Naturally the common people don't want war... but after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country. -- Hermann Goering, Propaganda Minister for Adolf Hitler
I've heard that the first movie will continue on until roughly half-way thru The Two Towers, so you might want to read a bit further than you originally planned.
As for The Hobbit, I really enjoy it, even still. I first read it as a young boy. I think it really introduces Gollum/Smeagol well, but it's not essential to LotR.
But, definitely read the books prior to seeing the movie(s). My little brother just finished reading them for the first time, and I'm working on getting the gf to read them (tho, she probably won't - she likes fiction).
I know the Navy would just love to know what a BSOD means.
Believe me, they do.
The Navy had a ship that was completely computer controlled (part of a future-systems testbed), running some Windows flavor. Well, somehow the entire system crashed, and the ship was dead in the water because the propulsion was also under complete computer control. IIRC, it took them over a day to get the ship back underway.
Agree completely. We've had ours (work) for a while - after we finagled it thru customs (damn FCC) - and it's a pretty neat device. Fast, smooth, and the development kit comes with _EVERYTHING_.
It eats battery time for breakfast tho. Biggest weakness, IMO.
Cheers,
Brian
I've been using this monitor
on
3D w/o Goggles
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· Score: 1
I work for a defense contractor, and we've been using this product (serial number 001, actually) to demo some advanced display concepts to the Army.
I think consumer use of something like this is limited, at best, but in military, medical, maintenence, etc... limitless.
Our software demo was simply a CAS mission (Close Air Support) where a pair of attack aircraft enter a warzone to attack a mechanized infantry unit. The mission was complete with artillery fire, standoff weapons, enemy aircraft, SAM sites, etc. We chose to display ground units, terrain, etc, on the far plane, and air units, threat rings, etc on the near plane. It was very cool, and very easy to determine what was happening even in very "busy" environments with multiple threats. On a traditional monitor, the screen would have been much too cluttered.
Best of all, the screen is flat. It's only a few inches deep, and is ideal for confined spaces, like the interior of an aircraft (or any other location where space is at a premium).
Some other military applications we've thought of are putting an IR scope image on one plane, and a light intensified image on the other, letting Abrams operators access both scopes simulaneously, rather than having to flip from one to the other.
I've dealt alot with Bruce, their East Coast sales rep - quality guy. Lots of fun.:) I know Deep Imaging is trying to get us to release our demo application, so we are working thru QA as I type. I expect that, if we get it released, they might start using that as an additional demo at trade shows. I know Bruce thought it was awesome.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I've actually used one of these displays.
There are just 2 planes in the z dimension. However, a 3d rendered image on the near plane can trick your brain into thinking you are seeing a true 3d image. It's pretty neat.
I think Deep Imaging has the wrong marketing angle. It seems pretty useless for the average consumer, but I see thousands of military applications in confined spaces, like aircraft. You'd be surprised how much more info you can cram into a screen when you have one more dimension to use.
Cheers,
Brian
Re:For some reason I doubt this will ever be commo
on
3D w/o Goggles
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· Score: 1
We had one of these at work - in fact, the first production unit ever... serial number 001. It's a very cool device.
No special input needed - it's just 2 SVGA inputs. 2 computers, or a dual-head card, is all you need.
The back screen is a bit fuzzy, and the depth separation is about 2 cm (too big!), but it's very very cool. Our unit is now at Fort Leavenworth being utilized by an Army research laboratory for future combat systems. We bought a 2nd, and I hope I get to play with it some more.
Actually, Ohio State has a similar program... Electrical/Computer Engineering (ECE). It's an EE degree, except you turn down the analog quantity and add a bunch of software engineering courses instead.
I graduated last December with an ECE degree from OSU, and am now working in a human factors research laboratory attached to a defense contractor. Business programming is mind-numbingly un-inspiring. My work is really cool - one-shot programs to solve individual problems. Unfortunately, we lost out on the contract re-compete, so I'll have to see if I can transfer to another research arm of our company, or I'll have to a) work in the business arm (still defense related, but not as cool) or b) find a new job.
Actually, soccer came first, and rugby (and American football, for that matter) came about as bastardizations. Some people couldn't resist picking up the ball.:)
The term soccer came from British schoolboys - association football -> "soc"cer (refers to the player). Similer to how rugby players are called "ruggers", and the came can be called rugger.
So, originally, soccer was a snobbish upper-class term for association football, and football was the term used by the unwashed masses.
I think what Katz meant to imply is that it's a different marketplace now.
We've gone from institutions competing for resources, to the institutions themselves suddenly becoming the (advertising, for example) resources. Nike swoosh on Ohio State football uniforms, Coke being the only cola available on OSU's campus, etc.
By your logic, nike.com shouldn't belong to Nike either. I mean, greek diety, and all!
Now, the guy who registered corinthians.com was not 'squatting'. He shouldn't have his domain taken.
And another poster mentioned that 'Corinthians' the book of the Bible is better known than Corinthians the futbol team. I doubt it. Maybe in the US, but there are a LOT of non-xtian soccer fans in the rest of the world.
Is there a guide for how to do this? A book, or a website, or something? I'm graduating in December, and haven't the foggiest idea how to interview my potential employer.
Sure, I'm good at being interviewed, but not at interviewing. And while it may seem trivial to those of you who have figured out how to do this... it isn't. I need (and others, I'm sure) direction.
If this post sounds stupid, be gentle - I have alot of stuff on my mind with wrapping up school, moving, etc etc. This is one of those big "life changes".:)
Frankly, we don't know much of anything yet. We have no idea of what is there - and I for one don't want to run around risking death for some indiginous life to stroke our own egos.
What's the frickin' rush? We've got plenty of time to seed Europa once we know what the hell is there!
The point is to protect any existing life from contamination. Intentionally dropping microbes on Europa would be criminal at this stage. Europa could tell us many very important things central to the meaning/existance of life!
If there is life there, it's a pretty safe bet that there is life elsewhere in the universe, and I'd even bet on intelligent life then. If there isn't life on Europa, we are no further ahead or behind in the quest for knowledge.
And then is when you go ahead and drop microbes in there and "spread the magic of life". Let's not get ahead of ourselves, eh? Assuming that life we put there is more important than existing life is a bit self-centered and egotistical. It's playing god when we don't know the reach and power of the tools yet. Dangerous.
As a good reference, how would you like it if some distant intelligent species simply dumped microbes on Earth to "spread the magic of life" without bothering to check if life was present first. And those microbes were toxic to us, and killed all existing life on the planet. Bummer, huh?
My university (Ohio State) has banned Napster traffic, but (and I know this from talking to the as-of-yesterday former CIO, and new Vice Chancellor of - I think - UCLA) it was due entirely to bandwidth concerns.
Looking at a single data packet, it is impossible to determine if it is copyrighted or not. Any university that bans Napster on copyright concerns has no leg to stand on.
Napster eats an incredible amount of bandwidth, mostly because people don't know the most efficient way of using it. You don't leave it up 24-7, for example.
As an aside, OU ran a recent experiment where they temporarily expanded their pipe by a factor of 4, and it took 12 minutes for traffic to expand and fill the new pipe. 12 minutes. It was nearly ALL Napster traffic.
Students will take as much bandwidth as is available. It's just too expensive for universities to attempt to keep up. And simply banning services is - at best - a temporary fix.
People need to learn how to responsibly use network resources, for the betterment of ALL.
Indeed, for some, libertarianism is an excuse to refrain from accepting responsibility.
I disagree. "With freedom comes responsibility," right? Libertarianism is about trusting the individual to use their freedom responsibly. Of course, a minimal level of law is required, but no more than that.
I'd argue that the far right is more about shirking responsibility. Just look at all the finger pointing when it comes to Columbine, for example. Nobody says "my bad. I screwed up." No blame placed on Harris/Klebold - it's the black trenchcoats and Doom that made 'em that way! The solution is - obviously - to ban those products or acts that are deemed "immoral".
Of course, the far left isn't much better (and I'm left-leaning myself). Let's rescue people from fiscal irresponsibility and give them Social Security so they can (in theory) retire. It's basically gov't required charity. Compassion == good, forced donation == bad.
Somebody must check corporatism. If not, our very freedoms are in jeopardy. But those checks should come from the consumers (ahhh, there's that responsibility coming in) - not gov't. The problem is that too many people are willing to trade some freedom for a modicum of safety - and that's a slippery slope.
The key is, IMO, better education. Too many of today's youth (and I'm 23, so I don't think I fall in that category anymore...) lack the critical reasoning skills necessary for Libertarianism to work. They gobble up the corporate advertising like it's required to live. I need my IKEA furniture, my Nike's, my Abercrombie shirts... etc. I wanna be like Mike!
True -/. is commercial now, and can handle that crap. But it still wastes my time. Not much of it, maybe, but all those NP posts are wasteful. Does it hurt me? No. Does it take longer... well, if I had a cable modem, I probably wouldn't care at all - but I have a 33.6K, and I'm dialing up at university, which means horrid busy signals.
There is no way to discourage those posts, so stop hoping. Censorship by content is never implementable without bias, and it's never desirable. There are idiots in this world, and it's often too hard to resist trying to silence others without realizing that one's own idiocy. Tempt not yourself into creating a system where "one more judgment, and I am undone".
I'm certainly not advocating censorship. Most certainly not thru any "legislation" by/.
Different online communities - as I'm sure you know - have different flavors. What is acceptable or not will vary from community to community. Typically, the biggest trouble makers are newbies who don't take the time to learn the "flavor" of that community - but they can (and do, usually) learn to come in line with the attitudes of the rest of the community.
It really boils down to "policing" (I don't like that term) by social pressure. Encourage constructive posts. Make people feel a part of the community, so they will want to maintain and enhance the quality of that community thru active, constructive, discussions. This has nothing to do with opinion or position, mind you. Just topic & relevancy, and usefullness of the post (does it make me rethink my position?)
There is nothing to be done about 5kR1p7 k1DD135 who want to be "cool", except to hope (ask?) for them to grow up and contribute.
Funny how (non-liberal) Christians like to paint themselves as martyrs when, in fact, they are one of the largest demographic groups out there.
I see religious discrimination all the time. People being mocked, ridiculed, and excluded from all sorts of public rituals, such as school graduation. Most of this discrimination is leveled at atheists (or even just non-Christians) by right-wing Christian groups. It's true!
The "dominant atheistic paradigm" is only existant in small, exclusive circles - usually highly educated, high tech/science people. Everywhere else, it's the "dominant Christian paradigm".
"Opt-ing out" is not a valid option. It only serves to ostracise people. In a truly secular society, there is no "opt out", so people aren't excluded. They can freely choose to "opt in" to whatever religious ceremonies they choose - in whatever flavor they choose.
But back to my original point: I think it's funny that conservative Christians blame erroniously atheists for doing the same thing they do on a daily basis! Conservatives have no right to preach about acceptance of non-standards. At all.
I like hearing EVERYTHING that EVERYONE has to say about the topic at hand, not just someone like you, who posts goodie-goodie Mr. Niceguy articles.
That's all well and good - I love reading opposing viewpoints. It's refreshing and potentially enlightening.
But what redeeming value do "Petrified Natalie Portman w/ hot grits & whipped cream" posts have with any discussion - other than ones about non-standard sexual preferences (the petrified thing - not Natalie Portman!) or about NP herself. None, really. It's a waste of resources, in reference to bandwidth, Slashdot disk space, and my time.
Unfortunately, the only real remedy is to browse at +1 or even +2. This requires trust in the moderators and moderation system - and more often than not, they seem to be doing a good job. Every once in a while I take my time reading posts, and I usually agree with the moderation totals. I'm often too busy to wade thru the crap, tho...
Is there a better way to discourage non-constructive (ie, stupid and witless) flaming? And to scrap those damned waste-of-bandwidth petrified Natalie Portman and similar posts? I don't know. The only fair option is to simply hope that these people grow up.
Cheers, Brian
Re:Mixing different ideas
on
AOL Nation
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· Score: 1
In fact, I cannot see any threat to either of the rights of free speech or free press in the combination of these firms. Certainly, the combined entity will be large. However, last time I checked, there ARE other outlets for news available to people.
Funny you should bring this up.
Here in Columbus (OH), there was recently a dispute between Time Warner (cable provider for most of Ohio) and the Dispatch Broadcast Group (owners of the ONLY daily paper in Columbus, as well as the local CBS affiliate and a statewide news network - ONN). The Dispatch wanted ONN on Warner's expanded standard cable lineup in Central Ohio (it was already on other Warner lineups in Ohio). Time-Warner said no, likely because they want to offer their OWN statewide news network later this year. So the Dispatch threatened to pull the over-the-air Channel 10 from Warner's cable lineup.
Time-Warner offered to put ONN on the new digital service, while at the same time (unknown to most Central Ohioans) threatening to pull ONN from other TW cable setups in Ohio - I only know this because my parents get TW cable in Dayton.
So basically, they had a big staredown, and both sides backed off 2 days before the Dispatch's deadline of Jan 1, agreeing to maintain the status quo until a better solution could be found.
Now, for people in Columbus this wasn't a big deal. Rabbit ears can always pick up Channel 10, and Americast is available as a cable option in almost all areas of the city. But for people in the rest of Ohio, they nearly had an independent (relative to the cable provider) news source pulled. In fact, they likely will when TW gets their statewide news service in place. I can see a conflict here.
AOL is based here in Columbus. While they don't have a monopoly, they do have a huge market share, especially with newbies (who don't understand how easy connecting with a third-party ISP can be). The ignorance of the general public only serves to aid AOL-Time-Warner's market share and "monopoly" over media outlets, especially in areas served only by TW cable, or that don't have local, reliable ISPs.
I think this real-world example points out a very real (and more likely, IMO) scenario that threatens free press / non-biased information.
The trick is to put the negative feedback in without having the government breathing down your neck all the time.
Well put. I'm a Libertarian myself (a slightly left-liberal one), and as such I'm a big believer in free-market economies. Ideally, you would get that negative feedback from the consumers. People would say "hmmm, AOL-Time-Warner is getting pretty big. I see a potential problem here reconciling my personal freedoms with a Big Brother-esque company and their practices. We the consumers should knock 'em down a notch."
Sadly, that doesn't happen. I don't think that the educational systems here in America are giving kids the appropriate tools for critical independent thought. I would consider the ability to critically assess something far more important that the ability to integrate something upon high school graduation.
Until kids start learing these skills in high school, I think that - in this case - the government has a responsibility to look out for the long-term liberties of their citizens.
Consumerism is changing the traditional view of Big Brother as government into Big Brother as multi-national corporation, with it's own media branch.
I never said feedback = stable. No feedback equals, at best, marginally stable (ie, the system won't return to it's current state if temporarily disturbed). I simply said that stable implies (requires?) feedback. Or, that was what I was trying to say.
Natural selection is simply the feedback mechanism for biological evolution. I'm not necessarily saying that natural selection also applies to social "evolution", simply that some form of feedback mechanism exists. (Yeah, I know - that's awfully easy to say without providing some kind of solution, but that's what I'm doing anyway.:) ).
BTW, natural selection still applies to human evolution, however our advances in medicine and views on social welfare are introducing noise (lead? lag?), and potentially pushing things into an unstable state. I'm sure it'll work itself out in the end, tho.
Slashdot Mirror
Rather interesting statement, hrm?
Cheers,
Brian
As for The Hobbit, I really enjoy it, even still. I first read it as a young boy. I think it really introduces Gollum/Smeagol well, but it's not essential to LotR.
But, definitely read the books prior to seeing the movie(s). My little brother just finished reading them for the first time, and I'm working on getting the gf to read them (tho, she probably won't - she likes fiction).
Cheers,
Brian
Believe me, they do.
The Navy had a ship that was completely computer controlled (part of a future-systems testbed), running some Windows flavor. Well, somehow the entire system crashed, and the ship was dead in the water because the propulsion was also under complete computer control. IIRC, it took them over a day to get the ship back underway.
A quick google search came up with this: http://www.gcn.com/archives/gcn/1998/july13/cov2.h tm
Cheers,
Brian
It eats battery time for breakfast tho. Biggest weakness, IMO.
Cheers,
Brian
I think consumer use of something like this is limited, at best, but in military, medical, maintenence, etc... limitless.
Our software demo was simply a CAS mission (Close Air Support) where a pair of attack aircraft enter a warzone to attack a mechanized infantry unit. The mission was complete with artillery fire, standoff weapons, enemy aircraft, SAM sites, etc. We chose to display ground units, terrain, etc, on the far plane, and air units, threat rings, etc on the near plane. It was very cool, and very easy to determine what was happening even in very "busy" environments with multiple threats. On a traditional monitor, the screen would have been much too cluttered.
Best of all, the screen is flat. It's only a few inches deep, and is ideal for confined spaces, like the interior of an aircraft (or any other location where space is at a premium).
Some other military applications we've thought of are putting an IR scope image on one plane, and a light intensified image on the other, letting Abrams operators access both scopes simulaneously, rather than having to flip from one to the other.
I've dealt alot with Bruce, their East Coast sales rep - quality guy. Lots of fun. :) I know Deep Imaging is trying to get us to release our demo application, so we are working thru QA as I type. I expect that, if we get it released, they might start using that as an additional demo at trade shows. I know Bruce thought it was awesome.
Cheers,
Brian
There are just 2 planes in the z dimension. However, a 3d rendered image on the near plane can trick your brain into thinking you are seeing a true 3d image. It's pretty neat.
I think Deep Imaging has the wrong marketing angle. It seems pretty useless for the average consumer, but I see thousands of military applications in confined spaces, like aircraft. You'd be surprised how much more info you can cram into a screen when you have one more dimension to use.
Cheers,
Brian
No special input needed - it's just 2 SVGA inputs. 2 computers, or a dual-head card, is all you need.
The back screen is a bit fuzzy, and the depth separation is about 2 cm (too big!), but it's very very cool. Our unit is now at Fort Leavenworth being utilized by an Army research laboratory for future combat systems. We bought a 2nd, and I hope I get to play with it some more.
Cheers,
Brian
I graduated last December with an ECE degree from OSU, and am now working in a human factors research laboratory attached to a defense contractor. Business programming is mind-numbingly un-inspiring. My work is really cool - one-shot programs to solve individual problems. Unfortunately, we lost out on the contract re-compete, so I'll have to see if I can transfer to another research arm of our company, or I'll have to a) work in the business arm (still defense related, but not as cool) or b) find a new job.
Cheers,
Brian
I believe that there was something in the bible about not judging... or something like that.
Sins are God's domain. Why go out of your way to punish sinners here on earth when God will deal the "Ultimate Punishment(tm)" in the end anyway?
Or put another way - God gave man free choice. So why should man endeavor to take that choice away?
Cheers,
Brian
Not if you've got really good hearing! You know, triangulate the position of the target, etc etc.
:)
Unfortunately, you do have to either take your hand off the mouse, or your other hand off the keyboard...
The term soccer came from British schoolboys - association football -> "soc"cer (refers to the player). Similer to how rugby players are called "ruggers", and the came can be called rugger.
So, originally, soccer was a snobbish upper-class term for association football, and football was the term used by the unwashed masses.
Cheers,
Brian
We've gone from institutions competing for resources, to the institutions themselves suddenly becoming the (advertising, for example) resources. Nike swoosh on Ohio State football uniforms, Coke being the only cola available on OSU's campus, etc.
It's a slightly different beast now, IMO.
Cheers,
Brian
Now, the guy who registered corinthians.com was not 'squatting'. He shouldn't have his domain taken.
And another poster mentioned that 'Corinthians' the book of the Bible is better known than Corinthians the futbol team. I doubt it. Maybe in the US, but there are a LOT of non-xtian soccer fans in the rest of the world.
Cheers,
Brian
Is there a guide for how to do this? A book, or a website, or something? I'm graduating in December, and haven't the foggiest idea how to interview my potential employer.
:)
Sure, I'm good at being interviewed, but not at interviewing. And while it may seem trivial to those of you who have figured out how to do this... it isn't. I need (and others, I'm sure) direction.
If this post sounds stupid, be gentle - I have alot of stuff on my mind with wrapping up school, moving, etc etc. This is one of those big "life changes".
Cheers,
Brian
What's the frickin' rush? We've got plenty of time to seed Europa once we know what the hell is there!
Cheers,
Brian
If there is life there, it's a pretty safe bet that there is life elsewhere in the universe, and I'd even bet on intelligent life then. If there isn't life on Europa, we are no further ahead or behind in the quest for knowledge.
And then is when you go ahead and drop microbes in there and "spread the magic of life". Let's not get ahead of ourselves, eh? Assuming that life we put there is more important than existing life is a bit self-centered and egotistical. It's playing god when we don't know the reach and power of the tools yet. Dangerous.
As a good reference, how would you like it if some distant intelligent species simply dumped microbes on Earth to "spread the magic of life" without bothering to check if life was present first. And those microbes were toxic to us, and killed all existing life on the planet. Bummer, huh?
Cheers,
Brian
Cheers,
Brian
My university (Ohio State) has banned Napster traffic, but (and I know this from talking to the as-of-yesterday former CIO, and new Vice Chancellor of - I think - UCLA) it was due entirely to bandwidth concerns.
Looking at a single data packet, it is impossible to determine if it is copyrighted or not. Any university that bans Napster on copyright concerns has no leg to stand on.
Napster eats an incredible amount of bandwidth, mostly because people don't know the most efficient way of using it. You don't leave it up 24-7, for example.
As an aside, OU ran a recent experiment where they temporarily expanded their pipe by a factor of 4, and it took 12 minutes for traffic to expand and fill the new pipe. 12 minutes. It was nearly ALL Napster traffic.
Students will take as much bandwidth as is available. It's just too expensive for universities to attempt to keep up. And simply banning services is - at best - a temporary fix.
People need to learn how to responsibly use network resources, for the betterment of ALL.
Cheers,
Brian
I disagree. "With freedom comes responsibility," right? Libertarianism is about trusting the individual to use their freedom responsibly. Of course, a minimal level of law is required, but no more than that.
I'd argue that the far right is more about shirking responsibility. Just look at all the finger pointing when it comes to Columbine, for example. Nobody says "my bad. I screwed up." No blame placed on Harris/Klebold - it's the black trenchcoats and Doom that made 'em that way! The solution is - obviously - to ban those products or acts that are deemed "immoral".
Of course, the far left isn't much better (and I'm left-leaning myself). Let's rescue people from fiscal irresponsibility and give them Social Security so they can (in theory) retire. It's basically gov't required charity. Compassion == good, forced donation == bad.
Somebody must check corporatism. If not, our very freedoms are in jeopardy. But those checks should come from the consumers (ahhh, there's that responsibility coming in) - not gov't. The problem is that too many people are willing to trade some freedom for a modicum of safety - and that's a slippery slope.
The key is, IMO, better education. Too many of today's youth (and I'm 23, so I don't think I fall in that category anymore...) lack the critical reasoning skills necessary for Libertarianism to work. They gobble up the corporate advertising like it's required to live. I need my IKEA furniture, my Nike's, my Abercrombie shirts... etc. I wanna be like Mike!
Cheers,
Brian
True - /. is commercial now, and can handle that crap. But it still wastes my time. Not much of it, maybe, but all those NP posts are wasteful. Does it hurt me? No. Does it take longer... well, if I had a cable modem, I probably wouldn't care at all - but I have a 33.6K, and I'm dialing up at university, which means horrid busy signals.
There is no way to discourage those posts, so stop hoping. Censorship by content is never implementable without bias, and it's never desirable. There are idiots in this world, and it's often too hard to resist trying to silence others without realizing that one's own idiocy. Tempt not yourself into creating a system where "one more judgment, and I am undone".
I'm certainly not advocating censorship. Most certainly not thru any "legislation" by /.
Different online communities - as I'm sure you know - have different flavors. What is acceptable or not will vary from community to community. Typically, the biggest trouble makers are newbies who don't take the time to learn the "flavor" of that community - but they can (and do, usually) learn to come in line with the attitudes of the rest of the community.
It really boils down to "policing" (I don't like that term) by social pressure. Encourage constructive posts. Make people feel a part of the community, so they will want to maintain and enhance the quality of that community thru active, constructive, discussions. This has nothing to do with opinion or position, mind you. Just topic & relevancy, and usefullness of the post (does it make me rethink my position?)
There is nothing to be done about 5kR1p7 k1DD135 who want to be "cool", except to hope (ask?) for them to grow up and contribute.
Cheers,
Brian
I see religious discrimination all the time. People being mocked, ridiculed, and excluded from all sorts of public rituals, such as school graduation. Most of this discrimination is leveled at atheists (or even just non-Christians) by right-wing Christian groups. It's true!
The "dominant atheistic paradigm" is only existant in small, exclusive circles - usually highly educated, high tech/science people. Everywhere else, it's the "dominant Christian paradigm".
"Opt-ing out" is not a valid option. It only serves to ostracise people. In a truly secular society, there is no "opt out", so people aren't excluded. They can freely choose to "opt in" to whatever religious ceremonies they choose - in whatever flavor they choose.
But back to my original point: I think it's funny that conservative Christians blame erroniously atheists for doing the same thing they do on a daily basis! Conservatives have no right to preach about acceptance of non-standards. At all.
Cheers,
Brian
That's all well and good - I love reading opposing viewpoints. It's refreshing and potentially enlightening.
But what redeeming value do "Petrified Natalie Portman w/ hot grits & whipped cream" posts have with any discussion - other than ones about non-standard sexual preferences (the petrified thing - not Natalie Portman!) or about NP herself. None, really. It's a waste of resources, in reference to bandwidth, Slashdot disk space, and my time.
Unfortunately, the only real remedy is to browse at +1 or even +2. This requires trust in the moderators and moderation system - and more often than not, they seem to be doing a good job. Every once in a while I take my time reading posts, and I usually agree with the moderation totals. I'm often too busy to wade thru the crap, tho...
Is there a better way to discourage non-constructive (ie, stupid and witless) flaming? And to scrap those damned waste-of-bandwidth petrified Natalie Portman and similar posts? I don't know. The only fair option is to simply hope that these people grow up.
Cheers,
Brian
Funny you should bring this up.
Here in Columbus (OH), there was recently a dispute between Time Warner (cable provider for most of Ohio) and the Dispatch Broadcast Group (owners of the ONLY daily paper in Columbus, as well as the local CBS affiliate and a statewide news network - ONN). The Dispatch wanted ONN on Warner's expanded standard cable lineup in Central Ohio (it was already on other Warner lineups in Ohio). Time-Warner said no, likely because they want to offer their OWN statewide news network later this year. So the Dispatch threatened to pull the over-the-air Channel 10 from Warner's cable lineup.
Time-Warner offered to put ONN on the new digital service, while at the same time (unknown to most Central Ohioans) threatening to pull ONN from other TW cable setups in Ohio - I only know this because my parents get TW cable in Dayton.
So basically, they had a big staredown, and both sides backed off 2 days before the Dispatch's deadline of Jan 1, agreeing to maintain the status quo until a better solution could be found.
Now, for people in Columbus this wasn't a big deal. Rabbit ears can always pick up Channel 10, and Americast is available as a cable option in almost all areas of the city. But for people in the rest of Ohio, they nearly had an independent (relative to the cable provider) news source pulled. In fact, they likely will when TW gets their statewide news service in place. I can see a conflict here.
AOL is based here in Columbus. While they don't have a monopoly, they do have a huge market share, especially with newbies (who don't understand how easy connecting with a third-party ISP can be). The ignorance of the general public only serves to aid AOL-Time-Warner's market share and "monopoly" over media outlets, especially in areas served only by TW cable, or that don't have local, reliable ISPs.
I think this real-world example points out a very real (and more likely, IMO) scenario that threatens free press / non-biased information.
Cheers,
Brian
Well put. I'm a Libertarian myself (a slightly left-liberal one), and as such I'm a big believer in free-market economies. Ideally, you would get that negative feedback from the consumers. People would say "hmmm, AOL-Time-Warner is getting pretty big. I see a potential problem here reconciling my personal freedoms with a Big Brother-esque company and their practices. We the consumers should knock 'em down a notch."
Sadly, that doesn't happen. I don't think that the educational systems here in America are giving kids the appropriate tools for critical independent thought. I would consider the ability to critically assess something far more important that the ability to integrate something upon high school graduation.
Until kids start learing these skills in high school, I think that - in this case - the government has a responsibility to look out for the long-term liberties of their citizens.
Consumerism is changing the traditional view of Big Brother as government into Big Brother as multi-national corporation, with it's own media branch.
Cheers,
Brian
Natural selection is simply the feedback mechanism for biological evolution. I'm not necessarily saying that natural selection also applies to social "evolution", simply that some form of feedback mechanism exists. (Yeah, I know - that's awfully easy to say without providing some kind of solution, but that's what I'm doing anyway. :) ).
BTW, natural selection still applies to human evolution, however our advances in medicine and views on social welfare are introducing noise (lead? lag?), and potentially pushing things into an unstable state. I'm sure it'll work itself out in the end, tho.
Cheers,
Brian