Did you know that, thanks to the advent of "zero tolerance" and "school resource officers" (i.e. some cop that the school hires who then has to justify his job), that a simple fistfight will now often get a kid arrested and prosecuted? That's right, some kid gets a criminal record to follow him around for years because he got into a simple fistfight in school. If we had those kind of policies when I was a kid, just about everyone I know would have ended up with some sort of criminal record to follow them around (including more than a few who would have been labeled with the permanent stigma of "sex offender" for something as innocent as having sex with their high school girlfriend).
Why have we allowed our schools become such common-sense-free zones? Can anyone argue that these sorts of prosecutions were what lawmakers and the public even remotely intended these laws to be used for back when they were created?
I certainly don't begrudge anyone wanting to watch it, no. But the level of religious fervor that this has taken on is just ludicrous. We're not talking about people just wanting to watch it; we're talking about people wanting to celebrate it, venerate it, throw up their hand and praise Jesus for it, offer it sacrifices, etc. I've had no less than 3 people come up today and ask me how to watch it on the internet, another person who wanted to know how much I would charge to turn it into a DVD. There are no less than 10 people who now have his picture hanging up in their offices here, like some Eastern Orthodox icon.
He doesn't deserve this--not just because, at the end of the day, he's just another politician but also because it sets people up with unrealistic expectations that he can't possibly live up to. It hurts him at least as much as it helps him.
How are new innovations in India and China going to help the unemployed in the U.S. and E.U.? Unless they invent some machines to more efficiently manage soup lines and bread lines, I don't think it's really going to help us much.
It's sad to hear such pessimism from Leo Laporte. That guy is one of the most upbeat and hardest working tech broadcasters on the planet. Even in the face of being layed off or fired, he's always been optimistic in the past, good times or bad.
And yes, I still despise G4 for the way they treated the guy who was EASILY the hardest working employee at ZDTV/Tech-TV back in the days when they were nothing and had no other real talents like him.
Seem's like Google were the one's who were the most clever in that mess, not MS. They prevented their biggest rivals (MS and Yahoo) from merging without spending a dime. That's WAY more a win for them than for MS (since Google was never really serious about buying Yahoo anyway, just serious about stopping MS from doing so).
I hate to post an "I agree" response, but this messiah shit it getting out of hand. I live in a state with a significant minority population, and a good chunk of them didn't even come into work today. I know he's an important symbol, but in the end he's just another politician. It's one thing the think he's going to be at least somewhat better than Bush (it would be hard NOT to meet that standard). But it's quite another thing to think he's going to turn water to wine and make all the bad shit go away with the wave of his hand.
And miss out on the Sean Hannity's "Obama: Will He Hand the Country Over to Osama Bin Laden?" and Keith Olbermann's "Obama: New Messiah or Merely Saint?" segments? No way!
You can easily get a pretty good projector (5000-9000 lumens) in the $6000 range. That's chickenshit money for even the smallest schools (contrary to pleadings of poverty, most schools actually get big bucks in technology grants for computers and related equipment). Most 5000 lumen models (like the NEC NP4000) can be had for under $4000.
No kidding. Let us not forget what happened a few years back with that damned "Asses of Fire" movie. I don't want to end up at war with Canada again just because we get all touchy about kids hearing some profanity. You just know the Spears and Lohan families would be the first to die if that mess started up again.
So you're saying that taking Knights of the Old Republic, a single-player RPG that sold the vast majority of its copies on the Xbox, and turning it into a complex, high-maintenance MMO that only works on the PC *ISN'T* a great idea???
Seriously, can anyone tell me ANYTHING whatsoever that the 4th amendment does now?
Technically, the cops still need a warrant if they kick down your door and shoot you on a Thursday, between 2 and 4 p.m. local time. Any other time they don't. But for those two hours, your Constitutional rights are still sacrosanct.
Imagine sitting in front of a screen full of seemingly random hexadecimal code, with a low-level assembly programmer condescendingly explaining it to you as if you were a child, using terms that made no sense to you. Then suddenly he leaves you alone with it after telling you "Now USE it, stupid!" That must be what it's like for non-geeks trying to learn what we would consider basic computer skills. It's scary and intimidating.
Most people lack our comfort with technology and our intellectual curiosity.
A lot of people, especially those on a budget who don't really know what they're buying, just go for the cheapest computer they can get. I suspect that, when she originally bought it, she was just looking at the school's basic requirements and cut every corner possible on everything else. So when she saw the cheaper Linux OS option, she went with it without really knowing what she was doing.
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Did you know that, thanks to the advent of "zero tolerance" and "school resource officers" (i.e. some cop that the school hires who then has to justify his job), that a simple fistfight will now often get a kid arrested and prosecuted? That's right, some kid gets a criminal record to follow him around for years because he got into a simple fistfight in school. If we had those kind of policies when I was a kid, just about everyone I know would have ended up with some sort of criminal record to follow them around (including more than a few who would have been labeled with the permanent stigma of "sex offender" for something as innocent as having sex with their high school girlfriend).
Why have we allowed our schools become such common-sense-free zones? Can anyone argue that these sorts of prosecutions were what lawmakers and the public even remotely intended these laws to be used for back when they were created?
Huzzah for a great new word!
Cut him some slack. As a lily-white Republican, he gets very nervous when surrounded by black people.
I certainly don't begrudge anyone wanting to watch it, no. But the level of religious fervor that this has taken on is just ludicrous. We're not talking about people just wanting to watch it; we're talking about people wanting to celebrate it, venerate it, throw up their hand and praise Jesus for it, offer it sacrifices, etc. I've had no less than 3 people come up today and ask me how to watch it on the internet, another person who wanted to know how much I would charge to turn it into a DVD. There are no less than 10 people who now have his picture hanging up in their offices here, like some Eastern Orthodox icon.
He doesn't deserve this--not just because, at the end of the day, he's just another politician but also because it sets people up with unrealistic expectations that he can't possibly live up to. It hurts him at least as much as it helps him.
How are new innovations in India and China going to help the unemployed in the U.S. and E.U.? Unless they invent some machines to more efficiently manage soup lines and bread lines, I don't think it's really going to help us much.
It's sad to hear such pessimism from Leo Laporte. That guy is one of the most upbeat and hardest working tech broadcasters on the planet. Even in the face of being layed off or fired, he's always been optimistic in the past, good times or bad.
And yes, I still despise G4 for the way they treated the guy who was EASILY the hardest working employee at ZDTV/Tech-TV back in the days when they were nothing and had no other real talents like him.
Seem's like Google were the one's who were the most clever in that mess, not MS. They prevented their biggest rivals (MS and Yahoo) from merging without spending a dime. That's WAY more a win for them than for MS (since Google was never really serious about buying Yahoo anyway, just serious about stopping MS from doing so).
I hate to post an "I agree" response, but this messiah shit it getting out of hand. I live in a state with a significant minority population, and a good chunk of them didn't even come into work today. I know he's an important symbol, but in the end he's just another politician. It's one thing the think he's going to be at least somewhat better than Bush (it would be hard NOT to meet that standard). But it's quite another thing to think he's going to turn water to wine and make all the bad shit go away with the wave of his hand.
Hell, even Skynet still needed people to run the crematoriums.
You put it in the mailbox, Mr. Henderson.
I threw coffee on my senile grandfather for years. And all it got me was jail time.
And miss out on the Sean Hannity's "Obama: Will He Hand the Country Over to Osama Bin Laden?" and Keith Olbermann's "Obama: New Messiah or Merely Saint?" segments? No way!
Well, the man being sworn in is already venerated like he's Jesus. Might as well go all the way.
You can easily get a pretty good projector (5000-9000 lumens) in the $6000 range. That's chickenshit money for even the smallest schools (contrary to pleadings of poverty, most schools actually get big bucks in technology grants for computers and related equipment). Most 5000 lumen models (like the NEC NP4000) can be had for under $4000.
No kidding. Let us not forget what happened a few years back with that damned "Asses of Fire" movie. I don't want to end up at war with Canada again just because we get all touchy about kids hearing some profanity. You just know the Spears and Lohan families would be the first to die if that mess started up again.
throw bottle at grue
There, that should take care of him.
So you're saying that taking Knights of the Old Republic, a single-player RPG that sold the vast majority of its copies on the Xbox, and turning it into a complex, high-maintenance MMO that only works on the PC *ISN'T* a great idea???
there's still an active process on Mars that's putting it there
Oh, that's just James. He had beans for lunch again.
Seriously, can anyone tell me ANYTHING whatsoever that the 4th amendment does now?
Technically, the cops still need a warrant if they kick down your door and shoot you on a Thursday, between 2 and 4 p.m. local time. Any other time they don't. But for those two hours, your Constitutional rights are still sacrosanct.
It was also a lot lonelier and much less useful.
Let me try it:
I wish you weren't such a grammar Nazi douchebag.
Was that correct?
Imagine sitting in front of a screen full of seemingly random hexadecimal code, with a low-level assembly programmer condescendingly explaining it to you as if you were a child, using terms that made no sense to you. Then suddenly he leaves you alone with it after telling you "Now USE it, stupid!" That must be what it's like for non-geeks trying to learn what we would consider basic computer skills. It's scary and intimidating.
Most people lack our comfort with technology and our intellectual curiosity.
A lot of people, especially those on a budget who don't really know what they're buying, just go for the cheapest computer they can get. I suspect that, when she originally bought it, she was just looking at the school's basic requirements and cut every corner possible on everything else. So when she saw the cheaper Linux OS option, she went with it without really knowing what she was doing.
Finally, my portfolio of soup kitchen stocks is paying off!
So what is MS supposed to do, try to NOT be so popular?