I was fairly (ok... majorly) geeky in high school (member of computer club, math club among others, in AP classes, etc) but I never really had a problem with the classical "geek gets bullied by the jocks" or anyone else. Got a wedgie my freshman year from Football players, but everyone did on the Cross Country team... it was sort of a ritual and not really looked upon as Geek bashing. Maybe I got lucky, but I got along pretty well with all of "the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads..." I'm not saying they all considered me a "righteous dude," but I was never ostrisized for being a geek, probably because I a) never thought of myself as a geek (although I fit the description pretty well) and b) am a pretty gregarious person. I could care less if you were a jock or a chess dweeb, I'd bullshit with you either way.
Granted, there are going to be asshats in any social grouping, just don't tar everyone with the bad apple's brush.
It is unethical for people to not pay sales tax for out-of-state purchases.
And I find it unethical for gov'ts to spend tax revenue on pork barrel projects that do more for a politician's career/buddies than anything else. Until the state and federal gov'ts start running a tight ship I'll go on dodging taxes via mail order, internet purchases, etc with impunity.
Let sony liscense(sp) the MD technology to every hardware manfacture out there and we'd have MD standard in computers by the end of the calander year.
Sony did (does?) have a MD-data drive. You can still purchase MD-Data discs. They are much more expensive than their MD-Audio counterpart though. I believe that their only really used anymore in the MD versions of 4 track home recording units.
MS has a history of going long-term with high-profile products, and it's paid off for them.
Except this time they're on the hook for hardware. BIG DIFFERENCE (at least for MS). MS's usual modus op. is to bring in HW vendors to flesh out their visions, that way their only on the hook for the software R&D. If the product tanks (every version of the MS tablet up to now, early PocketPC, etc) MS has only eaten R&D costs. HP, et al will have to eat their own R&D costs plus the hardware costs (manufacturing ramp up, shipping, etc) of the product that tanked.
Now, I'm not saying that the XBox will fail, or that MS aren't in it for the long haul. But being on the hook for hardware (and at a loss no less) is much more risky thank software only.
Or, write to your elected representatives to express your support for allowing the private sector to play in space. Chances are they'd get there faster and cheaper anyway.
Think Mickey and Goofy, only French. The worst of both worlds. All the manufactured charm of Disney coupled with the cultural snobbery of the French. I grew up in England, read a few of their comics, thought they were shite. Give me a Beano over that crap any day of the week.
I know I'm getting old because I'm starting to say things like the following:
Hell, if I came home with bad grades / didn't do homework my parents wouldn't be going to the schools blaming the teachers for not "motivating" me, they'd be finding interesting new ways of "motivating" me themselves. Groundings, yardwork (for everyone they knew), anything I considered fun would have been off limits, etc. My life would have been (what a pre-teen/teen considers) a living hell until my grades improved.
I would have been floored as well. The idea that teachers and teachers *alone* are suposed to motivate their children speak a lot to how bad these parents are.
Were these parents perhaps wealthy? Money/power tends to add a little influence in such situations too
Nope. Kid goes to a DoDDS school in England. All military kids, so there's not much of a large band in terms of wealth. I don't think anyone was pulling "rank" either (mainly because my dad's ex-military and wouldn't take any of that crap). Just asshat parents I guess. They come in all shapes, sizes, creeds, races and tax brackets.
This happens everywhere and I'm sure for different reasons. My dad told me of a frightning story he had last year:
My father teaches middle school and had one student who was good and got an honest to goodness B in her class (History I believe). Needless to say when the report card showed up the parents went nuts. Had a meeting with my father and demanded the child get an A (their excuse, top colleges were already looking at her and this would mess up her chances at going to them... RIIIIIGHT). My father politely declined, stating that the grading was fair, the girl deserved a B and that the B wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
Not good enough. Parents went to the vice principal with the same story. The vice principal had looked at my dad's books, found them fair, sided with my dad.
Not good enough. Parents went to the pricipal with the same story. Principal buckled (without even looking at any of the girls work) and told my dad to curve EVERYONE's grade in his class so that the girl got an A.
I'm sure there are pressures from parents, students and school boards to keep the aformentioned happy (and thus paying tuition), but there's a point where you ruin your reputation as a well respected learning institution.
Do what you do to your own body, fine, but what happens when YOU are carjacked and murdered for the money in your wallet and the parts to your car, just so someone can get their fix?
If drugs were legal and regulated (i.e. cheap) there'd be no reason to be carjacked to pay for your fix. How may times do you hear of alcoholics carjacking in order to pay for their Thunderbird? Its precisely the prohibition on drugs that inflates prices that (would) cause your average junkie to carjack you. Of course, carjackings (while they happen) are no where near the level that paranoid prohibitionists want you to believe they are. Most "drug related" crimes are between "dealers" (turf war). Legalize drugs and you pretty much kill this problem too. Al Capone killed a lot of folks during prohibition over control of alcohol. Last time I checked Anhiser-Busch weren't gunning down Coors executives in order to get shelf space at my local 7-11.
Vulterant is a perfectly cromulent word. I don't know why people are so confused about it.
I'm anispeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have been caused such pericombobulation. I offer JD my most enthusiastic contrafribularities for clearing up such matters interfrastically.
Yes it did, but as I understand it the issues was "copyrighted" code (i.e. chunks of code taken verbatim from AT&T). In this case it seems to be about patents. I.e. they don't give a shit about how you implemented something, they're only interested that you *did* implement it (assuming they own the patent).
My prediction: all the big dogs will cross license with each other (because if you dig deep enough I'm sure SCO/Caldera is infringing on some Apple/MS/IBM/Sun patent). The only thing I worry about is Linux and *BSD since the don't have any IP to hold over SCOs head to force them to cross license (maybe IBM will bitch slap them into not persuing the free unicies)
I'm waiting for drive-by-wireless, brake-by-wireless, steer-by-wireless (and steer-your-pain-in-the-ass-passenger-over-a-cliff- wrireless). You can drop the kids off at school without leaving your house.
Why is everyone so obsessed with adding wireless capabilities to the iPod? Not a flame, really, I'm just trying to understand, what am I missing...
Why I would like this is if I had a stereo reciever that could, via bluetooth or 802.11 read my iPod. Thus, no wires I can listen to my music whereever. If I'm at the computer I can pump it through iTunes, if I'm in the living room I can pump it thru the stereo. Yes, I can do this with wires currently, but it would be nice if I could do it wirelessly. Not a must have, but I'd plunk down cash very quickly if something like this was offered.
This kinda reminds me of the whole "new" tablet design. Yes the technology is great, but who the hell are going to buy them (en mass)?
TiVo (which I love, love, love) and ReplayTV aren't exactly setting the world on fire in terms of sales, so its not like there's a HUGE demand for these things. Also the price seems a hell of a lot higher than buying a functional computer and a TiVo seperately. How many people live in apartments so small they can't have both? College students are always bandied about for potential buyers, but my sense is that most would rather have a laptop. Plus, how many parents are going to plunk down that kind of money right after signing that check for school so their kids can record TV? I just don't think the cost would be justified (my dad would have laughed at me 'til he was blue in the face).
Nice tech, tiny market. MS better watch out. There only so many "these'll change the world" ideas that don't pan out that hardware companies are willing to subsidize.
If what is being reported is indeed true then this is rather telling about Microsoft and how they see things playing out in the future. *If* they thought that they could keep %95+ market share on the desktop and achieve high penetration on the CE/PocketPC side of things they could continue to snub anything that wasn't their own. I assume they've come to the conclusion that this set of circumstances will not come to pass. Maybe when shopping around the technology potential clients told them they weren't interested if it was locked into to MS only clients.
No, I am not interested in debate. Neocon's are shills of the ultra-wealthy. I assume you know what a shill is.
Indeed I do. Didn't realize that the brain in my head was wired directly to Warren Buffet's office. Damn my belief in free will!
We have heard your point (which is boilerplate neocon propaganda) - education sucks because teachers are unionized and schools are public institutions.
And apparently it frightens you. No debate (as you've pointed out twice) just "mod him down, mod him down!"
This is what your neocon masters at the washington times, reason mag. and the heritage foundation want the vast middle class to believe.
"CHAPS, WE'VE BEEN FOUND OUT. BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES. DIVE, DIVE, DIVE." Sorry about that, Warren Buffett's signaling the troops again.
In reality, all of this anti-teacher/anti-public ed comes about because union teachers are a block of Democratic voters. I know it, YOU know it...I just want to make sure the readers know it.
You paint an immensely oversimplified view of the subject. According to you if anyone dares question the educational status quo you must be a zombie neocon. You offer no debate, no counter arguments, nothing. Funny, I know more than a few card carrying Democrats teachers who also think the system's screwed. Each has a different take on what it takes to fix -- some so "radical" you'd call them neocons. I guess the "ultra-wealthy" must have gotten to them in their sleep.
Neocons like you are not getting a free pass anymore. And I'm glad this bothers you...means I'm doing my job.
Bothers me? Far from it. Your lack of actually saying anything is pretty damn funny. You're all bluster and no substance. At least everyone else on this thread offered some sort of debate. I may not agree with them, and they may not agree with me but at least there's an attempt at substance. You (by your own admission) eschew debate for name calling. Much like the nutters of the religious right you have the same attitude: anyone who doesn't believe what you believe in are either stupid or under the influence of a more powerful force: the Devil (or even worse.... CLINTON) in right wing nutter's case and the "ultra-rich" in yours.
P.S. I used to read Reason back when I was an undergrad, was a member of the North Dakota Libertarian paty, and believed everything Ayn Rand said.
Hmmm... and I also read the Daily Howler every day as well... and Plastic and the Washington Post and all kinds of papers/magazines/websites that span the political spectrum. Now, which little predefined little box does that put me in now?
And the purpose of my post was not debate you...
Well, that's obvious...
but to warn others that the Washington Times is a neocon propaganda rag...
no more or less than the Washington Post is a "Liberal propaganda rag." But thanks for the warning. Apparently people are too stupid and make their minds up for themselves.
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I was fairly (ok... majorly) geeky in high school (member of computer club, math club among others, in AP classes, etc) but I never really had a problem with the classical "geek gets bullied by the jocks" or anyone else. Got a wedgie my freshman year from Football players, but everyone did on the Cross Country team... it was sort of a ritual and not really looked upon as Geek bashing. Maybe I got lucky, but I got along pretty well with all of "the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads..." I'm not saying they all considered me a "righteous dude," but I was never ostrisized for being a geek, probably because I a) never thought of myself as a geek (although I fit the description pretty well) and b) am a pretty gregarious person. I could care less if you were a jock or a chess dweeb, I'd bullshit with you either way.
Granted, there are going to be asshats in any social grouping, just don't tar everyone with the bad apple's brush.
Tyranny of the First Defector
Canter and Siegel.
I actually remember when these asshats pulled this stunt. Someone should be able to punch them in the stomach on a twice weekly basis.
I seem to remember them inviting ESR to speak at their campus.
It is unethical for people to not pay sales tax for out-of-state purchases.
And I find it unethical for gov'ts to spend tax revenue on pork barrel projects that do more for a politician's career/buddies than anything else. Until the state and federal gov'ts start running a tight ship I'll go on dodging taxes via mail order, internet purchases, etc with impunity.
Ratt
Motley Crue
Warrent
Whitesnake
David Lee Roth
Poison
Firehouse
etc...
I bet they have tonnes to spare.
Let sony liscense(sp) the MD technology to every hardware manfacture out there and we'd have MD standard in computers by the end of the calander year.
Sony did (does?) have a MD-data drive. You can still purchase MD-Data discs. They are much more expensive than their MD-Audio counterpart though. I believe that their only really used anymore in the MD versions of 4 track home recording units.
MS has a history of going long-term with high-profile products, and it's paid off for them.
Except this time they're on the hook for hardware. BIG DIFFERENCE (at least for MS). MS's usual modus op. is to bring in HW vendors to flesh out their visions, that way their only on the hook for the software R&D. If the product tanks (every version of the MS tablet up to now, early PocketPC, etc) MS has only eaten R&D costs. HP, et al will have to eat their own R&D costs plus the hardware costs (manufacturing ramp up, shipping, etc) of the product that tanked.
Now, I'm not saying that the XBox will fail, or that MS aren't in it for the long haul. But being on the hook for hardware (and at a loss no less) is much more risky thank software only.
Or, write to your elected representatives to express your support for allowing the private sector to play in space. Chances are they'd get there faster and cheaper anyway.
Think Mickey and Goofy, only French. The worst of both worlds. All the manufactured charm of Disney coupled with the cultural snobbery of the French. I grew up in England, read a few of their comics, thought they were shite. Give me a Beano over that crap any day of the week.
I know I'm getting old because I'm starting to say things like the following:
Hell, if I came home with bad grades / didn't do homework my parents wouldn't be going to the schools blaming the teachers for not "motivating" me, they'd be finding interesting new ways of "motivating" me themselves. Groundings, yardwork (for everyone they knew), anything I considered fun would have been off limits, etc. My life would have been (what a pre-teen/teen considers) a living hell until my grades improved.
I would have been floored as well. The idea that teachers and teachers *alone* are suposed to motivate their children speak a lot to how bad these parents are.
Were these parents perhaps wealthy? Money/power tends to add a little influence in such situations too
Nope. Kid goes to a DoDDS school in England. All military kids, so there's not much of a large band in terms of wealth. I don't think anyone was pulling "rank" either (mainly because my dad's ex-military and wouldn't take any of that crap). Just asshat parents I guess. They come in all shapes, sizes, creeds, races and tax brackets.
This happens everywhere and I'm sure for different reasons. My dad told me of a frightning story he had last year:
My father teaches middle school and had one student who was good and got an honest to goodness B in her class (History I believe). Needless to say when the report card showed up the parents went nuts. Had a meeting with my father and demanded the child get an A (their excuse, top colleges were already looking at her and this would mess up her chances at going to them... RIIIIIGHT). My father politely declined, stating that the grading was fair, the girl deserved a B and that the B wasn't anything to be ashamed of.
Not good enough. Parents went to the vice principal with the same story. The vice principal had looked at my dad's books, found them fair, sided with my dad.
Not good enough. Parents went to the pricipal with the same story. Principal buckled (without even looking at any of the girls work) and told my dad to curve EVERYONE's grade in his class so that the girl got an A.
I'm sure there are pressures from parents, students and school boards to keep the aformentioned happy (and thus paying tuition), but there's a point where you ruin your reputation as a well respected learning institution.
That's sort of saying "Ford has a monopoly on Ford cars" and then claiming shipping the car with a stereo is anti-competitive.
[opening a can of worms]
Do what you do to your own body, fine, but what happens when YOU are carjacked and murdered for the money in your wallet and the parts to your car, just so someone can get their fix?
If drugs were legal and regulated (i.e. cheap) there'd be no reason to be carjacked to pay for your fix. How may times do you hear of alcoholics carjacking in order to pay for their Thunderbird? Its precisely the prohibition on drugs that inflates prices that (would) cause your average junkie to carjack you. Of course, carjackings (while they happen) are no where near the level that paranoid prohibitionists want you to believe they are. Most "drug related" crimes are between "dealers" (turf war). Legalize drugs and you pretty much kill this problem too. Al Capone killed a lot of folks during prohibition over control of alcohol. Last time I checked Anhiser-Busch weren't gunning down Coors executives in order to get shelf space at my local 7-11.
[closing can of worms]
That tactic has worked well for drugs.
People will be prosicuted and do time, but the vast majority will no and will continue to use P2P.
Vulterant is a perfectly cromulent word. I don't know why people are so confused about it.
I'm anispeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have been caused such pericombobulation. I offer JD my most enthusiastic contrafribularities for clearing up such matters interfrastically.
Yes it did, but as I understand it the issues was "copyrighted" code (i.e. chunks of code taken verbatim from AT&T). In this case it seems to be about patents. I.e. they don't give a shit about how you implemented something, they're only interested that you *did* implement it (assuming they own the patent).
My prediction: all the big dogs will cross license with each other (because if you dig deep enough I'm sure SCO/Caldera is infringing on some Apple/MS/IBM/Sun patent). The only thing I worry about is Linux and *BSD since the don't have any IP to hold over SCOs head to force them to cross license (maybe IBM will bitch slap them into not persuing the free unicies)
I'm waiting for drive-by-wireless, brake-by-wireless, steer-by-wireless (and steer-your-pain-in-the-ass-passenger-over-a-cliff- wrireless). You can drop the kids off at school without leaving your house.
Why is everyone so obsessed with adding wireless capabilities to the iPod? Not a flame, really, I'm just trying to understand, what am I missing...
Why I would like this is if I had a stereo reciever that could, via bluetooth or 802.11 read my iPod. Thus, no wires I can listen to my music whereever. If I'm at the computer I can pump it through iTunes, if I'm in the living room I can pump it thru the stereo. Yes, I can do this with wires currently, but it would be nice if I could do it wirelessly. Not a must have, but I'd plunk down cash very quickly if something like this was offered.
This kinda reminds me of the whole "new" tablet design. Yes the technology is great, but who the hell are going to buy them (en mass)?
TiVo (which I love, love, love) and ReplayTV aren't exactly setting the world on fire in terms of sales, so its not like there's a HUGE demand for these things. Also the price seems a hell of a lot higher than buying a functional computer and a TiVo seperately. How many people live in apartments so small they can't have both? College students are always bandied about for potential buyers, but my sense is that most would rather have a laptop. Plus, how many parents are going to plunk down that kind of money right after signing that check for school so their kids can record TV? I just don't think the cost would be justified (my dad would have laughed at me 'til he was blue in the face).
Nice tech, tiny market. MS better watch out. There only so many "these'll change the world" ideas that don't pan out that hardware companies are willing to subsidize.
If what is being reported is indeed true then this is rather telling about Microsoft and how they see things playing out in the future. *If* they thought that they could keep %95+ market share on the desktop and achieve high penetration on the CE/PocketPC side of things they could continue to snub anything that wasn't their own. I assume they've come to the conclusion that this set of circumstances will not come to pass. Maybe when shopping around the technology potential clients told them they weren't interested if it was locked into to MS only clients.
No, I am not interested in debate. Neocon's are shills of the ultra-wealthy. I assume you know what a shill is.
Indeed I do. Didn't realize that the brain in my head was wired directly to Warren Buffet's office. Damn my belief in free will!
We have heard your point (which is boilerplate neocon propaganda) - education sucks because teachers are unionized and schools are public institutions.
And apparently it frightens you. No debate (as you've pointed out twice) just "mod him down, mod him down!"
This is what your neocon masters at the washington times, reason mag. and the heritage foundation want the vast middle class to believe.
"CHAPS, WE'VE BEEN FOUND OUT. BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES. DIVE, DIVE, DIVE." Sorry about that, Warren Buffett's signaling the troops again.
In reality, all of this anti-teacher/anti-public ed comes about because union teachers are a block of Democratic voters. I know it, YOU know it...I just want to make sure the readers know it.
You paint an immensely oversimplified view of the subject. According to you if anyone dares question the educational status quo you must be a zombie neocon. You offer no debate, no counter arguments, nothing. Funny, I know more than a few card carrying Democrats teachers who also think the system's screwed. Each has a different take on what it takes to fix -- some so "radical" you'd call them neocons. I guess the "ultra-wealthy" must have gotten to them in their sleep.
Neocons like you are not getting a free pass anymore. And I'm glad this bothers you...means I'm doing my job.
Bothers me? Far from it. Your lack of actually saying anything is pretty damn funny. You're all bluster and no substance. At least everyone else on this thread offered some sort of debate. I may not agree with them, and they may not agree with me but at least there's an attempt at substance. You (by your own admission) eschew debate for name calling. Much like the nutters of the religious right you have the same attitude: anyone who doesn't believe what you believe in are either stupid or under the influence of a more powerful force: the Devil (or even worse.... CLINTON) in right wing nutter's case and the "ultra-rich" in yours.
P.S. I used to read Reason back when I was an undergrad, was a member of the North Dakota Libertarian paty, and believed everything Ayn Rand said.
Well there's your problem, Ayn Rand was an idiot.
Hmmm... and I also read the Daily Howler every day as well... and Plastic and the Washington Post and all kinds of papers/magazines/websites that span the political spectrum. Now, which little predefined little box does that put me in now?
And the purpose of my post was not debate you...
Well, that's obvious...
but to warn others that the Washington Times is a neocon propaganda rag...
no more or less than the Washington Post is a "Liberal propaganda rag." But thanks for the warning. Apparently people are too stupid and make their minds up for themselves.
So let me get this right... you're entire argument is "boo hoo, don't mod him up because he has different views than I?"
Spectacular. The Oxford debating society awaits.
Is that assumption and ad hominem posing as an valid arguement?