Just as I may have been wrong about his location and whether it is okay to call 911 for non-emergencies there, do not assume that every area of the country wants 911 used for all real-time situations. In the busy metropolitan areas that I have lived in, 911 was reserved for life-threatening emergencies because other calls tend to flood the system; a flooded system means the heart-attack victim's call doesn't get through fast enough. A fleeing thief is not usually a life-threatening situation and can be handled by calling the police (which IMO ought to be a similar easy number to remember like 611 or such). Even without an easy to remember #, it is simple to add the local emergency numbers to your cell phone.
In this post, the guy may have antagonized the gangster into trying to run him down, further endangering others over a measly phone. All he had to do was call and/or discreetly follow and get the license plate #.
Kids, that's a different matter. Getting a kid to call anyone is a big step. I'd wait till they much more mature before worrying about the distinction between police and 911.
Don't be silly. Obviously, as the comments show, different parts of the country treat 911 differently. Regardless, there's a big difference between knocking down someone's door and someone who has handed you your property back and is WALKING AWAY from you BEFORE you've called. This guy's story had the guy walking away, not running him down, before calling. If the caller was truly scared, he wouldn't be following the thief.
I doubt this story is true, but people, please, never call 911 for non-emergencies. A fleeing thief is not an emergency. 911 is for life-threatening emergencies, not revenge.
I collected as many of these as I could until the late 90's when the stories started feeling cheesier (I was in college then, so maybe they were always cheesy). Edward Packard was one of the best!
Anyone else collect these? I have about 30-40 waiting on little ones.
I fully want honest whistleblowing protected too...but that memo was not his attempt to whistleblow. It does seem like his whole case was an attempt to whistleblow, by telling the courts that his superiors don't want bad warrants noticed; but his original memo, the actual subject of the case, did not do such.
I think it'd be wiser to read this case narrowly and not allow it to apply to non-work produced speech.
If you're saying that he was wrongfully fired because he whistleblowed, I'm not disagreeing. However, the Court doesn't decide every issue of a case, it only decides that ones it wants to.
Reading the slip opinion, this case does not seem to be about retaliation for whistleblowing. A government employee was fired because his superiors believed his performance was inadequate, perhaps sparked by an argument over a possibly bad warrant.
All the Court seems to say here is that the memo that Ceballos wrote was not something he wrote as a civilian to "whistleblow," he wrote the memo as part of his job and could indeed be fired for it.
It'd be like getting fired for writing bad software...programmers can't claim their software is a communication protected by the 1st Amendment and then claim they can't be fired for it!
I suspect that one could still write "memos" and send them to journalists as a civilian and have those writings protected.
I'm just not sure this comment is accurate. I was there approx. 4 years ago and they already had McDonalds and other western businesses. Unless poster was there last year and this year to compare the increase over the last year or two, he most likely is exaggerating the influence of the new leader.
I think 26 is old enough to be considered an old school gamer assuming you've been playing since you were 5. I'm 27 and I've been playing since 4 and will take great umbrage at any assertions that I'm not an old school gamer.
Thanks for being a professor. I enjoyed my CS degree getting experience and will always appreciate having the degree. I never cared for the jobs I got, but I'm moving on to law school now. I still think that my CS degree was completely worth it.
"Turn off your headlights and your foglights (driving with them on makes people look like a dorks anyways) and you will have more than enough power restored for the AC."
Safety is more important than fashion. I'd rather see people drive with their lights on all the time than never (as they most often do).
I like using the Table PC, but it's still as heavy and awkward to carry as two bricks.
A paper computer...I've always assumed that's what we're aiming for. Thin, foldable, able to fit easily in one's pocket. A paper computer that was able to shrink to smaller than today's pdas with more functionality.
As if we needed further proof that the USPTO was sleeping on the job. Someone just took their red stamp, picked up a stack of patent applictions on their desk, stamped each one while muttering about lawyers, and then snuck out the back door to the nearby burlesque.
I think it does make a difference. When they treat you as a human being who has simply made an error in judgement rather than a conniving, remorseless thief, it goes a long way towards creating an eventual understanding and/or compromise.
I'd say that with games, physics and graphics were together at first.
You take pac man over to that dot and that dot is gone. For a while, graphics and physics diverged. You could see something in a game but never interact with it. It wasn't really there, such as the art work in most 2d side scrollers. Or the coordinates for your foot weren't the same as you saw, such as many 3d games.
I think we're seeing the possibility of bringing those two parts back together. I hope so honestly. Physics is the core of the gameplay. Graphics are just your visual avenue to that gameplay.
What was wrong with the 2600 port? The port was the first game I played and I didn't see anything wrong with it. I didn't have quarters to spend in the arcade. How on earth could you screw up a port that simple?
Exactly what was wrong with Pac-Man Jr besides it's release timing?
He never once says stealing is okay. He says he isn't going to do anything about it until the complaining side stops stealing first. Nothing invalid about his position. The law does not force him to do the enforcing.
I care because every dollar wasted on inferior software is a dollar not going to a more important resource, such as that open source software programmer, a secretary's salary, or a new greenhouse.
I care because I see students being required to buy software they don't want or need in order to comply with this or that rule. The more people use Microsoft in my current organization, the more everyone else is required to use it too.
Microsoft spends too much time attempting to wipe out the competition with incompatibilities instead of trying to outdo the competition.
I don't know where either of you have been, but the crude sexism starts as soon as men learn sex.
All fields, if you get a group of men around who think they won't be overheard by a woman they care about, participate in making and laughing at these kinds of jokes. The only difference is that geeks have the anonymity of the internet to display it more boldly.
Of course, not all men make these jokes, just as some women make these jokes. It all depends on the person, his peers, his environment.
The Internet is already manipulated and controlled by those who own its infrastructure.
Who would you rather control it, corporations or governing bodies? Which do you feel you have more control of?
If you live in America and don't hold the view that our government is no longer elected by the people, than why do you believe the Internet can't be safely controlled by a governing body that we have a huge influence over?
If you live in America and don't believe your government is elected by the people, than surely you believe it's held by a small minority who also control the corporations. Assuming that, don't you believe that the Internet is already controlled by those same people anyway?
As a commuting cyclist, I come across so many headphoned and/or deaf pedestrians that I've just about given up on any kind of audible warning signal. I just make sure I'm careful and slow down when approaching pedestrians, even the ones in the bicycle lane. The key thing to remember is safety for all involved, the cars, the pedestrians, and the cyclists. If all of them take time to consider each other and follow the rules, there aren't many problems.
Slashdot Mirror
Just as I may have been wrong about his location and whether it is okay to call 911 for non-emergencies there, do not assume that every area of the country wants 911 used for all real-time situations. In the busy metropolitan areas that I have lived in, 911 was reserved for life-threatening emergencies because other calls tend to flood the system; a flooded system means the heart-attack victim's call doesn't get through fast enough. A fleeing thief is not usually a life-threatening situation and can be handled by calling the police (which IMO ought to be a similar easy number to remember like 611 or such).
Even without an easy to remember #, it is simple to add the local emergency numbers to your cell phone.
In this post, the guy may have antagonized the gangster into trying to run him down, further endangering others over a measly phone. All he had to do was call and/or discreetly follow and get the license plate #.
Kids, that's a different matter. Getting a kid to call anyone is a big step. I'd wait till they much more mature before worrying about the distinction between police and 911.
There is a difference between "life" and "stuff". Stuff can be replaced.
Don't be silly. Obviously, as the comments show, different parts of the country treat 911 differently. Regardless, there's a big difference between knocking down someone's door and someone who has handed you your property back and is WALKING AWAY from you BEFORE you've called. This guy's story had the guy walking away, not running him down, before calling. If the caller was truly scared, he wouldn't be following the thief.
I doubt this story is true, but people, please, never call 911 for non-emergencies. A fleeing thief is not an emergency. 911 is for life-threatening emergencies, not revenge.
I collected as many of these as I could until the late 90's when the stories started feeling cheesier (I was in college then, so maybe they were always cheesy). Edward Packard was one of the best! Anyone else collect these? I have about 30-40 waiting on little ones.
I fully want honest whistleblowing protected too...but that memo was not his attempt to whistleblow. It does seem like his whole case was an attempt to whistleblow, by telling the courts that his superiors don't want bad warrants noticed; but his original memo, the actual subject of the case, did not do such.
I think it'd be wiser to read this case narrowly and not allow it to apply to non-work produced speech.
If you're saying that he was wrongfully fired because he whistleblowed, I'm not disagreeing. However, the Court doesn't decide every issue of a case, it only decides that ones it wants to.
Reading the slip opinion, this case does not seem to be about retaliation for whistleblowing. A government employee was fired because his superiors believed his performance was inadequate, perhaps sparked by an argument over a possibly bad warrant.
All the Court seems to say here is that the memo that Ceballos wrote was not something he wrote as a civilian to "whistleblow," he wrote the memo as part of his job and could indeed be fired for it.
It'd be like getting fired for writing bad software...programmers can't claim their software is a communication protected by the 1st Amendment and then claim they can't be fired for it!
I suspect that one could still write "memos" and send them to journalists as a civilian and have those writings protected.
I'm just not sure this comment is accurate. I was there approx. 4 years ago and they already had McDonalds and other western businesses. Unless poster was there last year and this year to compare the increase over the last year or two, he most likely is exaggerating the influence of the new leader.
I think 26 is old enough to be considered an old school gamer assuming you've been playing since you were 5. I'm 27 and I've been playing since 4 and will take great umbrage at any assertions that I'm not an old school gamer.
Thanks for being a professor. I enjoyed my CS degree getting experience and will always appreciate having the degree. I never cared for the jobs I got, but I'm moving on to law school now. I still think that my CS degree was completely worth it.
Worked for me! Now I just worry about the day that they'll open the cell phone lists up to the telemarketers.
I like using the Table PC, but it's still as heavy and awkward to carry as two bricks.
A paper computer...I've always assumed that's what we're aiming for. Thin, foldable, able to fit easily in one's pocket. A paper computer that was able to shrink to smaller than today's pdas with more functionality.
I wish the answers to those questions ('cept for the last one) were "Yes."
As if we needed further proof that the USPTO was sleeping on the job.
Someone just took their red stamp,
picked up a stack of patent applictions on their desk,
stamped each one while muttering about lawyers,
and then snuck out the back door to the nearby burlesque.
I use my palm. I reserve my arm for artwork.
I think it does make a difference. When they treat you as a human being who has simply made an error in judgement rather than a conniving, remorseless thief, it goes a long way towards creating an eventual understanding and/or compromise.
I'd say that with games, physics and graphics were together at first.
You take pac man over to that dot and that dot is gone. For a while, graphics and physics diverged. You could see something in a game but never interact with it. It wasn't really there, such as the art work in most 2d side scrollers. Or the coordinates for your foot weren't the same as you saw, such as many 3d games.
I think we're seeing the possibility of bringing those two parts back together. I hope so honestly. Physics is the core of the gameplay. Graphics are just your visual avenue to that gameplay.
What was wrong with the 2600 port? The port was the first game I played and I didn't see anything wrong with it. I didn't have quarters to spend in the arcade. How on earth could you screw up a port that simple? Exactly what was wrong with Pac-Man Jr besides it's release timing?
He never once says stealing is okay. He says he isn't going to do anything about it until the complaining side stops stealing first. Nothing invalid about his position. The law does not force him to do the enforcing.
I care because every dollar wasted on inferior software is a dollar not going to a more important resource, such as that open source software programmer, a secretary's salary, or a new greenhouse. I care because I see students being required to buy software they don't want or need in order to comply with this or that rule. The more people use Microsoft in my current organization, the more everyone else is required to use it too. Microsoft spends too much time attempting to wipe out the competition with incompatibilities instead of trying to outdo the competition.
I don't know where either of you have been, but the crude sexism starts as soon as men learn sex.
All fields, if you get a group of men around who think they won't be overheard by a woman they care about, participate in making and laughing at these kinds of jokes. The only difference is that geeks have the anonymity of the internet to display it more boldly.
Of course, not all men make these jokes, just as some women make these jokes. It all depends on the person, his peers, his environment.
The Internet is already manipulated and controlled by those who own its infrastructure.
Who would you rather control it, corporations or governing bodies? Which do you feel you have more control of?
If you live in America and don't hold the view that our government is no longer elected by the people, than why do you believe the Internet can't be safely controlled by a governing body that we have a huge influence over?
If you live in America and don't believe your government is elected by the people, than surely you believe it's held by a small minority who also control the corporations. Assuming that, don't you believe that the Internet is already controlled by those same people anyway?
Totally agree, mod this up some more...
As a commuting cyclist, I come across so many headphoned and/or deaf pedestrians that I've just about given up on any kind of audible warning signal. I just make sure I'm careful and slow down when approaching pedestrians, even the ones in the bicycle lane. The key thing to remember is safety for all involved, the cars, the pedestrians, and the cyclists. If all of them take time to consider each other and follow the rules, there aren't many problems.