The truly sad thing is, that some of the genetic variation *already* exists to make real even the most outrageous of Movie/TV sci fi.
I'm sure a lot of people thought of George Pal's "Time Machine" from four decades past. Remember those Morlocks?
With the exception of the face, the most prominent of those traits can be found today.
Albinism already exists, and has for some time. Dwarves already exist. But less known is the fact that some other folks can be cursed by being allergic to light. Truly, and violently allergic, from birth. They must hide from light, wear protective covering at all times. And their skin is bloated, severely distorted, because of it's inevitable exposure to light. I never knew this condition existed, until I saw coverage, and an interview, on one of the morning news programs.
All kinds of legacies hide within genes. Advantages and curses, depending on circumstance. Pretty much anything can happen. Especially if certain groups or cliques only find solace, safety, acceptance, eventually mating, among those most like themselves. If some war or natural disaster pushes inbreeding even further, you really never know.
...this really shouldn't be too hard to imagine. Let me spell it out. Listening?
Using some of my savings during a terrible stretch of unemployment in 2001, I got a PS2 and Dreamcast to cheer me up during dark times. Bought some games used. I didn't find work in time to get an Xbox. In tears, I sold the PS2, all games and DVD's to fund my exodus from New York in 2002.
Are ya happy now, lad? Capice?
I'd forgotten "Homeworld."
The best game demo I'd ever seen...until I finally finished the monster download (56K modem) for the "Freespace II Demo. "
Stunned, captivated, blown away, I bought Freespace (II and I.) Fully occupied, I never got around to buying the two Homeworld games. By the time I realized it could be found for cheap, it was out of print.
Ya know, now that I think of it, I haven't seen anything to match Freepsace 2 within genre. I'd always wished for a port or re-imagining to PS2...but time ran out again.
For me, it would be favorite games. They may or may not have sold. They may or may not be influential. And my list would need to be longer. Five is meaningless, because it would leave out games I played for years, but aren't readily available.
In no particular order -> the core:
"Devil May Cry"
"Onimusha Warlords"
"God Of War"
"Metal Gear Solid II:Sons Of Liberty"
"Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption" (PC)
Honorable Mention to "Zone of The Enders" (an unexpected treasure) and the Dreamcast classic, "Soul Calibur" (which revived my interest is consoles after many years.)
But then, there are certain titles I loved in my youth, such as "Wizard of Wor" (arcade), "Punch Out"(arcade), and the incomparable "Spy VS Spy" I and II (C64)
I couldn't always be concerned with sales totals or the best reviews. Growing up in the inner city, there is NO WAY in hell I'd ever purchase or play a "Grand Theft Auto" game. I never played a "Halo" game (couldn't afford any incarnation of the Xbox) I liked "Unreal Tourmanent" (especially 2004) much more than any "Doom" or "Quake" title. Sports? For a long time, it was "NFL2K"(x), never "Madden" (x) It was "EA Baseball 2005", not the bug-ridden SEGA garbage. Finally, I despised "Resident Evil", (having once _returned_ "Code:Veronica" after an hour of play.)
Retail is a last resort for some. A way to avoid homelessness or starvation. One year ago, I had 2 retailers pull that shit on me. One of them blocked me as a REHIRE for that excuse. Because I was uniquely qualified for both roles, and needed the money badly, I will never forgive those companies. As long as I live. Does that mean I'll STEAL from them? No. Even better, their own daily incompetence has led to savaged reputation, closings across the region, and rampant thefts...by those folks hired INSTEAD OF ME.
Here's a hint for you would-be moguls out there. Don't bring Vader into the cave with you. False accusations turn the upstanding into far worse enemies. Turn way talent via claims of future theft, and you may find the accused taking scores of customers with them.
Last year several potential employers tried that line on me.
And it fills me with rage. I've led a viciously moral life. I demand all my life to be considered by my actions and words. I resent any assumption about my future conduct that has no direct precedent. I never cheated on any tests, never stole. I've never even been intoxicated. Yet some fool is going to presume that I might take some bribe?
For quite some time, I actually carry my printed credit report WITH my resume. I know EXACTLY what I owe, and to whom. That's why I can't forgive these notions of "responsiblity." Some people want desperately to see "looters" or corrupt bribe-takers, so they convict you of the sins committed in their little minds.
Bribes aren't what's needed. What is needed? The constant income of a worthy, skilled position. $25/hour, 40 hours week can clear away quite a few things, if you have it for long enough. At 0/hour, no hours/week, it takes somewhat longer.
Odd. Today's world may actually evolve into one more bleak that the one depicted in "Minority Report."
And I shudder to think how this kind of thinking can seep into institutions.
I guess you'd like to see firemen go into a burning building, well-prepared with a printed list of the local credit "screw-ups." The folks above a certain credit score get pulled out first. Right? Sure, when the hurricane hits, identify those precincts with higher credit standing, and only save those families. Why are those colored folk "looting?" Perhaps just prior to the UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCE OF NATURAL DISEASTER, they could not find work to pay their bills(because they weren't hired because of late/unpaid bills that they couldn't repay, because they weren't because of late/unpaid bills, because...)
Wrong, sir.
Try to meet people to break your assertions, worldview, and convictions. Get out of the blamepolitik of scapegoating. Try to envision *all* the reasons for poor credit before taking your case to the internet. Before you flex your muscles, try to come up with ways credit can be repaired...without the job income to repair it.
Wow. I didn't think I'd see this kind of thought outside fuckedcompany or Netslaves. It's a shame, really.
Companies that pull this deserve the worst possible fate. And I condemn them, in no uncertain terms. When I'm reminded of these practices, I am filled with nothing but hate. Days I had to miss meals while the same position goes unfilled. All the while remembering "failing some credit check." If an employer can't understand mitigating circumstance, I've no use for them. I tell them my credit situation upfront. If it causes some hassle, I lterally tell them to return to hell. I recall dozens of jobs that would have helped me clear my name...all those doors closed to me. It fills me with a hate that pours out of my skin in the darkness. You don't get those years back.
You cannot improve your credit in the absence of income.
Yes, I'm going to repeat this. You _cannot_ improve your credit in the absence of income.
One source of poor credit is defaulted student loans. Very easy to do, if you happen to have an extended period of unemployment. And all kind of folks, some with skills and experience greater than my own, have endured these. Guess what? Many, many people last found decent, fair-paying tech work in 2001. Some of them were in New York. How many people reading these posts actually had to try to find a job, in New York, during the fall of 2001? Can't you envision some reason that folks might have had some...difficulty during those times?
What if you have unforseen medical expenses? If you are injured as the result of the actions of the state (a collapsed tunnel, failed elevator, no-fault injury via bus or train) your bill may go into collection why the state dodges it's duty, and you scramble for a laywer. Heaven help you if this happens during a job search.
This kind of thinking is naive at best, destructive and incompetent at worst. Vicious cycles need only fools to perpetuate it. If everyone for which you interview pulls this crap, you never find any job high enough to pay any bill of substance. If your previous employers cheat you out of pay, or reduced your hours, and you resign in anger, your credit score can't improve.
At some point, it needs to be about skills, potential, and ability to integrate into a given job setting. Nothing more, nothing less. Ever. Life is a grim struggle. Attitudes like this don't lift burdens, or help society. They are just covers and excuses for some other discrimination.
I have nothing but contempt for those who punish you for basically not being able to find work.There are so many non-merit factors that creep in. Non-merit factors...like this. There is only so much for which you can prepare or control. All we see are repeats of the same attribution errors. The same undeciplined prejudice. Gut feelings and neurotic visions of "red-flags". Little humanity. And no logic.
When today you hear the stories of courage and bravery in the country, things like *this* can drag you down, and make you remember a different America. One indolent of mind, parochial, xenophobic, and perpetually negligent of hire.
"There is despair, Mr. President, in faces you never see, in the places you never visit in your shining city."
-- Mario Cuomo (1984)
"Poke" ??
*shaking head in disgust.* You should be smacked.
load "*",8,1.
That terrible 1541 drive that slipped out of alignment during a strong breeze.
Sprite graphics.
My first music compositions coming not from staved paper, but from screens of data statements, read during a loop. Setting the attack, sustain, decay, and release per note, via nesting.
It's all coming back to me. My word, Time waits for no one.
This year's US college freshman age cohort will have been _born_ *long after that.*
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o.
Gentoo 2004.3 profile, kernel 2.6.12.5, NVIDIA driver 8178, ancient Geforce2 MX 400 card, XP1800 system.
But this "Google Earth" works quite nicely, and without incident so far.
WOW.
One of the tragedies in finding work is that people regress into just that. They won't hire anyone they don't know. They won't take a damned chance. How do you maintain "skill" if no one will hire folks they don't know? Then trained folks sit starving in the streets for 9 months, not using or gaining your proof of skill.
You don't really know what people can do until you give them a damned chance. It is very easy to be cut off. Companies die, people die or move on. It is quite possible that no one can, or will, speak for you. Except yourself. People don't apply for shit they can't do. It's a myth. I hate to say it. It costs time and money to check the company, consider the role, set up and travel to interviews. People looking to break in, or break back in, don't have it to waste.
I can't understand the backlash against folks who tried to gain an edge in finding work. It's all about finding a job. If you're going to ignore the studies people do, then how the hell can they win a job in a way other than knowing the folks in your circle?
Often, job descriptions are fantastic, absurd laundry lists of traits for 3 or four specialties crammed into one. But give the candidates credit for knowing their correct path. There are people who want no part of a managerial position, and will leave the instant the job at hand becomes one. There are others who only want to run things, and are tired of the server rooms, the front lines, and the details. Hires have acceptable loss and compromise. Maybe hire for pieces instead waiting for the miracle all-in-one who will save your company. Live with the hiring decisions you make.
Part of your responsibility as a hiring authority is to select candidates. Not narcissistic clones of Self, but *candidates* They have different things to bring. Even if the "skills" you seek are there, they may clash completely with your culture, temperament, ethos. But there's no frozen food approach, no quick path or sure predictor. You actually have to try the candidate out. For better or worse.
Perhaps, just perhaps, folks seek certifications because they want some way into a job. In this age of rejection based on non-merit factor after non-merit factor. Too old. Poor credit. Quit "too many jobs." You might have some trouble getting those "skills" not provided by a cert if you never get any work to start things rolling.
A job search succeeds on momentum. But there has to be a start. A push. A CHANCE.
I don't like this invite-only concept.
If you don't happen to know anyone who uses gmail, but you just want to test the new technology, you're left out.
To some, it might seem sketchy, begging for invites on a public board.
Those wishing to try out the Yahoo Messenger on Linux, need no such invite.
So folks end up trying that, and staying with it. Because the initial experience didn't remind them of high-school cliques. I don't know if Google gains mindshare by that scenario.
Slashdot Mirror
The truly sad thing is, that some of the genetic variation *already* exists to make real even the most outrageous of Movie/TV sci fi. I'm sure a lot of people thought of George Pal's "Time Machine" from four decades past. Remember those Morlocks? With the exception of the face, the most prominent of those traits can be found today. Albinism already exists, and has for some time. Dwarves already exist. But less known is the fact that some other folks can be cursed by being allergic to light. Truly, and violently allergic, from birth. They must hide from light, wear protective covering at all times. And their skin is bloated, severely distorted, because of it's inevitable exposure to light. I never knew this condition existed, until I saw coverage, and an interview, on one of the morning news programs. All kinds of legacies hide within genes. Advantages and curses, depending on circumstance. Pretty much anything can happen. Especially if certain groups or cliques only find solace, safety, acceptance, eventually mating, among those most like themselves. If some war or natural disaster pushes inbreeding even further, you really never know.
- "Archon I"
- "Archon II"
- "Spy VS Spy I"
- "Spy VS Spy II" (Island Caper)
- "Mail Order Monsters"
- "Miner 2049er"
- "Skyfox"
- "Rescue On Fractalus"
So many memories......this really shouldn't be too hard to imagine. Let me spell it out. Listening? Using some of my savings during a terrible stretch of unemployment in 2001, I got a PS2 and Dreamcast to cheer me up during dark times. Bought some games used. I didn't find work in time to get an Xbox. In tears, I sold the PS2, all games and DVD's to fund my exodus from New York in 2002. Are ya happy now, lad? Capice?
Dude.
The *real* list includes both "Congo Bongo" and "Zaxxon." You know it, and I know it.
*smile*
I'd forgotten "Homeworld." The best game demo I'd ever seen...until I finally finished the monster download (56K modem) for the "Freespace II Demo. " Stunned, captivated, blown away, I bought Freespace (II and I.) Fully occupied, I never got around to buying the two Homeworld games. By the time I realized it could be found for cheap, it was out of print. Ya know, now that I think of it, I haven't seen anything to match Freepsace 2 within genre. I'd always wished for a port or re-imagining to PS2...but time ran out again.
"___________" the ancient Yule - tide Ca - rol.
Fa-La-La-La LA la LA LA LA
In no particular order -> the core:
- "Devil May Cry"
- "Onimusha Warlords"
- "God Of War"
- "Metal Gear Solid II:Sons Of Liberty"
- "Vampires: The Masquerade - Redemption" (PC)
Honorable Mention to "Zone of The Enders" (an unexpected treasure) and the Dreamcast classic, "Soul Calibur" (which revived my interest is consoles after many years.) But then, there are certain titles I loved in my youth, such as "Wizard of Wor" (arcade), "Punch Out"(arcade), and the incomparable "Spy VS Spy" I and II (C64)I couldn't always be concerned with sales totals or the best reviews. Growing up in the inner city, there is NO WAY in hell I'd ever purchase or play a "Grand Theft Auto" game. I never played a "Halo" game (couldn't afford any incarnation of the Xbox) I liked "Unreal Tourmanent" (especially 2004) much more than any "Doom" or "Quake" title. Sports? For a long time, it was "NFL2K"(x), never "Madden" (x) It was "EA Baseball 2005", not the bug-ridden SEGA garbage. Finally, I despised "Resident Evil", (having once _returned_ "Code:Veronica" after an hour of play.)
chacun a son gout...
Retail is a last resort for some. A way to avoid homelessness or starvation. One year ago, I had 2 retailers pull that shit on me. One of them blocked me as a REHIRE for that excuse. Because I was uniquely qualified for both roles, and needed the money badly, I will never forgive those companies. As long as I live. Does that mean I'll STEAL from them? No. Even better, their own daily incompetence has led to savaged reputation, closings across the region, and rampant thefts...by those folks hired INSTEAD OF ME.
Here's a hint for you would-be moguls out there. Don't bring Vader into the cave with you. False accusations turn the upstanding into far worse enemies. Turn way talent via claims of future theft, and you may find the accused taking scores of customers with them.
And it fills me with rage. I've led a viciously moral life. I demand all my life to be considered by my actions and words. I resent any assumption about my future conduct that has no direct precedent. I never cheated on any tests, never stole. I've never even been intoxicated. Yet some fool is going to presume that I might take some bribe?
For quite some time, I actually carry my printed credit report WITH my resume. I know EXACTLY what I owe, and to whom. That's why I can't forgive these notions of "responsiblity." Some people want desperately to see "looters" or corrupt bribe-takers, so they convict you of the sins committed in their little minds.
Bribes aren't what's needed. What is needed? The constant income of a worthy, skilled position. $25/hour, 40 hours week can clear away quite a few things, if you have it for long enough. At 0/hour, no hours /week, it takes somewhat longer.
Odd. Today's world may actually evolve into one more bleak that the one depicted in "Minority Report."
And I shudder to think how this kind of thinking can seep into institutions.
I guess you'd like to see firemen go into a burning building, well-prepared with a printed list of the local credit "screw-ups." The folks above a certain credit score get pulled out first. Right? Sure, when the hurricane hits, identify those precincts with higher credit standing, and only save those families. Why are those colored folk "looting?" Perhaps just prior to the UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCE OF NATURAL DISEASTER, they could not find work to pay their bills(because they weren't hired because of late/unpaid bills that they couldn't repay, because they weren't because of late/unpaid bills, because...)
Wrong, sir.
Try to meet people to break your assertions, worldview, and convictions. Get out of the blamepolitik of scapegoating. Try to envision *all* the reasons for poor credit before taking your case to the internet. Before you flex your muscles, try to come up with ways credit can be repaired...without the job income to repair it.
Wow. I didn't think I'd see this kind of thought outside fuckedcompany or Netslaves. It's a shame, really.
You cannot improve your credit in the absence of income.
Yes, I'm going to repeat this. You _cannot_ improve your credit in the absence of income.
One source of poor credit is defaulted student loans. Very easy to do, if you happen to have an extended period of unemployment. And all kind of folks, some with skills and experience greater than my own, have endured these. Guess what? Many, many people last found decent, fair-paying tech work in 2001. Some of them were in New York. How many people reading these posts actually had to try to find a job, in New York, during the fall of 2001? Can't you envision some reason that folks might have had some...difficulty during those times?
What if you have unforseen medical expenses? If you are injured as the result of the actions of the state (a collapsed tunnel, failed elevator, no-fault injury via bus or train) your bill may go into collection why the state dodges it's duty, and you scramble for a laywer. Heaven help you if this happens during a job search.
This kind of thinking is naive at best, destructive and incompetent at worst. Vicious cycles need only fools to perpetuate it. If everyone for which you interview pulls this crap, you never find any job high enough to pay any bill of substance. If your previous employers cheat you out of pay, or reduced your hours, and you resign in anger, your credit score can't improve.
At some point, it needs to be about skills, potential, and ability to integrate into a given job setting. Nothing more, nothing less. Ever. Life is a grim struggle. Attitudes like this don't lift burdens, or help society. They are just covers and excuses for some other discrimination.
I have nothing but contempt for those who punish you for basically not being able to find work.There are so many non-merit factors that creep in. Non-merit factors...like this. There is only so much for which you can prepare or control. All we see are repeats of the same attribution errors. The same undeciplined prejudice. Gut feelings and neurotic visions of "red-flags". Little humanity. And no logic.
When today you hear the stories of courage and bravery in the country, things like *this* can drag you down, and make you remember a different America. One indolent of mind, parochial, xenophobic, and perpetually negligent of hire.
"There is despair, Mr. President, in faces you never see, in the places you never visit in your shining city."
-- Mario Cuomo (1984)
"Poke" ?? *shaking head in disgust.* You should be smacked. load "*",8,1. That terrible 1541 drive that slipped out of alignment during a strong breeze. Sprite graphics. My first music compositions coming not from staved paper, but from screens of data statements, read during a loop. Setting the attack, sustain, decay, and release per note, via nesting. It's all coming back to me. My word, Time waits for no one. This year's US college freshman age cohort will have been _born_ *long after that.* Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo o.
Gentoo 2004.3 profile, kernel 2.6.12.5, NVIDIA driver 8178, ancient Geforce2 MX 400 card, XP1800 system. But this "Google Earth" works quite nicely, and without incident so far. WOW.
One of the tragedies in finding work is that people regress into just that. They won't hire anyone they don't know. They won't take a damned chance. How do you maintain "skill" if no one will hire folks they don't know? Then trained folks sit starving in the streets for 9 months, not using or gaining your proof of skill. You don't really know what people can do until you give them a damned chance. It is very easy to be cut off. Companies die, people die or move on. It is quite possible that no one can, or will, speak for you. Except yourself. People don't apply for shit they can't do. It's a myth. I hate to say it. It costs time and money to check the company, consider the role, set up and travel to interviews. People looking to break in, or break back in, don't have it to waste. I can't understand the backlash against folks who tried to gain an edge in finding work. It's all about finding a job. If you're going to ignore the studies people do, then how the hell can they win a job in a way other than knowing the folks in your circle? Often, job descriptions are fantastic, absurd laundry lists of traits for 3 or four specialties crammed into one. But give the candidates credit for knowing their correct path. There are people who want no part of a managerial position, and will leave the instant the job at hand becomes one. There are others who only want to run things, and are tired of the server rooms, the front lines, and the details. Hires have acceptable loss and compromise. Maybe hire for pieces instead waiting for the miracle all-in-one who will save your company. Live with the hiring decisions you make. Part of your responsibility as a hiring authority is to select candidates. Not narcissistic clones of Self, but *candidates* They have different things to bring. Even if the "skills" you seek are there, they may clash completely with your culture, temperament, ethos. But there's no frozen food approach, no quick path or sure predictor. You actually have to try the candidate out. For better or worse. Perhaps, just perhaps, folks seek certifications because they want some way into a job. In this age of rejection based on non-merit factor after non-merit factor. Too old. Poor credit. Quit "too many jobs." You might have some trouble getting those "skills" not provided by a cert if you never get any work to start things rolling. A job search succeeds on momentum. But there has to be a start. A push. A CHANCE.
I don't like this invite-only concept. If you don't happen to know anyone who uses gmail, but you just want to test the new technology, you're left out. To some, it might seem sketchy, begging for invites on a public board. Those wishing to try out the Yahoo Messenger on Linux, need no such invite. So folks end up trying that, and staying with it. Because the initial experience didn't remind them of high-school cliques. I don't know if Google gains mindshare by that scenario.