Well, to be fair, the poster didn't say that American culture doesn't exist. He/she said "When some one says "American culture", my first thought is of McDonalds". My interpretation of this comment is that while American culture may be rich and diverse, it is the marketing of America that has left its impression on much of the rest of the world.
I agree with your list of wonderful examples of American culture, and I agree with the poster in that when I think of "American culture", my first thoughts are also of McDonalds and such capitalist exploits.
Especially since there will be a mouse already attached connected...
Or so you assume. VGA (Vista Genuine Advantage, included in Vista SP1) will ensure that you are using only an approved game controller, and not some reckless keyboard-mouse combo with your Vista-Enhanced(TM) computer.
I, for one, will begin getting used to the change forthwith, so I can kick your trash in Hearts when you finally make the change.
Any good parasite knows that its survival hinges on its not killing the host. Any record label that moves to cut its artists out of the loop has pronounced its own death sentence. I think it's called Hubris.
I resorted to whitelisting long ago. My browser denies all cookies by default.
It took a little while to train myself to add a new site to the exceptions list when my login mysteriously wouldn't work, and a little longer to train my wife, but it has proven to be a very minor headache compared to a giant exceptions list, or a gianter cookie folder.
I have never been so shocked or disappointed by a/. discussion in my life. I don't think I've ever seen a more one-sided/. discussion in my life, and yet not one comment out of 300+ made a single suggestion as to how we could keep innappropriate content off the screens of businesses, schools, or children.
I've seen a lot of posts like these:
...they keep electing those who want to take more of our rights away...
Nobody is trying to take your porn away. This person simply suggested one method of cataloguing or sorting it. Perhaps you all have some interest in propagating this content through the mainstream.
Will the balance ever shift in the other direction?
And how much porn were you able to consume at work ten years ago? How much was your father able to consume at work thirty years ago? How much porn can a 13 year-old child consume sitting in the school library or his own home, compared to five years ago? Clearly pornography is becoming more ubiquitous each passing week, and it's a bold-faced lie to suggest that your so-called rights to view it at every moment in every place are being increasingly infringed upon. This is not an attempt at censorship, and it is not a freedom of speech issue. It is one man's attempt at keeping things in their rightful place.
But who decides what is pornography?
All these 'grey-area' examples are attempts at minimizing the harm. Most countries have laws in place that define what is pornography.
Here in Canada, as in many countries, most business that sell pornographic magazines or rent pornographic movies keep them behind the counter, in a separate room, or a separate store altogether. This does not infringe on your freedom to consume it. Admittedly, it does not keep pornography altogether out of the hands of children, or out of the sight of people who don't care to have it flashed in front of them. Nevertheless, it is an important step in separating it from other media and preserving the citizen's right to choose to consume it or not, and this is exactly what is being attempted in legislating it to its own port.
Again, if/.ers are so convinced that this proposition is a waste of time and energy, then let's see one alternative recommendation.
We can never expcet to get rid of spam completely, but with effort we can curtail it. It's not like drugs where people demand it, actively seek it out, and will pay massive amount of money for it.
Actually, a lot of spam is selling drugs, and yes, people demand it. It's basic economics that if there were no demand for it then spam would disappear. Somebody is making money off of this crap and it's ultimately the consumer that pays.
Thus all you really need to do is make it unattractive to people and most of it will die off.
Exactly. Nobobdy admits to wanting spam, but obviously there are a whole lot of people out there opening there wallets to it. I find spam very "unattractive" (read: repulsive) and refuse to support any product or company that I know to employ it.
As far as I'm concerned, spam is not unlike recreational drug-use, prostitution, or nose-picking in public: You can outlaw it, you can try to chase it out of your neighborhood, and you can sue its purveyors; but as long as you or the guy down the street are willing to pay for it, this service will thrive.
The cards were not a panacea for everything but could help stop terrorists using multiple identities, clamp down on illegal working and ensure people from overseas did not get free NHS treatment without being entitled to it
...and bonus airmiles if you show your card when paying your income taxes.
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I agree with your list of wonderful examples of American culture, and I agree with the poster in that when I think of "American culture", my first thoughts are also of McDonalds and such capitalist exploits.
He he. You said "who're". =^D
Any good parasite knows that its survival hinges on its not killing the host. Any record label that moves to cut its artists out of the loop has pronounced its own death sentence. I think it's called Hubris.
Portions of Microsoft's response quoted on groklaw and David Berlind's blog.
I resorted to whitelisting long ago. My browser denies all cookies by default. It took a little while to train myself to add a new site to the exceptions list when my login mysteriously wouldn't work, and a little longer to train my wife, but it has proven to be a very minor headache compared to a giant exceptions list, or a gianter cookie folder.
And why wouldn't they get the spammers to fund that if they thought it possible, say, through litigation? That's called pure profit.
If they did, I don't think Aaron Kornblum would be telling NewsFactor about it.
Actually, a lot of spam is selling drugs, and yes, people demand it. It's basic economics that if there were no demand for it then spam would disappear. Somebody is making money off of this crap and it's ultimately the consumer that pays.
Exactly. Nobobdy admits to wanting spam, but obviously there are a whole lot of people out there opening there wallets to it. I find spam very "unattractive" (read: repulsive) and refuse to support any product or company that I know to employ it.
As far as I'm concerned, spam is not unlike recreational drug-use, prostitution, or nose-picking in public: You can outlaw it, you can try to chase it out of your neighborhood, and you can sue its purveyors; but as long as you or the guy down the street are willing to pay for it, this service will thrive.
...and bonus airmiles if you show your card when paying your income taxes.