing off on it." That's about it. No justifications, no explanation of changes - except changes due to issues found during a review - no summaries of potential impact, or anything really substantive.
It wasn't as "sealed" as you think it was. Read "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman." He was able to come and go to some extent, though there were hassles.
You've been whoosh-served. He's basically saying "Bush == Obama" - or the other way around; doesn't matter. Or: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Before my son wrecked it - unrelated accident on a snowy hill - I used to love driving our Chevy Cavalier above 100 mph. That thing was as smooth as glass. At 110 mph, it felt like I was hovering over the road, not even touching. No control issues at all, even following the wide bends of a river.
It could be what you were driving, though a Cavalier is hardly a top-of-the-line vehicle.
Anecdotal, but true: I smashed into the back end of a stationary vehicle - changed lanes on the highway and didn't see that he was stopped (on the freakin' highway??) until it was too late - and both the airbag and the seatbelt did their jobs. Without the airbag, I probably would've planted my face in the steering wheel, or worse. As it was, I coughed a couple of times - from the smoke from the airbag inflation explosion - and that was it. In fact, my sunglasses remained on my face, undisturbed, through the entire event.
I'm definitely a believer in airbags, in most cases. I'm sure there are some corner cases where they might be less useful.
What if the national speed limit was set to something ridiculously low, like 15 mph? You could argue the safety factor - heck, wouldn't we all be safer, from a traffic accident perspective, if we all just avoided driving? - but, realistically, driving any decent distance at 15 mph would SUCK. In contrast, I typically average about 75 mph when I travel across New York state every week to and from work. I've been doing this for over 3 years and have had no accidents - and no speeding tickets, either, thanks to my radar detector. Sure, I'm pushing my luck at a higher speed, but any time I get on the road, I'm pushing my luck. I save about two hours round trip over the state speed limit of 65 mph. To me, that extra time with my family is worth the increased risk.
Speeding tickets are one of those "victimless crimes" that are an affront to any real American. When I cause an accident, throw the book at me. Until then, get out of my way.
Just the usual meme, "People behave like dicks!" Except, word gets back faster. I don't see FB being a "cause" for any divorces: it's just the messenger.
I don't disagree with your point, but we -don't- pay "market price" for the oil. Since Goldman Sachs took advantage of the repeal of Glass-Steagal, we've been paying speculator prices. Look here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_09/b4217086779050.htm. Good read, even if not very tightly woven.
Is it required that open source projects have cute characters? Mozilla's fox and other characters, Linux's Tux, BSD's devil, Freemind's butterfly, etc.
I understand "guerrilla marketing" but to whom are we marketing: prepubescent teenie boppers?
Re:Had a personal experience on this one
on
How Doctors Die
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· Score: 1
Rationalization is easy! IFF it -can- be done, then it must be God's will, right? If I can't fly just by flapping my arms, then it must not be God's will. If I can take advantage of science and keep this body's "lights on" - even if no one's home - then that's God's will.
Taking it to extremes, one could fault our criminal system: if I shoot you, and you die, then it was God's will that you die. Who is the state to prosecute me for, effectively, being the tool of God's will?
Re:Reminds me of people wanting to fix old compute
on
How Doctors Die
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· Score: 3, Insightful
It depends. If you're trying to compile multiple projects simultaneously in Xcode then, yeah, get the new machine. If they're just running Word, IE, etc, that 10 year old machine can still do the job. And why not use an otherwise perfectly serviceable machine? One of my cars - Toyota Rav 4 - is going on 10 years. I have no intentions of replacing it just because it's 10 years old.
Good point, and a big part of why I use credit card - vs. debit card - exclusively for on-line transactions. However, if you're dealing with PayPal, you can still be screwed. I ordered something from a vendor who fell asleep at the wheel: over a month later, and plenty of attempts from me to get things resolved, I called Capital One to dispute the charge. First time I ever disputed a charge. They passed it along to PayPal, saying, "Pretty please, will you cancel this order?" PayPal said, "We'll think about it." It was eventually cancelled and I got the money back, but who the fuck is PayPal that they can play around with us like this and decide whether or not we should get our money back?
I attribute it to one of two things: jealousy or schadenfreude. They're either jealous because they can't afford an Apple product, or they're one of those people that just detest success, like those Yankees haters. It's not the Yankees' fault that they've won a number of World Series over the years.
I agree with you, but they probably see it as, "No harm, no foul." No one's dead, right? No one got shot, right? What are we peons complaining about?
Confiscate first, sort it out later - maybe much later - at the behest of their no-sarcasm-intended corporate masters. Isn't it clear who they're "serving and protecting" in this case? Did any Joe Citizen ask for this type of action? You can't even say, "Think of the children!" because kids certainly aren't being hurt if I upload any old mp3 for them to download. Goatse, maybe, but that isn't this.
Ditto. We got rid of cable service almost two years ago and I don't miss it. I find that when I go somewhere that does have cable, it's embarrassing the so-called plots and acting, and the commercials are obnoxious. We have a big screen TV, but watch DVDs and play minimal Wii. If it's on, it's likely playing music from my wife's Apple TV.
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If you haven't, read some of Thomas Jefferson's writings. It's shameful how far we've turned from our original ideal, embodied in the Constitution - I know, "just a god damned piece of paper!" - but he warned about just such a possibility. 200+ years can dull the senses and purpose of a country. Seems like it might be time to learn our lesson all over again.
Not trying to troll, but where does lying by the police fit into "you can't break the law to enforce it"? Police lie to suspects all the time with no repercussions, though citizens can get into even bigger trouble if they're not truthful - and are found out.
Categorically not true. I was lead developer for over 7 years for a blood chemistry diagnostics tool sold in the US and under FDA regulation. I never once saw an actual FDA auditor nor did I have to produce any code listings for their audits. They wanted to see check-ins and make sure every form was properly signed. Didn't give a whit about the code.
"Qualified experts" still fuck up. Example: I performed a common UI operation to show the parameters for a portion of the configuration on the ready-for-release version of a blood chemistry diagnostic tool that my mega-global-corp sells. Simply requesting that UI screen immediately crashed the machine. Curious, I tried it on another machine in the lab: same results. It's not like I asked it to do 10 complicated things at the same time: I merely asked it to display some information from the database on the UI that's been in place for over 10 years. I didn't write that part of it, but I know the guys that did and I'm not one bit surprised that it crashed. That's not even the dumbest crash I've seen from this software.
I also work for an FDA regulated company - blood chemistry immuno diagnostics device - and we are certainly audited, periodically, but not to the extent that you portray. We have code check-in forms and the auditors look at traceability: can they show that the files checked in were traced back to a particular defect record or change request item, etc. And our check-in forms are simple "Who wrote this change? Who reviewed it? Who's the manager signing off on it." That's about it. No justifications, no explanation of changes - except changes due to issues found during a review - no summaries of potential impact, or anything really substantive.
Oh, you mean Palin's "Real Americans."
It wasn't as "sealed" as you think it was. Read "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman." He was able to come and go to some extent, though there were hassles.
You've been whoosh-served. He's basically saying "Bush == Obama" - or the other way around; doesn't matter. Or: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Before my son wrecked it - unrelated accident on a snowy hill - I used to love driving our Chevy Cavalier above 100 mph. That thing was as smooth as glass. At 110 mph, it felt like I was hovering over the road, not even touching. No control issues at all, even following the wide bends of a river.
It could be what you were driving, though a Cavalier is hardly a top-of-the-line vehicle.
I'll bite: Because common sense isn't all that common.
Not that I agree with it - I don't need or want a big brother telling me what to do - but some people do.
Anecdotal, but true: I smashed into the back end of a stationary vehicle - changed lanes on the highway and didn't see that he was stopped (on the freakin' highway??) until it was too late - and both the airbag and the seatbelt did their jobs. Without the airbag, I probably would've planted my face in the steering wheel, or worse. As it was, I coughed a couple of times - from the smoke from the airbag inflation explosion - and that was it. In fact, my sunglasses remained on my face, undisturbed, through the entire event.
I'm definitely a believer in airbags, in most cases. I'm sure there are some corner cases where they might be less useful.
What if the national speed limit was set to something ridiculously low, like 15 mph? You could argue the safety factor - heck, wouldn't we all be safer, from a traffic accident perspective, if we all just avoided driving? - but, realistically, driving any decent distance at 15 mph would SUCK. In contrast, I typically average about 75 mph when I travel across New York state every week to and from work. I've been doing this for over 3 years and have had no accidents - and no speeding tickets, either, thanks to my radar detector. Sure, I'm pushing my luck at a higher speed, but any time I get on the road, I'm pushing my luck. I save about two hours round trip over the state speed limit of 65 mph. To me, that extra time with my family is worth the increased risk.
Speeding tickets are one of those "victimless crimes" that are an affront to any real American. When I cause an accident, throw the book at me. Until then, get out of my way.
Just the usual meme, "People behave like dicks!" Except, word gets back faster. I don't see FB being a "cause" for any divorces: it's just the messenger.
I don't disagree with your point, but we -don't- pay "market price" for the oil. Since Goldman Sachs took advantage of the repeal of Glass-Steagal, we've been paying speculator prices. Look here: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_09/b4217086779050.htm. Good read, even if not very tightly woven.
Is it required that open source projects have cute characters? Mozilla's fox and other characters, Linux's Tux, BSD's devil, Freemind's butterfly, etc.
I understand "guerrilla marketing" but to whom are we marketing: prepubescent teenie boppers?
Rationalization is easy! IFF it -can- be done, then it must be God's will, right? If I can't fly just by flapping my arms, then it must not be God's will. If I can take advantage of science and keep this body's "lights on" - even if no one's home - then that's God's will.
Taking it to extremes, one could fault our criminal system: if I shoot you, and you die, then it was God's will that you die. Who is the state to prosecute me for, effectively, being the tool of God's will?
It depends. If you're trying to compile multiple projects simultaneously in Xcode then, yeah, get the new machine. If they're just running Word, IE, etc, that 10 year old machine can still do the job. And why not use an otherwise perfectly serviceable machine? One of my cars - Toyota Rav 4 - is going on 10 years. I have no intentions of replacing it just because it's 10 years old.
Good point, and a big part of why I use credit card - vs. debit card - exclusively for on-line transactions. However, if you're dealing with PayPal, you can still be screwed. I ordered something from a vendor who fell asleep at the wheel: over a month later, and plenty of attempts from me to get things resolved, I called Capital One to dispute the charge. First time I ever disputed a charge. They passed it along to PayPal, saying, "Pretty please, will you cancel this order?" PayPal said, "We'll think about it." It was eventually cancelled and I got the money back, but who the fuck is PayPal that they can play around with us like this and decide whether or not we should get our money back?
I attribute it to one of two things: jealousy or schadenfreude. They're either jealous because they can't afford an Apple product, or they're one of those people that just detest success, like those Yankees haters. It's not the Yankees' fault that they've won a number of World Series over the years.
I don't see how this is a "troll". It's no worse than the OP.
Did you mean "lowering" as opposed to "raising"? I served on a school board: we didn't lower taxes once, not that I didn't fight against it.
"For the love of god, Montressor!"
"Yes, for the love of God."
I agree with you, but they probably see it as, "No harm, no foul." No one's dead, right? No one got shot, right? What are we peons complaining about?
Confiscate first, sort it out later - maybe much later - at the behest of their no-sarcasm-intended corporate masters. Isn't it clear who they're "serving and protecting" in this case? Did any Joe Citizen ask for this type of action? You can't even say, "Think of the children!" because kids certainly aren't being hurt if I upload any old mp3 for them to download. Goatse, maybe, but that isn't this.
> barring some kind of officious one world government that doesn't brook dissent
Welcome to America!
Ditto. We got rid of cable service almost two years ago and I don't miss it. I find that when I go somewhere that does have cable, it's embarrassing the so-called plots and acting, and the commercials are obnoxious. We have a big screen TV, but watch DVDs and play minimal Wii. If it's on, it's likely playing music from my wife's Apple TV.