Well, I went to the beta site the other day to see what the fuss was about.
GHAAHH!!! Some things you just cannot UNSEE!!!! The horror!!!
It reminded me of the time I had just finished setting up a 4 monitor desktop....Man, I can REALLY slash my dots now!
I went straight to slashdot, and quickly I had 4 different articles with comments opened, one on each screen!!!
Well, then IT happened.... I quickly ran to the restroom, okay, back to the PC...okay. Drafty? Hmmm...*look down, zipper undone*
I start to zip up my trousers and just then stare in shock! I had been goatse'd, tub girled, AND trolled by GNAA all at the same time! I hurriedly finished zipping up...AHHHHH!!! GOT SCROTUM CAUGHT IN ZIPPER!! And while all of this was going on suddenly the speakers started blaring; floor was shaking, windows shattering, dogs all over the neighborhood started howling, police sirens started coming my way.....I HAD BEEN RICK-ROLLED!!
Thought I was going to die.
And in the end, the Beta site experience was far more traumatic than anything experienced prior on slashdot for me.
Eliminating cash would eliminate lots of crime,...
I think I disagree with you on this one.
I think you are correct it will reduce or eliminate certain types of crimes, but the overall number of crimes, or attempted crimes will not significantly drop.
I'm not arguing against eliminating cash as a crime deterrent, but it would be less than honest to say crime would be reduced or eliminated because the criminals have moved to a less visible(to the avg. public) method or area.
Or maybe we are alluding to the same thing? (if so, then ignore my comment above-not looking for a fight:)
Stop whining about the whining about Beta. (hint: I'm off work recovering from surgery, so we can play this game as long as you care to)
"Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters"
The nerds apparently feel that the beta being forced on us is 'stuff that matters, so learn to deal with it.
After 'beta only' goes live(April), it will probably be plenty quiet for you. Hmmm...you may even end up having one of the lowest UID's then!!! WOOOT!!!
The NSA, current US administration, DHS, FAA, and Dice are in cahoots to make sure no slashdotters get possession of drones for a preemptive strike on shashdot beta!
This is probably about to come out in a new Snowden Files episode next week.
I started today at the bottom and have been working my way up the page with the articles.
'Soulskill' joined in the discussion about the beta that was raging on the Quakecon article(IIRC).
Here's my take:
According to him, the editors are reading the comments and sending them upstream to their Dice corporate overlords, and have been warning same OL's that this was likely to happen. Many of the editors feel the same way, but the editors are too far down the ladder to have much say about this.
He also said that feedback was pouring in and they were trying to take it all in.
One of the things, from the sounds of it, a classic version is not an option when the beta goes live in April. I hope I misunderstood.
Yes that aspect is true, 'mobile reactive organic targets' usually give instant results of your mad skillz. They can be tricky targets. Good training!;-)
Unlike Jar Jar, I'm afraid that slashdot beta will be even MORE zombie-like than SCO, thus EVEN harder to kill.
However is responsible for making this mandatory needs to be VR headset fitted, castrated with a bench vise...half turn of the handle ever 15 minutes, while standing barefoot on hot coals, and at random intervals...goosed with an electric cattle prod, all while "Cannibal: The Musical" is playing on the aforementioned headset.(in 3D, immersive,but not interactive, in surround sound-you could shove the sub woofer up their ass...goatse may need a heir) Then made to walk the plank, get keel hauled, crucified, impaled an a short spike, drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, hung, then torn into itty bitty pieces, and BURIED ALIVE!
Then we nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
I thought it was my imagination, but several others have commented on this apparent downmodding.
Regardless, I have been using my mod points lately to mod up constructive criticism type comments, and will continue to do so.(making heavy use of "+1 under rated" mod-I heard that can 'lock in' the mod point[as does "-1 over rated"], but I don't really know how true that is) Even if it just keeps them busy downmodding, maybe that's less time they can spend on that abomination they call beta.
I usually get 15 mod points about every other day on average,(I doubt I'm unique in that), and I'm not afraid to use them in the "Down With Slashdot Beta" campaign.;-)
(now I wonder if I will ever get mod points again after this comment?)
No, but I did get the warning that classic ends in 4 months yesterday when I logged in.
I had been seeing all of the comments about the beta site, and finally got curious enough to open the beta site link in a separate tab.
OMG!!!WTF!!!!!
I stayed long enough to 'take the tour' with the little numbered boxes that show up, checked out how the comments work, then I went to the feedback survey (extreme upper right corner in my browser) to make my displeasure known.
IMHO, the beta site is HORRID, and I for one, will not be back after the changeover unless 'classic'(as it is now) is a working option.
I started hanging out on/. as an AC back when they first started handing out 5 digit UID's, and have learned a metric buttload of cool, useful, and interesting stuff here. I have met a whole lot of interesting people from around the world, from many professions and walks of life here on/., and really hate to lose that.
Slashdot was and still is a unique place that I have come to enjoy, and have found no other place similar enough to go to.
Guess I'll have more time for other interests and hobbies, but this will be quite a hole to fill....
'if you don't like it. there are other sites you can use'
Some of us have been here a long time and find value here, and are wanting to try and hold onto that. If the beta drives away a lot of users, I will be sad, and go away also.
So your whining about the whining is just background noise, as the large majority seems to have you outnumbered...deal with it.
I hope that something like a 'greasemonkey' script can be made to combat this if Dice keeps pushing this abomination.
This is one of those times when I kinda wished I had learned some programming when younger. As it is now, I would not even know where or how to start on something like the above, much less actually be able to complete it.
Oh well, I guess that is one to add to my near future projects list.
Well, I have no experience with Verizon, a few calls to my ISP tech support(Suddenlink.net) I have made convinced me that they would be no help.
One in particular some years back: *Stillwater, Oklahoma: Internet service was down again...a frequent occurrence at that time, but usually only for short periods.(they were "upgrading the infrastructure", so I generally cut them some slack) This time it had been about 16 hours. The weather was admittedly pretty bad, heavy wind, heavy rain, lightning, cold, etc...*
I call tech support: Me:I cannot access the internet. The modem is not connecting with you.
'Tech': well, the internet is down temporarirly. We're sorry, but we are trying to get it working again as quickly as we can.
Me: The internet is down, the whole thing?
Tech: Yes, the whole internet is down. During the storm earlier, a truck hit a pole in town and took down the whole internet.
Me: A truck hit a pole in town, and took out the whole internet? Hmmm...Thank you, goodbye.
*ROFLCopter with rib cramps!* So, for those of you that thought you knew how the internets work, think again! I now have the means to control the whole internet....because I know which pole it is!!!!
But don't worry, for the measly sum of one million dollars, I will put a truck proof barrier around it.
After all that's a nice internet you got there, it would be a shame for something to happen to it...*fires up chainsaw*;-)
About the only useful information I can get out of them is whether it is a regional problem, city problem, or neighborhood problem. If it's none of the above, then I can safely deduce that the problem is between the house and the pole in the back yard, and put in a service request.
Fortunately I know enough networking to trouble shoot and support/manage my own home LAN, so I guess this is good enough for my purposes. Unfortunately, I'm not the typical residential/home user, who may not have that knowledge or ability.
Don't get your knickers in a knot, you're only talking about a sub-microscopic aberration in the galaxy, much less of the known universe. We won't even notice this....;-)
Easy questions with humorous punishments for wrong answers seems like the perfect Idiocracy approach...
Sadly, that has already happened. On the internet, there is the 'Darwin Awards' site. I would be curious what percentage of award winners(including honorable mentions in a separate column) where from the USA.
It used to be called the 'rat race', but it has turned into a race to the bottom. I don't think rats are that stupid! I remember an article on/. some years back where some lab cultured rat brain cells learned to fly a plane in a simulator.
I, for one, welcome our new rat-brain overlords! Heck, they could not do much worse.;-)
*disclaimer* This comment will register strongly on installed hyperbole, sarcasm, and BS meters, maybe others as well...YMMV.
If you were using it to back up bookmarks on one machine and you are rebuilding that machine, then you may be in trouble.
For that specific issue, try FEBE(Firefox Extension Backup Extension) I highly recommend it for this.(and a whole lot more useful stuff)
FEBE allows my Firefox experience to be almost exactly the same between Windows and Kubuntu(dual boot), and having a current backup of the FEBE folder allows me to painlessly restore Firefox to my liking after a fresh install, or a new PC.
That emotion exists may be a fact, but that does NOT mean emotions are factual.
They are just emotions, which people experience...sometimes based on facts, sometimes based on misunderstanding, sometimes based on lack of knowledge.
In other words, not much 'facts' can be derived from emotions other than some facts cause varying emotions in different individuals for different reasons.
So, in the context of this discussion, what is your point?.
All of that is true, and most here on/. (including myself) also knew Amazon refunded/replaced the user's purchase.
However, either you are incapable of getting the point here(i suspect this by the use of 'stolen goods' describing digital files), and so different from myself, that we will never find common grounds for a meaningful discussion. Or you are deliberately being obtuse.
If it clarifies my view on this subject (DRM), I mostly agree with Richard Stallman about this subject, and see your type as part of the problem here.
Yes, we do remember that fiasco well, and the point still stands.
Do you think that the people that had '1984' deleted from their Kindle were aware of your little fact? I don't think so. To those persons, what they saw was this: Hey 1984...cool! pay for it(in good faith), jump through Amazon's hoops, have it deleted...WTF?
I would say you had a point if everyone that had bought and downloaded the book KNEW that it was improper beforehand, but they didn't know. They purchased '1984' in good faith, jumping through Amazon's hoops like expected of them, then had the system bite them in the backside out of the clear blue.
That's why I only buy ebooks without DRM (Baen Books, primarily), and put them on my book reader("Augen:the Book") I paid $50.00 US for, new, and won't own a Kindle.
Tue that tylenol overdose will harm dogs also, but that is true for most mammals.[note recent med. adversaries to limit humans intake of acetaminophen(tylenol) for humans]
I was merely pointing out that feline species are extremely sensitive to tylenol...more so than any other common pet.
Cats are thought to be evolved from desert dwellers, and conserve water by concentrating their urine far more than dogs do. That is one of the reasons cat urine stinks so badly. They are already 'pushing the kidneys to their limits' on a normal basis. Thus there is not really a safe therapeutic dose of tylenol for cats, but there is a safe therapeutic dose for dogs [see definition for 'therapeutic dose'], although other NSAIDS are preferred to tylenol.
I'm glad to hear that you did not lose your little darlings(no sarcasm intended), sorry it was so costly though.
I'm just trying to share important info about vet. med. that I possess with my fellow/.'s, who may not have this knowledge, as I can see from comments over the years that there are a lot of 4 legged companions with/.'ers here.
Human medicine and veterinary medicine are very much alike, but there ARE some huge differences sometimes!
Off-topic question: Did your username derive from Herbert's "Dune"? if so, smartly done sir.
I don't know whether to thank you, or curse you! I went to the author's page and read "Manna" just now, and the first half of that book scared me tremendously(more than any other sci-fi work I have ever experienced), then the second half was soul-tearing.
What I mean by soul-tearing, is seeing the possibilities in the Australia Project, and loving the whole concept...at the same time knowing it could probably never happen on this planet.
Too many entrenched entities(gov't. and corp) would see this as a worse cancer than USA saw communism. In the real world, the Australia Project would only be nuked out of existence before it could get viable.
We have to protect those corp. markets and profits for national security, ya know. (it IS NOT about protecting people or 'democracy')
Which brings up an interesting thought to me: The last war that the USA was successful at, was WW2. We had a common rally point:we were attacked, and fought back. We were fighting to actually protect our citizens and land...the Axis expansion was coming to our shores. Since then, all of the wars we have been in have all been about protecting markets and profits[1], and we have universally failed.
I think that troop motivation has a significant factor with that, in that there is now common rally point for the people to get behind. (another part is HOW we have went about war)
Well, in the end, I'm going to count reading 'Manna" as a positive experience, so thanks!:-)
[1] the whole anti-communism thing is rooted in protecting corp. markets and profits, and is also the root of the anti-socialist attitude in the USA
Japanese companies are very different to western ones.
That's an important point here, and often overlooked.
I see that as the side effects of Japan having a sometimes very different culture and social norms/values than in the west hemisphere.
What works well in Japan, may not work here in the USA, but that works both ways.
I foresee severe backlash in the US workforce if this tech is attempted here. On top of all the other stuff causing unrest in this country, something like this could tip the balance for a revolt of some sorts.
(Not singling out Japan, just trying to stay on-topic.)
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I went to the beta site the other day to see what the fuss was about.
GHAAHH!!!
Some things you just cannot UNSEE!!!! The horror!!!
It reminded me of the time I had just finished setting up a 4 monitor desktop....Man, I can REALLY slash my dots now!
I went straight to slashdot, and quickly I had 4 different articles with comments opened, one on each screen!!!
Well, then IT happened....
I quickly ran to the restroom, okay, back to the PC...okay.
Drafty? Hmmm...*look down, zipper undone*
I start to zip up my trousers and just then stare in shock!
I had been goatse'd, tub girled, AND trolled by GNAA all at the same time!
I hurriedly finished zipping up...AHHHHH!!! GOT SCROTUM CAUGHT IN ZIPPER!!
And while all of this was going on suddenly the speakers started blaring; floor was shaking, windows shattering, dogs all over the neighborhood started howling, police sirens started coming my way.....I HAD BEEN RICK-ROLLED!!
Thought I was going to die.
And in the end, the Beta site experience was far more traumatic than anything experienced prior on slashdot for me.
Eliminating cash would eliminate lots of crime,...
I think I disagree with you on this one.
I think you are correct it will reduce or eliminate certain types of crimes, but the overall number of crimes, or attempted crimes will not significantly drop.
I'm not arguing against eliminating cash as a crime deterrent, but it would be less than honest to say crime would be reduced or eliminated because the criminals have moved to a less visible(to the avg. public) method or area.
Or maybe we are alluding to the same thing? (if so, then ignore my comment above-not looking for a fight:)
Stop whining about the whining about Beta.
(hint: I'm off work recovering from surgery, so we can play this game as long as you care to)
"Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters"
The nerds apparently feel that the beta being forced on us is 'stuff that matters, so learn to deal with it.
After 'beta only' goes live(April), it will probably be plenty quiet for you.
Hmmm...you may even end up having one of the lowest UID's then!!! WOOOT!!!
Hack the Google Glass to ONLY display Slashdot Beta, even when turned off. ;-)
The NSA, current US administration, DHS, FAA, and Dice are in cahoots to make sure no slashdotters get possession of drones for a preemptive strike on shashdot beta!
This is probably about to come out in a new Snowden Files episode next week.
I started today at the bottom and have been working my way up the page with the articles.
'Soulskill' joined in the discussion about the beta that was raging on the Quakecon article(IIRC).
Here's my take:
According to him, the editors are reading the comments and sending them upstream to their Dice corporate overlords, and have been warning same OL's that this was likely to happen. Many of the editors feel the same way, but the editors are too far down the ladder to have much say about this.
He also said that feedback was pouring in and they were trying to take it all in.
One of the things, from the sounds of it, a classic version is not an option when the beta goes live in April. I hope I misunderstood.
Yes that aspect is true, 'mobile reactive organic targets' usually give instant results of your mad skillz. They can be tricky targets. Good training! ;-)
Unlike Jar Jar, I'm afraid that slashdot beta will be even MORE zombie-like than SCO, thus EVEN harder to kill.
However is responsible for making this mandatory needs to be VR headset fitted, castrated with a bench vise...half turn of the handle ever 15 minutes, while standing barefoot on hot coals, and at random intervals...goosed with an electric cattle prod, all while "Cannibal: The Musical" is playing on the aforementioned headset.(in 3D, immersive ,but not interactive, in surround sound-you could shove the sub woofer up their ass...goatse may need a heir)
Then made to walk the plank, get keel hauled, crucified, impaled an a short spike, drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, hung, then torn into itty bitty pieces, and BURIED ALIVE!
Then we nuke them from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
I thought it was my imagination, but several others have commented on this apparent downmodding.
Regardless, I have been using my mod points lately to mod up constructive criticism type comments, and will continue to do so.(making heavy use of "+1 under rated" mod-I heard that can 'lock in' the mod point[as does "-1 over rated"], but I don't really know how true that is)
Even if it just keeps them busy downmodding, maybe that's less time they can spend on that abomination they call beta.
I usually get 15 mod points about every other day on average,(I doubt I'm unique in that), and I'm not afraid to use them in the "Down With Slashdot Beta" campaign. ;-)
(now I wonder if I will ever get mod points again after this comment?)
(feel free to get drunk and naked while posting)
The last time I tried that whilst using the library computer, the cops arrested me, you insensitive clod!
Oh yeah, AND Go AWAY AND DIE, SLASHDOT BETA!!!!
No, but I did get the warning that classic ends in 4 months yesterday when I logged in.
I had been seeing all of the comments about the beta site, and finally got curious enough to open the beta site link in a separate tab.
OMG!!!WTF!!!!!
I stayed long enough to 'take the tour' with the little numbered boxes that show up, checked out how the comments work, then I went to the feedback survey (extreme upper right corner in my browser) to make my displeasure known.
IMHO, the beta site is HORRID, and I for one, will not be back after the changeover unless 'classic'(as it is now) is a working option.
I started hanging out on /. as an AC back when they first started handing out 5 digit UID's, and have learned a metric buttload of cool, useful, and interesting stuff here. /., and really hate to lose that.
I have met a whole lot of interesting people from around the world, from many professions and walks of life here on
Slashdot was and still is a unique place that I have come to enjoy, and have found no other place similar enough to go to.
Guess I'll have more time for other interests and hobbies, but this will be quite a hole to fill....
To use some of your own words:
'if you don't like it. there are other sites you can use'
Some of us have been here a long time and find value here, and are wanting to try and hold onto that.
If the beta drives away a lot of users, I will be sad, and go away also.
So your whining about the whining is just background noise, as the large majority seems to have you outnumbered...deal with it.
And get off my lawn!
So, you're saying Slashdot should be run farmers?
*unhitches mules from plow*
I'm on my way!
I hope that something like a 'greasemonkey' script can be made to combat this if Dice keeps pushing this abomination.
This is one of those times when I kinda wished I had learned some programming when younger. As it is now, I would not even know where or how to start on something like the above, much less actually be able to complete it.
Oh well, I guess that is one to add to my near future projects list.
Well, I have no experience with Verizon, a few calls to my ISP tech support(Suddenlink.net) I have made convinced me that they would be no help.
One in particular some years back:
*Stillwater, Oklahoma: Internet service was down again...a frequent occurrence at that time, but usually only for short periods.(they were "upgrading the infrastructure", so I generally cut them some slack) This time it had been about 16 hours.
The weather was admittedly pretty bad, heavy wind, heavy rain, lightning, cold, etc...*
I call tech support:
Me:I cannot access the internet. The modem is not connecting with you.
'Tech': well, the internet is down temporarirly. We're sorry, but we are trying to get it working again as quickly as we can.
Me: The internet is down, the whole thing?
Tech: Yes, the whole internet is down. During the storm earlier, a truck hit a pole in town and took down the whole internet.
Me: A truck hit a pole in town, and took out the whole internet? Hmmm...Thank you, goodbye.
*ROFLCopter with rib cramps!*
So, for those of you that thought you knew how the internets work, think again! I now have the means to control the whole internet....because I know which pole it is!!!!
But don't worry, for the measly sum of one million dollars, I will put a truck proof barrier around it.
After all that's a nice internet you got there, it would be a shame for something to happen to it...*fires up chainsaw* ;-)
About the only useful information I can get out of them is whether it is a regional problem, city problem, or neighborhood problem.
If it's none of the above, then I can safely deduce that the problem is between the house and the pole in the back yard, and put in a service request.
Fortunately I know enough networking to trouble shoot and support/manage my own home LAN, so I guess this is good enough for my purposes.
Unfortunately, I'm not the typical residential/home user, who may not have that knowledge or ability.
Don't get your knickers in a knot, you're only talking about a sub-microscopic aberration in the galaxy, much less of the known universe.
We won't even notice this....;-)
Easy questions with humorous punishments for wrong answers seems like the perfect Idiocracy approach...
Sadly, that has already happened.
On the internet, there is the 'Darwin Awards' site.
I would be curious what percentage of award winners(including honorable mentions in a separate column) where from the USA.
It used to be called the 'rat race', but it has turned into a race to the bottom. /. some years back where some lab cultured rat brain cells learned to fly a plane in a simulator.
I don't think rats are that stupid!
I remember an article on
I, for one, welcome our new rat-brain overlords! ;-)
Heck, they could not do much worse.
*disclaimer*
This comment will register strongly on installed hyperbole, sarcasm, and BS meters, maybe others as well...YMMV.
I see this frequently...*sigh*
I personally couldn't(could not) care less about social media integration.
I think that was what you meant...if so, then the answer would be no, but the two statements are opposite in their actual meaning.
Your version: "I could care less about it, but I don't."
My version:
"I could not possibly care less about it, as I don't care for it at all."
Think about it a little, and it is very clear that 'could' and 'could not' have opposite and specific meanings.
If you were using it to back up bookmarks on one machine and you are rebuilding that machine, then you may be in trouble.
For that specific issue, try FEBE(Firefox Extension Backup Extension)
I highly recommend it for this.(and a whole lot more useful stuff)
FEBE allows my Firefox experience to be almost exactly the same between Windows and Kubuntu(dual boot), and having a current backup of the FEBE folder allows me to painlessly restore Firefox to my liking after a fresh install, or a new PC.
I'm glad to see +mods for your comment.
That's a very insightful, concise, and informative statement IMHO.
I hope you don't mind some of us 'borrowing' that gem for our own use. :-)
That emotion exists may be a fact, but that does NOT mean emotions are factual.
They are just emotions, which people experience...sometimes based on facts, sometimes based on misunderstanding, sometimes based on lack of knowledge.
In other words, not much 'facts' can be derived from emotions other than some facts cause varying emotions in different individuals for different reasons.
So, in the context of this discussion, what is your point?.
All of that is true, and most here on /. (including myself) also knew Amazon refunded/replaced the user's purchase.
However, either you are incapable of getting the point here(i suspect this by the use of 'stolen goods' describing digital files), and so different from myself, that we will never find common grounds for a meaningful discussion. Or you are deliberately being obtuse.
If it clarifies my view on this subject (DRM), I mostly agree with Richard Stallman about this subject, and see your type as part of the problem here.
Good day to you, Enry, I'm done with you.
Yes, we do remember that fiasco well, and the point still stands.
Do you think that the people that had '1984' deleted from their Kindle were aware of your little fact?
I don't think so. To those persons, what they saw was this:
Hey 1984...cool! pay for it(in good faith), jump through Amazon's hoops, have it deleted...WTF?
I would say you had a point if everyone that had bought and downloaded the book KNEW that it was improper beforehand, but they didn't know.
They purchased '1984' in good faith, jumping through Amazon's hoops like expected of them, then had the system bite them in the backside out of the clear blue.
That's why I only buy ebooks without DRM (Baen Books, primarily), and put them on my book reader("Augen:the Book") I paid $50.00 US for, new, and won't own a Kindle.
Tue that tylenol overdose will harm dogs also, but that is true for most mammals.[note recent med. adversaries to limit humans intake of acetaminophen(tylenol) for humans]
I was merely pointing out that feline species are extremely sensitive to tylenol...more so than any other common pet.
Cats are thought to be evolved from desert dwellers, and conserve water by concentrating their urine far more than dogs do.
That is one of the reasons cat urine stinks so badly. They are already 'pushing the kidneys to their limits' on a normal basis.
Thus there is not really a safe therapeutic dose of tylenol for cats, but there is a safe therapeutic dose for dogs [see definition for 'therapeutic dose'], although other NSAIDS are preferred to tylenol.
I'm glad to hear that you did not lose your little darlings(no sarcasm intended), sorry it was so costly though.
I'm just trying to share important info about vet. med. that I possess with my fellow /.'s, who may not have this knowledge, as I can see from comments over the years that there are a lot of 4 legged companions with /.'ers here.
Human medicine and veterinary medicine are very much alike, but there ARE some huge differences sometimes!
Off-topic question:
Did your username derive from Herbert's "Dune"?
if so, smartly done sir.
I don't know whether to thank you, or curse you!
I went to the author's page and read "Manna" just now, and the first half of that book scared me tremendously(more than any other sci-fi work I have ever experienced), then the second half was soul-tearing.
What I mean by soul-tearing, is seeing the possibilities in the Australia Project, and loving the whole concept...at the same time knowing it could probably never happen on this planet.
Too many entrenched entities(gov't. and corp) would see this as a worse cancer than USA saw communism.
In the real world, the Australia Project would only be nuked out of existence before it could get viable.
We have to protect those corp. markets and profits for national security, ya know. (it IS NOT about protecting people or 'democracy')
Which brings up an interesting thought to me:
The last war that the USA was successful at, was WW2. We had a common rally point:we were attacked, and fought back. We were fighting to actually protect our citizens and land...the Axis expansion was coming to our shores.
Since then, all of the wars we have been in have all been about protecting markets and profits[1], and we have universally failed.
I think that troop motivation has a significant factor with that, in that there is now common rally point for the people to get behind. (another part is HOW we have went about war)
Well, in the end, I'm going to count reading 'Manna" as a positive experience, so thanks! :-)
[1] the whole anti-communism thing is rooted in protecting corp. markets and profits, and is also the root of the anti-socialist attitude in the USA
Japanese companies are very different to western ones.
That's an important point here, and often overlooked.
I see that as the side effects of Japan having a sometimes very different culture and social norms/values than in the west hemisphere.
What works well in Japan, may not work here in the USA, but that works both ways.
I foresee severe backlash in the US workforce if this tech is attempted here. On top of all the other stuff causing unrest in this country, something like this could tip the balance for a revolt of some sorts.
(Not singling out Japan, just trying to stay on-topic.)