Wouldn't it make more sense to use Australia's actual population pyramid and growth rate, rather than that silly graphic? Australia's population growth rate is 1.4% and it's expected to fall below zero. It's not your neo-Malthusian doomsday scenario.
I understand it's a joke, but it seems out of place. The kind of geekyness portrayed in xkcd and its forums isn't the stereotypical slashdot, basement-dwelling kind.
Some people just like to listen to music. If you're gonna make overreaching generalizations, at least choose the correct audience (I bet people on Slashdot are more likely to be introspective)
Doesn't this read more like an item that one would have expected to read - historically - by someone concerned about a visit to the Soviet Union, East Germany or Argentina?
Regardless of the truth in that statement, I never heard of Argentina being used as an example of an intrusive country. The checks they do at customs are laughable.
What would be the point? I can't think of any products IBM sells that a slashdot reader would want to buy. Thus, no commercial benefit in bashing IBM here.
the company isn't accountable to anyone--you can't vote them out!
You can't vote out public companies or state-hired engineers either. You vote out the elected officials who hired them (or who are the boss of the boss of the guy that hired them)
I'm not going out of my way to protect children, just not laughing at them getting kidnapped and cut open to remove the crap inside them.
Re:Every country has a different threshold
on
China Blocks iTunes
·
· Score: 1
Sure they were brutal and did horrible stuff, but dictatorship is a modern term for a time when democracy is widespread. Analyzing medieval governments like they were in the 20th century isn't the way to go. All scientific and cultural advancement before democracy happened in shitty governments (dictatorships if you will)
Re:Every country has a different threshold
on
China Blocks iTunes
·
· Score: 1
He specifically said Arab dictatorships, those examples thousands of years old don't apply. Sure, they weren't democratic back then, but the term dictatorship doesn't apply either. Something changed between their golden age and their current crappy situation (amongst other things, crusades and European and North American actions)
Re:Every country has a different threshold
on
China Blocks iTunes
·
· Score: 1
Pathetic, as are all moral relativists.
Wait, so if he were saying that banning gun ownership is the only correct decision, you'd be OK with it (as he would be an absolutist)?
Safe places are made by the bad guys not knowing when they'll not be coming home
Or by a combination of efficient police and scarcity of bad guys
It is also made by people learning NOT to get into a car with or taking candy from strangers
Teaching kids not to get a gun pointed at their head is slightly harder
lets see which one of us is more likely to make it home. Me with my training and proper mindset, or you with your chip
Frankly, I believe your "proper mindset" won't stop you from getting kidnapped, and in many situations resistance can be deadly. You're assuming kidnappers show up in a situation where you have a chance to act. If you get a gun pointed at your head then playing cowboy gets you killed. Neither solution is great, some kidnapped people are killed (a minority), but if you pull a gun your odds are even worse. You've got your armed neighbourhood alright, but I don't understand what solution you advocate for these people, save moving near your house. And kidnappings to send a message are extremely rare, unless you deal with the mob somehow
Its you city slickers that need protection by others. Out here, you provide your own, or you don't go home
Well, that's the great thing about living in a city and not having to provide your own bread and security
If you need to be chipped like property to be "safe" or to have your kids be safe, i just hope you don't complain when you're treated like property
What exactly are you saying, that people shouldn't be allowed to put on these things, or that their kidnapping, assault, murder, etc. should become legal as soon as they do? Or just that criminals have the moral right to do to them whatever they want?
I will be among those who respects your decision and never lifts a finger to help you
What's your criteria for helping people, asking them if they have a "personal tracking device" (chip, cellphone, computer) or if they come from the city?
Now you tell me what to do about the government of my "nice safe haven" (Argentina) making ownership of guns increasingly difficult, almost impossible if you're not in private security. Or the tiny detail that I'm a minor.
Yeah, well in Argentina the president we had around 1994 (Carlos Menem) announced we would be traveling to Japan through the stratosphere... guess if that's true.
Slashdot Mirror
Wouldn't it make more sense to use Australia's actual population pyramid and growth rate, rather than that silly graphic? Australia's population growth rate is 1.4% and it's expected to fall below zero. It's not your neo-Malthusian doomsday scenario.
I understand it's a joke, but it seems out of place. The kind of geekyness portrayed in xkcd and its forums isn't the stereotypical slashdot, basement-dwelling kind.
Some people just like to listen to music. If you're gonna make overreaching generalizations, at least choose the correct audience (I bet people on Slashdot are more likely to be introspective)
Doesn't this read more like an item that one would have expected to read - historically - by someone concerned about a visit to the Soviet Union, East Germany or Argentina?
Regardless of the truth in that statement, I never heard of Argentina being used as an example of an intrusive country. The checks they do at customs are laughable.
only the dead can be absolutely certain of their future
Don't be so sure
Even if there is some randomness, we can still try to predict short-term events (this week's forecast)
I don't know about yeasts used for brewing, but the kind used for making bread metabolize sucrose just fine.
What would be the point? I can't think of any products IBM sells that a slashdot reader would want to buy. Thus, no commercial benefit in bashing IBM here.
Like others pointed out, China has more computers, so their per-PC rate is lower.
They must expect to find something interesting there. Besides, the road to the crater will also have interesting things to study.
Shh. This is meant to scare management into cutting them some slack
Make that 1000m/s... >_>
Have you taken into account you have to lose around 1000km/s of orbital speed, so that it doesn't simply orbit the Earth?
the company isn't accountable to anyone--you can't vote them out!
You can't vote out public companies or state-hired engineers either. You vote out the elected officials who hired them (or who are the boss of the boss of the guy that hired them)
That'd explain the whole extinction issue
I'm not going out of my way to protect children, just not laughing at them getting kidnapped and cut open to remove the crap inside them.
Sure they were brutal and did horrible stuff, but dictatorship is a modern term for a time when democracy is widespread. Analyzing medieval governments like they were in the 20th century isn't the way to go. All scientific and cultural advancement before democracy happened in shitty governments (dictatorships if you will)
He specifically said Arab dictatorships, those examples thousands of years old don't apply. Sure, they weren't democratic back then, but the term dictatorship doesn't apply either. Something changed between their golden age and their current crappy situation (amongst other things, crusades and European and North American actions)
Pathetic, as are all moral relativists.
Wait, so if he were saying that banning gun ownership is the only correct decision, you'd be OK with it (as he would be an absolutist)?
What the other guy said, if the bread weren't worth more to you than the money it costs, you wouldn't be buying it. Thus you are profiting.
Safe places are made by the bad guys not knowing when they'll not be coming home
Or by a combination of efficient police and scarcity of bad guys
It is also made by people learning NOT to get into a car with or taking candy from strangers
Teaching kids not to get a gun pointed at their head is slightly harder
lets see which one of us is more likely to make it home. Me with my training and proper mindset, or you with your chip
Frankly, I believe your "proper mindset" won't stop you from getting kidnapped, and in many situations resistance can be deadly. You're assuming kidnappers show up in a situation where you have a chance to act. If you get a gun pointed at your head then playing cowboy gets you killed. Neither solution is great, some kidnapped people are killed (a minority), but if you pull a gun your odds are even worse. You've got your armed neighbourhood alright, but I don't understand what solution you advocate for these people, save moving near your house. And kidnappings to send a message are extremely rare, unless you deal with the mob somehow
Its you city slickers that need protection by others. Out here, you provide your own, or you don't go home
Well, that's the great thing about living in a city and not having to provide your own bread and security
If you need to be chipped like property to be "safe" or to have your kids be safe, i just hope you don't complain when you're treated like property
What exactly are you saying, that people shouldn't be allowed to put on these things, or that their kidnapping, assault, murder, etc. should become legal as soon as they do? Or just that criminals have the moral right to do to them whatever they want?
I will be among those who respects your decision and never lifts a finger to help you
What's your criteria for helping people, asking them if they have a "personal tracking device" (chip, cellphone, computer) or if they come from the city?
Now you tell me what to do about the government of my "nice safe haven" (Argentina) making ownership of guns increasingly difficult, almost impossible if you're not in private security. Or the tiny detail that I'm a minor.
Except gangs who kidnap people aren't poor victims of social inequality (you should be looking at muggings and such)
Yeah, kids getting implants ripped off is just hilarious. That's what they get for not carrying.
Yeah, I thought someone had stuck a R/C glider onto the roof
Yeah, well in Argentina the president we had around 1994 (Carlos Menem) announced we would be traveling to Japan through the stratosphere... guess if that's true.