The stuff you're referring to sounds pretty stupid, I definitely agree. But that' shardly where the entertainment and value lies. MC Frontalot puts out some quality lyrics and his game during a show is coming along nicely. Stuff from MC Chris and MC Hawking varies but still speaks to some of my experiences and those I share with my friends. I don't have to explain to them what he's trying to say. They get it. And it's funny stuff. Songs about Nigeria 419 scams and watersports at a Star Wars convention, along with mentions of +1 bags of hiphop go a long way, and even someone who has a lot of personality tied up into hating the whole hip hop 'scene' should be able to acknowledge how music plays only to those who perceive it to be relevant.
Re: DDOS threats - Smack talk in earnest is stupid no matter where or who, but smack talk done ironically still works as entertainment.
All that said, I think we can all come together on an opinion as to the talents of the Lords of the Rhymes...hobbit rap. Ick.
I have to disagree. There's nothing piteous about people expecting the same functionality out of their computer that they get out of the TV and DVD player. If that's what they want, that's what they'll buy. It just won't be the computer you'd choose to buy.
Selling a computer most/.'ers wouldn't buy is hardly a bad decision from the start, since those who expect a toaster's functionality out of a PC tend to outnumber those who don't.
That said, anything requiring constant upkeep should be built/designed to do its own. The car analogy usually brought out around now doesn't fly because of an average computer's miniscule # of moving parts. The maintanence you're referring to isn't about changing ball bearings and gaskets. It's about patches and updates.
What are you talking about? Columia swaps their public PCs every 2-3 years. They completd a swapout last summer. If students brought their hand-me-downs from home, that's not our problem. Judging from the number of iPods on campus, i don't think a 'suffer the children' routine for the majority of the campus is going to fly.
I do attest to their being one leaky roof that I'm aware of, but haven't seen any others.
Academic freedom is a platonic ideal discussed a lot at universities, but it would not be accurate to say it's central. 'Freedom' seems to become whatever you want it to mean today. In that way, universities are no different from the rest of life. Corporate politics have nothing on academic politics. Politics are always more extreme when a small group of people have too much power or control.
If you're not tenured, then you don't really matter and it's not surprising the generally poor leadership skills extant in departments would result in such a clumsily-handled farce.
If you are tenured, you (and other tenured people) make clear you matter far more than is necessarily true.
Working in a major university, the expectation management needed to bring faculty back into tune with reality is breathtaking. Senior heads of departments are famous for their inability to discern legal danger from legal bluster, and infamous for their ability to overreact.
I'm still trying to figure out if it's more that large universities tend to attract fragile people or if it's more that their sense of context corrodes once here. I'm hoping for the former.
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The stuff you're referring to sounds pretty stupid, I definitely agree. But that' shardly where the entertainment and value lies. MC Frontalot puts out some quality lyrics and his game during a show is coming along nicely. Stuff from MC Chris and MC Hawking varies but still speaks to some of my experiences and those I share with my friends. I don't have to explain to them what he's trying to say. They get it. And it's funny stuff. Songs about Nigeria 419 scams and watersports at a Star Wars convention, along with mentions of +1 bags of hiphop go a long way, and even someone who has a lot of personality tied up into hating the whole hip hop 'scene' should be able to acknowledge how music plays only to those who perceive it to be relevant. Re: DDOS threats - Smack talk in earnest is stupid no matter where or who, but smack talk done ironically still works as entertainment. All that said, I think we can all come together on an opinion as to the talents of the Lords of the Rhymes...hobbit rap. Ick.
I have to disagree. There's nothing piteous about people expecting the same functionality out of their computer that they get out of the TV and DVD player. If that's what they want, that's what they'll buy. It just won't be the computer you'd choose to buy. Selling a computer most /.'ers wouldn't buy is hardly a bad decision from the start, since those who expect a toaster's functionality out of a PC tend to outnumber those who don't.
That said, anything requiring constant upkeep should be built/designed to do its own. The car analogy usually brought out around now doesn't fly because of an average computer's miniscule # of moving parts. The maintanence you're referring to isn't about changing ball bearings and gaskets. It's about patches and updates.
What are you talking about? Columia swaps their public PCs every 2-3 years. They completd a swapout last summer. If students brought their hand-me-downs from home, that's not our problem. Judging from the number of iPods on campus, i don't think a 'suffer the children' routine for the majority of the campus is going to fly.
I do attest to their being one leaky roof that I'm aware of, but haven't seen any others.
Academic freedom is a platonic ideal discussed a lot at universities, but it would not be accurate to say it's central. 'Freedom' seems to become whatever you want it to mean today. In that way, universities are no different from the rest of life. Corporate politics have nothing on academic politics. Politics are always more extreme when a small group of people have too much power or control. If you're not tenured, then you don't really matter and it's not surprising the generally poor leadership skills extant in departments would result in such a clumsily-handled farce. If you are tenured, you (and other tenured people) make clear you matter far more than is necessarily true. Working in a major university, the expectation management needed to bring faculty back into tune with reality is breathtaking. Senior heads of departments are famous for their inability to discern legal danger from legal bluster, and infamous for their ability to overreact. I'm still trying to figure out if it's more that large universities tend to attract fragile people or if it's more that their sense of context corrodes once here. I'm hoping for the former.