My wife turned on Good Morning America while I was still groggy from sleep. While I lay there listening to the TV, they ran this story, saying that the dinosaur had "over 500 toddler-sized teeth." I thought, "A toddler is a strange thing to compare the size of a tooth to, but my god, that thing's HUGE!"
Now let's get this out of the way: I don't have a criminal record, and I've never committed a (nontrivial) crime.
But I don't like this idea, because it would reduce my ability to commit unobserved future crimes if I ever found it necessary to do so.
I'm not sure I get why Aaron Stanton is going on a ten-page multimedia rant. So many different camera angles. So much use of the word "terrible." The thing resembles a Wii controller to the same extent that various electronic toys used to resemble Palm V PDAs. It's ten bucks, of course it's crap. Why the ten-page rant?
> It's a subscription service and a brick and mortar blockbuster isn't.
The response to that is that Blockbuster's rates for new releases are ridiculous. It's been a while since I've used my Blockbuster account, so I might be a few percent off here, but Blockbuster is now charging close to $4.00 (USD) for DVD rentals. So you don't need to watch too many movies per month with Netflix to blow Blockbuster away for value.
My experience with Netflix is that they're one of those rare businesses that keep exceeding my expectations.
Downside: As an Ubuntu user, I'm S.O.L. on using their online viewing service. That's still IE-only.
> The movie shows American packs. However, any history book will show that those are clearly British packs.
What's all this, then?
Re:Forbidding this is not part of a democracy
on
eBay The Vote
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· Score: 3, Insightful
> In a democracy, you... have the right to democratically select a dictatorship.
But in a republic, we DON'T have the right to democratically select a dictatorship. We've got a political abstraction layer known as the system of "checks and balances," and one of its functions is to protect the system (not the government, mind you, but the system) from the citizens. After all, we don't just have our own generation to think about; we can fail ourselves, but the heirs to our mistakes at least need some chance to recover.
All I know is, I did some drunken vandalism in August of 2005 and the gross misinformation I posted is still there, despite lots of subsequent activity on the article. It's like they just don't care.
> No it wouldn't. In all practical ways you would use the same amount of fuel in either case. Becasue you don't take 'just enough' > for what you are lifting.
What? You're saying that no additional fuel is used because you have more fuel onboard than you need? No. If you launch something into space, by god, you're paying for it.
> I have always wonder which part of the brain stores the ability to ride a bike.
If you're talking about the motor memory involved in pedaling, keeping balance, steering, then that info is kept right up in the very front of the cerebral cortex. There are, of course, several related functions (like vision) that are processed elsewhere, but I think "frontal lobe" is the answer you're looking for.
Thank you much. I'll try this when I get home. Wish I had Informative mod points to give.
> sudo apt-get install subversion
Well, sure, got the usual Subversion client/server installed on my webserver. But with Windows XP, I get to use Tortoise SVN, where I can right-click a file to add it, or right-click the repository to commit it. Anyone know of a good programming editor with integrated SVN that'll look pretty on Gnome?
Well, you're not alone, so I can't see anyone sending you to -1 hell. After happily running Red Hat on my web server for years, I decided to try Desktop (er... Laptop) Linux with Ubuntu Fiesty. I was able to get it working properly on my Lenovo R60e, but I ran into some problems (wireless network not working out-of-the-box, for one thing) that I was able to solve at the command line. Somebody without years of prior Linux experience may have given up on the thing.
There would be a few barriers for me replacing Windows XP entirely: my internal microphone still doesn't work. I can't watch DVDs (apparently it's against the law to watch DVDs on Linux. Literally against the law, if you can imagine). Bluefish sucks. There doesn't appear to be a decent Subversion client. In due time I'll sort these things out and complete my migration. But is Ubuntu a mature desktop force? Not yet.
As a Linux user, I feel WOTC is the best thing to happen to D&D, and gaming in general. As a Jeep driver, I wish you'd have elaborated on that connection.
Myth - "Firefox is spelled 'FireFox' and abbreviated FF"
Reality - Firefox is spelled F-i-r-e-f-o-x - only the first letter capitalized (i.e. not FireFox, not Foxfire, FoxFire or whatever else a number of folk seem to think it to be called.) The preferred abbreviation is "Fx" or "fx". Oh my god... how could I have been so blind? Guess it's back to IE for me!
If your going to choose a side, Make sure you know your side is going to win. This particular positive outcome notwithstanding, that's generally a ridiculous way to choose a side.
It seems to come down to the fact that even with the V-chip, there is no guarantee that my kids are shielded from inappropriate content. The same can be said for letting them look out a window. You do what you can do.
So how many parents won't actually use this if that is the case? There was a Kaiser Family Foundation study (http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7638.cfm) released in June that found that 57% of parents with V-Chips don't know the thing is even there. Of those that know they have it, 16% have used it. Of those that have used it, 71% find it useful.
In other words, I think someone could make a decent living doing in-house V-Chip setups in nice neighborhoods.
The idea of allowing the government to filter for us what is appropriate is absolutely absurd That's strictly true, but that's not what's happening here. With the TV V-Chip, for example, nobody is holding your hand, telling you what you can and cannot watch. Nobody is deciding for you what your children can and cannot watch. All you get is information. Here is the type of content that this program contains. Parents can leave the V-Chip with no settings. They can set it with super-restrictive settings. Hell, you can even program the V-Chip to block shows that DON'T contain nudity, if that's your parenting style. Censorship is a straw man when discussing V-Chip technology.
Better questions are: Who pays for the ratings? How reliable are the ratings? Are we targeting the right content? Can the model work for other media?
Unless this chip, and the ratings system that drives it, are completely fool-proof and tamper-proof Of course it's not completely fool-proof and tamper-proof. I'm sure that sometimes shows get rated incorrectly. I'm sure that my kids are going to eventually figure out that my code is 1234. I'm sure that my kids are going to be exposed to inappropriate programming sometimes, probably even in my own home. But I don't buy the idea that something's not beneficial because it's not perfect. I write software for a living, so I know where holding out for perfection gets you.
They'll probably look at it as an easy way out. But it's not an easy way out. The V-Chip interfaces are invariably poorly-designed tangles of pain-in-the-ass menu hierarchies. You really need to care to use the damn thing. Look, at some point I need to leave my kids alone in the living room to take a shower or something. If they want to watch Sesame Street while I'm doing that, fine. But I'm glad that I don't need to worry about them accidentally flipping over to Heroes reruns.
Does anyone not wonder what has happened to parental responsibility? Believe it or not, parental responsibility is alive and well. It means using the resources at your disposal to raise your children as well as you can. The V-Chip is not censorship, or government interference, nor is it a babysitter. It's a resource that helps me shield my three children from my definition of "inappropriate for children." Parents' definitions of "inappropriate" can vary, of course, and the V-Chip allows you to define that for yourself, or not use it at all. For me, it means violence, drug use, and--to a lesser extent--harsh language.
If you have a TV in your home, there are two things that are GOING to happen, no matter how responsible a parent you are: (1) Your children are going to be alone in a room with a TV at some point, and (2) Your children are going to be in the room when you are watching TV. TV is a minefield of material inappropriate for young children, regardless of the time of day. My children aren't old enough to want to seek out violent shows, but they know how to work the remote. The V-Chip in my TV minimizes the chance that they'll accidentally land on something I deem inappropriate. It also helps me judge whether I want the kids around for a show that I want to see. And after the boys are in bed, I can disable the thing or enter my code.
Anyway, I think that parents should take the time to learn to use the V-Chip. It's one small tool to facilitate responsible parenting, not a replacement for it.
Take Chernobyl as an example. Discussing the actual number of deaths is an emotionally charged issue. Simply stating that the actual death count was vastly exaggerated by the media and that only a few dozen people died will get you a response to the effect of "you heartless bastard!" before you can even get to the issue of the thousands of victims who had to be treated for thyroid cancer. "Softing" one's speech to the point of clinical analysis combined with with a "warm" understanding of other's feelings can help you get farther in a discussion of the issue than immediately offending them, unintentionally or otherwise. Let's take that concept for a ride:
The actual death count at Chernobyl was vastly exaggerated by the media:-D . Only a few dozen people died:)
Slashdot Mirror
Ooh, more DISTANT. I hadn't thought of THAT before. Jesus Christ. Idiots.
> > Cows don't vacuum (more the other way around)
> No, my vacuum doesn't cow either.
My vacuum cows. Sometimes I wish it'd just grow a pair and suck it up already.
My wife turned on Good Morning America while I was still groggy from sleep. While I lay there listening to the TV, they ran this story, saying that the dinosaur had "over 500 toddler-sized teeth." I thought, "A toddler is a strange thing to compare the size of a tooth to, but my god, that thing's HUGE!"
Now let's get this out of the way: I don't have a criminal record, and I've never committed a (nontrivial) crime. But I don't like this idea, because it would reduce my ability to commit unobserved future crimes if I ever found it necessary to do so.
> ...I fail to see the value in this aside from the rare enthusiast's curiosity or perhaps an
> academic archive.
Isn't that enough?
I'm not sure I get why Aaron Stanton is going on a ten-page multimedia rant. So many different camera angles. So much use of the word "terrible." The thing resembles a Wii controller to the same extent that various electronic toys used to resemble Palm V PDAs. It's ten bucks, of course it's crap. Why the ten-page rant?
> It's a subscription service and a brick and mortar blockbuster isn't.
The response to that is that Blockbuster's rates for new releases are ridiculous. It's been a while since I've used my Blockbuster account, so I might be a few percent off here, but Blockbuster is now charging close to $4.00 (USD) for DVD rentals. So you don't need to watch too many movies per month with Netflix to blow Blockbuster away for value.
My experience with Netflix is that they're one of those rare businesses that keep exceeding my expectations.
Downside: As an Ubuntu user, I'm S.O.L. on using their online viewing service. That's still IE-only.
> The movie shows American packs. However, any history book will show that those are clearly British packs.
What's all this, then?
> In a democracy, you ... have the right to democratically select a dictatorship.
But in a republic, we DON'T have the right to democratically select a dictatorship. We've got a political abstraction layer known as the system of "checks and balances," and one of its functions is to protect the system (not the government, mind you, but the system) from the citizens. After all, we don't just have our own generation to think about; we can fail ourselves, but the heirs to our mistakes at least need some chance to recover.
All I know is, I did some drunken vandalism in August of 2005 and the gross misinformation I posted is still there, despite lots of subsequent activity on the article. It's like they just don't care.
> No it wouldn't. In all practical ways you would use the same amount of fuel in either case. Becasue you don't take 'just enough'
> for what you are lifting.
What? You're saying that no additional fuel is used because you have more fuel onboard than you need? No. If you launch something into space, by god, you're paying for it.
> One QUID is equivalent to about 6.25 pounds
How does the inventor know that? It's government policy and market forces that set currency prices, not the guy who designs the coins.
> I have always wonder which part of the brain stores the ability to ride a bike.
If you're talking about the motor memory involved in pedaling, keeping balance, steering, then that info is kept right up in the very front of the cerebral cortex. There are, of course, several related functions (like vision) that are processed elsewhere, but I think "frontal lobe" is the answer you're looking for.
> Am I doing it wrong or is the page really picky when it comes to peoples' browser choises?
My god, man, a fellow human being's life is at stake, and you won't fire up IE for one minute?
> http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_i nstall_DVD_playback_capability
Thank you much. I'll try this when I get home. Wish I had Informative mod points to give.
> sudo apt-get install subversion
Well, sure, got the usual Subversion client/server installed on my webserver. But with Windows XP, I get to use Tortoise SVN, where I can right-click a file to add it, or right-click the repository to commit it. Anyone know of a good programming editor with integrated SVN that'll look pretty on Gnome?
Well, you're not alone, so I can't see anyone sending you to -1 hell. After happily running Red Hat on my web server for years, I decided to try Desktop (er... Laptop) Linux with Ubuntu Fiesty. I was able to get it working properly on my Lenovo R60e, but I ran into some problems (wireless network not working out-of-the-box, for one thing) that I was able to solve at the command line. Somebody without years of prior Linux experience may have given up on the thing.
There would be a few barriers for me replacing Windows XP entirely: my internal microphone still doesn't work. I can't watch DVDs (apparently it's against the law to watch DVDs on Linux. Literally against the law, if you can imagine). Bluefish sucks. There doesn't appear to be a decent Subversion client. In due time I'll sort these things out and complete my migration. But is Ubuntu a mature desktop force? Not yet.
Reality - Firefox is spelled F-i-r-e-f-o-x - only the first letter capitalized (i.e. not FireFox, not Foxfire, FoxFire or whatever else a number of folk seem to think it to be called.) The preferred abbreviation is "Fx" or "fx". Oh my god... how could I have been so blind? Guess it's back to IE for me!
> So we've got some older guys from the VIC-20 days
Ouch. OUCH!
(He runs his hands through his graying hair)
In other words, I think someone could make a decent living doing in-house V-Chip setups in nice neighborhoods.
Better questions are: Who pays for the ratings? How reliable are the ratings? Are we targeting the right content? Can the model work for other media?
If you have a TV in your home, there are two things that are GOING to happen, no matter how responsible a parent you are: (1) Your children are going to be alone in a room with a TV at some point, and (2) Your children are going to be in the room when you are watching TV. TV is a minefield of material inappropriate for young children, regardless of the time of day. My children aren't old enough to want to seek out violent shows, but they know how to work the remote. The V-Chip in my TV minimizes the chance that they'll accidentally land on something I deem inappropriate. It also helps me judge whether I want the kids around for a show that I want to see. And after the boys are in bed, I can disable the thing or enter my code.
Anyway, I think that parents should take the time to learn to use the V-Chip. It's one small tool to facilitate responsible parenting, not a replacement for it.
The actual death count at Chernobyl was vastly exaggerated by the media