And I don't want to hear (or read) that "If you have nothing to hide, then it's not a problem" crap. An eye over my shoulder, even if for no other reason than to watch what I'm doing, is very disconcerting.
Especially when that eye is attached to an error-prone system that treats everyone it identifies as criminals. The Bill of Rights is supposed to guarantee that we are innocent until proven guilty, but cops and employers treat individuals the opposite. Not only is Big Brother a mean bastard, but he is also an idiot. If law enforcement has power that exceeds their competency to use it properly, they are as children with bulldozers; no matter how good their intentions, innocent people are going to get hurt. This incident had mild consequences, but it shows that the system is being used recklessly.
The growing focus on computer learning is, to me, a symptom of the "children are adults in training" attitude.
Yeah, but isn't that what we want? I mean, a society full of thoughtful, creative adults would seriously screw with the system. If the status quo is to be maintained, we must train children for boring desk jobs by putting them through assembly-line education where one size fits all and having an imagination is disruptive behavior. If children are allowed to be children, they might grow up into adults, instead of cattle. Cattle are much, much, easier to manage.
Out of curiosity I checked whitehouse.com. If anyone is working the evening shift like me, don't go there from work unless your employer has an very lax internet use policy. In other words it's one of those "Mature Audiences" sites. Just so ya know.
Text-based Ads or Google's fantastic AdWords are the way forward, I feel
I agree with this wholeheartedly because, as a consumer, the only ads that interest me are the ones that advertise a product that I think I could use. Google's targeted advertising scheme is excellent in this regard. It doesn't matter how big or flashy the ad is, if it's an ad for donkey shaving, it won't get my attention (I have no donkeys). On the other hand, the most inobtrusive ad gets my attention right away if it has in the text something that makes me think, "Hey, I could use that." Obnoxious ads are certainly less effective at this because they get tuned out immediately.
I disagree. In the US as well as other countries, the market is always free due to basic economic principles. If the gov'ment or the evil corporations (THEM, inc.) interfere too much with our consumerism, another entity such as (un)organized crime or free-thinking anarchists step in to provide an alternative. The open source movement itself is an example of this principle. Same with the black market, e. g., government outlaws drugs, thereby making them more expensive, so it is more profitable to get into the business. Hence more people get involved and our addicts are happy again. If Yahoo becomes more like AOL/MSN and less like Google, their users who liked the openness will just go to other search engines like Google, Raging, or possibly new ones that come into existence for just this purpose. Every demand eventually results in a supply, and the better the technology the suppliers and consumers have, the faster this demand is met. So as much as corporations try to manipulate the public, if the consumers don't get what they need/want, they will look elsewhere.
I cannot agree with the racism charge here. According to the Bible, angels are a distinct class of beings from humans and have no racial component to their identity. But back on topic, I can't wait to get my hands on the game; the fact that one gets to choose either good or evil means that one can see both sides of the good/evil conflict. Besides, it's a *game*, not an exercise in spirituality. I hope they follow suit with doom and make it so users can make their own patches. Then I'll make a Hindu patch so I can play a vindictive demigod and make the infidel masses cower before my might!
Exactly. I don't believe that this software is being implemented in the interest of students, school administrators are trying to cover their own asses politically. If administrators were actually concerned about students, they wouldn't be focusing on trying to weed out the potentially violent student, they would be trying to improve the school environment so that it is less likely to make Johnny go insane. Why are there so many school shootings as opposed to other public places? If it's just density of targets the gunman is concerned with, then a mall or sporting event would be a better place to open fire then in a school. It would then follow that there is something about the school environment that is making it a focal point for the rage of the chronically disaffected. Regardless of how accurate the software is, it only has the power to make school more of a hostile, alienating environment. Whether it has the ability to reduce the symptoms remains to be seen, but it can only exacerbate the cause of the problem.
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And I don't want to hear (or read) that "If you have nothing to hide, then it's not a problem" crap. An eye over my shoulder, even if for no other reason than to watch what I'm doing, is very disconcerting.
Especially when that eye is attached to an error-prone system that treats everyone it identifies as criminals. The Bill of Rights is supposed to guarantee that we are innocent until proven guilty, but cops and employers treat individuals the opposite. Not only is Big Brother a mean bastard, but he is also an idiot. If law enforcement has power that exceeds their competency to use it properly, they are as children with bulldozers; no matter how good their intentions, innocent people are going to get hurt. This incident had mild consequences, but it shows that the system is being used recklessly.Yeah, but isn't that what we want? I mean, a society full of thoughtful, creative adults would seriously screw with the system. If the status quo is to be maintained, we must train children for boring desk jobs by putting them through assembly-line education where one size fits all and having an imagination is disruptive behavior. If children are allowed to be children, they might grow up into adults, instead of cattle. Cattle are much, much, easier to manage.
Out of curiosity I checked whitehouse.com. If anyone is working the evening shift like me, don't go there from work unless your employer has an very lax internet use policy. In other words it's one of those "Mature Audiences" sites. Just so ya know.
Text-based Ads or Google's fantastic AdWords are the way forward, I feel
I agree with this wholeheartedly because, as a consumer, the only ads that interest me are the ones that advertise a product that I think I could use. Google's targeted advertising scheme is excellent in this regard. It doesn't matter how big or flashy the ad is, if it's an ad for donkey shaving, it won't get my attention (I have no donkeys). On the other hand, the most inobtrusive ad gets my attention right away if it has in the text something that makes me think, "Hey, I could use that." Obnoxious ads are certainly less effective at this because they get tuned out immediately.
Or you could point some antenna's (antennae?) at your neighbors and make their locally licensed dishwasher think it was sent to Iraq...
I disagree. In the US as well as other countries, the market is always free due to basic economic principles. If the gov'ment or the evil corporations (THEM, inc.) interfere too much with our consumerism, another entity such as (un)organized crime or free-thinking anarchists step in to provide an alternative. The open source movement itself is an example of this principle. Same with the black market, e. g., government outlaws drugs, thereby making them more expensive, so it is more profitable to get into the business. Hence more people get involved and our addicts are happy again. If Yahoo becomes more like AOL/MSN and less like Google, their users who liked the openness will just go to other search engines like Google, Raging, or possibly new ones that come into existence for just this purpose. Every demand eventually results in a supply, and the better the technology the suppliers and consumers have, the faster this demand is met. So as much as corporations try to manipulate the public, if the consumers don't get what they need/want, they will look elsewhere.
I cannot agree with the racism charge here. According to the Bible, angels are a distinct class of beings from humans and have no racial component to their identity.
But back on topic, I can't wait to get my hands on the game; the fact that one gets to choose either good or evil means that one can see both sides of the good/evil conflict. Besides, it's a *game*, not an exercise in spirituality. I hope they follow suit with doom and make it so users can make their own patches. Then I'll make a Hindu patch so I can play a vindictive demigod and make the infidel masses cower before my might!
Exactly. I don't believe that this software is being implemented in the interest of students, school administrators are trying to cover their own asses politically. If administrators were actually concerned about students, they wouldn't be focusing on trying to weed out the potentially violent student, they would be trying to improve the school environment so that it is less likely to make Johnny go insane. Why are there so many school shootings as opposed to other public places? If it's just density of targets the gunman is concerned with, then a mall or sporting event would be a better place to open fire then in a school. It would then follow that there is something about the school environment that is making it a focal point for the rage of the chronically disaffected. Regardless of how accurate the software is, it only has the power to make school more of a hostile, alienating environment. Whether it has the ability to reduce the symptoms remains to be seen, but it can only exacerbate the cause of the problem.