I think the stories of geeks getting "beat up" are probably exaggerated. In the U.S. many school districts have created specialty schools which are honors programs. My daughter attends such a school. All of the students there are nerdy, and the kids seem to have a pretty normal social life. Amongst themselves the smarter kids seem to get a lot of respect.
Nevertheless, I'm glad she qualified to go there. Her regular neighborhood school is a mess.
There is a very simple reason why science and math education, indeed all education, is poor in America: Quality of educators. It's a no-brainer. Anyone who is proficient in science or math is not going to waste their time teaching at the elementary or high school level.
Additionally, (and this is true of education in general), it used to be that many professions were closed to women, but teaching wasn't. Consequently, our best and brightest women used to be school teachers. This is no longer true. The brightest women, just like the men, are going into other fields.
...and it seems harsh to pick on Benedict Arnold in particular...
Look, moron. Whether it's right or wrong the phrase "Benedict Arnold" became synonymous with "traitor" long ago, and has been used as such in American English for two hundred years. It is a language construct; a phrase; and idiom. No one is "picking on" Benedict Arnold any more than they are "picking on" Newcastle when someone says, "Isn't that like bringing coals to Newcastle?"
These companies are Benedict Arnolds (and you're a Bozo).
Again. SO WHAT? They can clearly see that I'm wearing Wranglers, or whatever. Do they have some sort of advantage over me if they know that I'm wearing jeans #55505290?
I recommend something like the Mossberg Model 500 or Remington 870 12ga. Consider: a single cartridge of 12ga 00 buckshot contains nine pellets of about.32 caliber. A.357 pistol fires 6 shots which are only a little larger than.32 caliber. So, basically, a single shot from a 12ga is like emptying a your pistol at the target -- and the Mossberg Model 500 is going to have seven cartriges in the magazine.
I'm still having trouble with why it's bad. OK, so they know that I have cereal box 123DFE545DFD. How is this bad for me? Many things I own have a serial number on them (cars, guns, refridgerator, washing machine, microwave, computers, lawnmower, etc, etc) and the companies I purchased these things from know that I own these specific items.
Wouldn't that be at the molecular level? Isn't that the level where the crystal becomes apparent? I mean, at the atomic level it would just be carbon, and at the sub-atomic level, it wouldn't be distinguishable from, say, rock salt.
Can't argue with the "bared breast" difference. As for myself, I definitely don't mind bared breasts at all (but that's probably because, like most American men, I am obsessed with them ).
The best duty I ever pulled in the Navy was the day I was assigned Shore Patrol on the beach in Malaga, Spain. Imagine being FORCED to patrol up and down a topless beach filled with hundreds of high-school and college-aged European girls sunning themselves.
In the beginning of motion picture history, a single person, Thomas Edison, owned the patents for producing a motion picture. Nevertheless, many filmmakers produced their own pictures, often clandestinely. Meanwhile, Edison sent out, essentially, thugs to do harm to anyone who made a motion picture.
I don't know all the details, but clearly in the end the filmmakers won the right to produce their movies. They have always portrayed Edison's defence of his patents in a negative light.
Now the roles are flipped. The motion picture industry has taken the part of Edison, attempting to pick and choose who can watch their movies, and by what method; sending out thugs (lawyers) to beat up on anyone violating their rules.
I know it's not a perfect analogy, but it does seem pretty ironic.
I don't know about that. The last Street Rod National Convention I visited offered everything you needed to build your own '32 Ford Coupe. I don't know why the thing wouldn't be street legal, there were certainly plenty of them driving around on the local streets that week.
I know for a fact that you can design and build your own experimental airplane, and fly it without a license.
...JV: Let's say there are a thousand. But there are 284 million people in this country. You can't have public policy that is aimed at 100,000 people when the other multi-multi-millions are also involved. You can't do it that way...
What an amazingly stupid old fart! We make special provisions for small groups all the time: lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, police officers, bounty hunters, farmers, the list goes on and on.
All I ever hear is the "US supports Israel" complaint. Since it is clearly their desire to wholly wipe from the face of the Earth every single Jew, I can't buy into the argument that anything the U.S. does to stop that is an "injustice."
What most Muslims have a problem with are their own governments and corrupt rulers. Naturally they can't do much about that because the regimes they live under are so repressive. The USA becomes an easy, "safe" target. For their part, the repressive regimes encourage this behavior, in part because it shifts the focus of violence from them to someone else.
... but because they have a grievance with us and they have no other recourse...
I'm am not buying the argument that they have no other recourse. Far too often, people do the most outrageous things because, in their opinion, they have no other recourse....We need to quantify the injustices we have committed (and we have committed quite a few) and then figure out how to resolve those injustices...
I've always had the impression that Europeans generally don't care about pr0n and tolerate great amounts of it. My European friends have chided Americans for years for being too prudish.
No, dumbass. If you want to short then you need to SELL SCO stock now, then put in a buy at the end of the day.
Re:A great game, but sometimes dangerous.
on
D&D Is 30
·
· Score: 1
Yes, you may be right there. Certainly, in a population of several hundred young men, there are bound to be one or two schizophrenics. And these guys were right at the age that schizophrenia becomes apparent. I just wonder if they might have had (reasonably) normal lives had they not ever played D&D.
I'm not saying D&D is neccessarily at fault. The same thing can happen to anyone, depending on the setting. For instance: I think this is what happens to people at a Benny Hinn (a popular faith-healer) revival. The experience pushes them into an altered state of reality. A few people have been known to go mad (though few would admit it).
A great game, but sometimes dangerous.
on
D&D Is 30
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I discovered D&D in 1981 while at Navy Avionics "A" School in Millington, Tennessee, where it was wildly popular. Having little money, it was a cheap form of entertainment for many of us lowly recruits. On more than one occasion I can remember playing virtually non-stop, from Friday afternoon, when classes dismissed, until Monday morning, when classes began again. I found the game to be very entertaining and especially liked the fact that it did not require any special equipment or huge monetary outlays.
Sadly, it seemed, not everyone could handle the game. One obsessive player seemed to lose his grip on reality. He began to claim that he was haunted by "ghosts". He created pages and pages of "equations" which he believed would defeat them. One evening his roommates stole his equations and burned them. The poor kid had to be hospitalized (the psyche ward, presumeably).
Another student, who lived and breathed D&D, barely graduated because of his obsession with the game. He gradually became unable to cope with life outside of the game. After graduating, he was sent to a squadron. A couple of months later he wrote back to one of his former roommates. The letter was difficult to follow, but it appeared that he had a nervous breakdown one day on the flight line, which put an entire helicopter crew in peril. He was headed for a medical discharge.
While I would not go so far as to blame D&D for these boys problems, there seemed to be something there that triggered a predisposition to some sort of madness.
After I left the school, I nevered played again. I've still got all my stuff though, including some twenty-sided di.
Actually, I think automobiles deserve a "greener" reputation than they usually get. Much of an old or wrecked auto gets recycled whether in the form of used parts, or scrap metal. That really doesn't happen with other big-ticket items like refrigerators, washers, dryers, water-heaters, PC's, stereos, etc., etc.
1. Be sure to talk loudly in restaurants. Laugh raucously. People will be impressed by how much you enjoy your cell phone.
2. In addition to the above, be sure your conversations include intimate, private details about your life. People love hearing about your lanced boil while standing in line to order their food.
3. Even though you talk loudly about the most confidential aspects of your life, be sure to complain often about invasion of privacy.
4. Find the most annoying ring tone available for your phone, then crank it up! Your ring tone says a lot about you and everyone is keenly interested in your personal tastes. Best places to crank up your ring tone: Waiting rooms, church, funerals.
5. Don't turn your phone off when entering the movie theater or your child's music recital. You're an important person, and cannot be out of touch for any period of time. After all, they can catch that movie later on DVD, and it's not like they haven't heard their kid play that stupid song a million times.
6. When possible, always talk while driving. Multitask if possible: If you're female put on your makeup and chat on the cellphone. If you're male, cradle your teensy cellphone in the crook of your neck while making notes. Don't worry about concentrating on your driving. Signaling for lane changes and looking out for pedestrians are over-rated activities anyway.
7. Always choose a plan with "walkie-talkie" mode, if available. Nothing impresses the boss and your coworkers more than to have your wife loudly blurt "What are you doing?" in the middle of a business meeting.
8. Lastly, be sure to get a phone with a built-in digital camera. People love having their pictures taken and plastered all over the internet.
Slashdot Mirror
I think the stories of geeks getting "beat up" are probably exaggerated. In the U.S. many school districts have created specialty schools which are honors programs. My daughter attends such a school. All of the students there are nerdy, and the kids seem to have a pretty normal social life. Amongst themselves the smarter kids seem to get a lot of respect.
Nevertheless, I'm glad she qualified to go there. Her regular neighborhood school is a mess.
There is a very simple reason why science and math education, indeed all education, is poor in America:
Quality of educators. It's a no-brainer. Anyone who is proficient in science or math is not going to waste their time teaching at the elementary or high school level.
Additionally, (and this is true of education in general), it used to be that many professions were closed to women, but teaching wasn't. Consequently, our best and brightest women used to be school teachers. This is no longer true. The brightest women, just like the men, are going into other fields.
...and it seems harsh to pick on Benedict Arnold in particular...
Look, moron. Whether it's right or wrong the phrase "Benedict Arnold" became synonymous with "traitor" long ago, and has been used as such in American English for two hundred years. It is a language construct; a phrase; and idiom. No one is "picking on" Benedict Arnold any more than they are "picking on" Newcastle when someone says, "Isn't that like bringing coals to Newcastle?"
These companies are Benedict Arnolds (and you're a Bozo).
ARGGGGGHHHH! (bangs head against wall).
Again. SO WHAT? They can clearly see that I'm wearing Wranglers, or whatever. Do they have some sort of advantage over me if they know that I'm wearing jeans #55505290?
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
I recommend something like the Mossberg Model 500 or Remington 870 12ga. Consider: a single cartridge of 12ga 00 buckshot contains nine pellets of about .32 caliber. A .357 pistol fires 6 shots which are only a little larger than .32 caliber. So, basically, a single shot from a 12ga is like emptying a your pistol at the target -- and the Mossberg Model 500 is going to have seven cartriges in the magazine.
Plus, you really don't have to aim it.
Ah, I see your soul has already been spent.
Robot.
What if you had a tag in your underpants (which you never change) that was eternally active? I think you can imagine the possibilities.
I'd rather not imagine the possibilities of your unchanged underpants.
But seriously....
I guess I'm just stupid, because I cannot imagine anthing bad coming from the fact that my shorts have an RFID tag in them.
Is that then a cereal number or a serial number?
But seriously...
I'm still having trouble with why it's bad. OK, so they know that I have cereal box 123DFE545DFD. How is this bad for me? Many things I own have a serial number on them (cars, guns, refridgerator, washing machine, microwave, computers, lawnmower, etc, etc) and the companies I purchased these things from know that I own these specific items.
Wouldn't that be at the molecular level? Isn't that the level where the crystal becomes apparent? I mean, at the atomic level it would just be carbon, and at the sub-atomic level, it wouldn't be distinguishable from, say, rock salt.
Can't argue with the "bared breast" difference. As for myself, I definitely don't mind bared breasts at all (but that's probably because, like most American men, I am obsessed with them ).
The best duty I ever pulled in the Navy was the day I was assigned Shore Patrol on the beach in Malaga, Spain. Imagine being FORCED to patrol up and down a topless beach filled with hundreds of high-school and college-aged European girls sunning themselves.
In the beginning of motion picture history, a single person, Thomas Edison, owned the patents for producing a motion picture. Nevertheless, many filmmakers produced their own pictures, often clandestinely. Meanwhile, Edison sent out, essentially, thugs to do harm to anyone who made a motion picture.
I don't know all the details, but clearly in the end the filmmakers won the right to produce their movies. They have always portrayed Edison's defence of his patents in a negative light.
Now the roles are flipped. The motion picture industry has taken the part of Edison, attempting to pick and choose who can watch their movies, and by what method; sending out thugs (lawyers) to beat up on anyone violating their rules.
I know it's not a perfect analogy, but it does seem pretty ironic.
I don't know about that. The last Street Rod National Convention I visited offered everything you needed to build your own '32 Ford Coupe. I don't know why the thing wouldn't be street legal, there were certainly plenty of them driving around on the local streets that week.
I know for a fact that you can design and build your own experimental airplane, and fly it without a license.
...JV: Let's say there are a thousand. But there are 284 million people in this country. You can't have public policy that is aimed at 100,000 people when the other multi-multi-millions are also involved. You can't do it that way...
What an amazingly stupid old fart! We make special provisions for small groups all the time: lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, police officers, bounty hunters, farmers, the list goes on and on.
All I ever hear is the "US supports Israel" complaint. Since it is clearly their desire to wholly wipe from the face of the Earth every single Jew, I can't buy into the argument that anything the U.S. does to stop that is an "injustice."
What most Muslims have a problem with are their own governments and corrupt rulers. Naturally they can't do much about that because the regimes they live under are so repressive. The USA becomes an easy, "safe" target. For their part, the repressive regimes encourage this behavior, in part because it shifts the focus of violence from them to someone else.
... but because they have a grievance with us and they have no other recourse...
...We need to quantify the injustices we have committed (and we have committed quite a few) and then figure out how to resolve those injustices...
I'm am not buying the argument that they have no other recourse. Far too often, people do the most outrageous things because, in their opinion, they have no other recourse.
What injustices? List some.
I've always had the impression that Europeans generally don't care about pr0n and tolerate great amounts of it. My European friends have chided Americans for years for being too prudish.
Can any Europeans out there enlighten me on this?
But they're still using "LindowsOS" in much of the presentation. Good grief.
AutoZone uses Linux. It's SCO's new strategy to sue Linux users directly.
No, dumbass. If you want to short then you need to SELL SCO stock now, then put in a buy at the end of the day.
Yes, you may be right there. Certainly, in a population of several hundred young men, there are bound to be one or two schizophrenics. And these guys were right at the age that schizophrenia becomes apparent. I just wonder if they might have had (reasonably) normal lives had they not ever played D&D.
I'm not saying D&D is neccessarily at fault. The same thing can happen to anyone, depending on the setting. For instance: I think this is what happens to people at a Benny Hinn (a popular faith-healer) revival. The experience pushes them into an altered state of reality. A few people have been known to go mad (though few would admit it).
I discovered D&D in 1981 while at Navy Avionics "A" School in Millington, Tennessee, where it was wildly popular. Having little money, it was a cheap form of entertainment for many of us lowly recruits. On more than one occasion I can remember playing virtually non-stop, from Friday afternoon, when classes dismissed, until Monday morning, when classes began again. I found the game to be very entertaining and especially liked the fact that it did not require any special equipment or huge monetary outlays.
Sadly, it seemed, not everyone could handle the game. One obsessive player seemed to lose his grip on reality. He began to claim that he was haunted by "ghosts". He created pages and pages of "equations" which he believed would defeat them. One evening his roommates stole his equations and burned them. The poor kid had to be hospitalized (the psyche ward, presumeably).
Another student, who lived and breathed D&D, barely graduated because of his obsession with the game. He gradually became unable to cope with life outside of the game. After graduating, he was sent to a squadron. A couple of months later he wrote back to one of his former roommates. The letter was difficult to follow, but it appeared that he had a nervous breakdown one day on the flight line, which put an entire helicopter crew in peril. He was headed for a medical discharge.
While I would not go so far as to blame D&D for these boys problems, there seemed to be something there that triggered a predisposition to some sort of madness.
After I left the school, I nevered played again. I've still got all my stuff though, including some twenty-sided di.
Actually, I think automobiles deserve a "greener" reputation than they usually get. Much of an old or wrecked auto gets recycled whether in the form of used parts, or scrap metal. That really doesn't happen with other big-ticket items like refrigerators, washers, dryers, water-heaters, PC's, stereos, etc., etc.
Wouldn't a GPS-equipped cell phone make much more sense?
1. Be sure to talk loudly in restaurants. Laugh raucously. People will be impressed by how much you enjoy your cell phone.
2. In addition to the above, be sure your conversations include intimate, private details about your life. People love hearing about your lanced boil while standing in line to order their food.
3. Even though you talk loudly about the most confidential aspects of your life, be sure to complain often about invasion of privacy.
4. Find the most annoying ring tone available for your phone, then crank it up! Your ring tone says a lot about you and everyone is keenly interested in your personal tastes. Best places to crank up your ring tone: Waiting rooms, church, funerals.
5. Don't turn your phone off when entering the movie theater or your child's music recital. You're an important person, and cannot be out of touch for any period of time. After all, they can catch that movie later on DVD, and it's not like they haven't heard their kid play that stupid song a million times.
6. When possible, always talk while driving. Multitask if possible: If you're female put on your makeup and chat on the cellphone. If you're male, cradle your teensy cellphone in the crook of your neck while making notes. Don't worry about concentrating on your driving. Signaling for lane changes and looking out for pedestrians are over-rated activities anyway.
7. Always choose a plan with "walkie-talkie" mode, if available. Nothing impresses the boss and your coworkers more than to have your wife loudly blurt "What are you doing?" in the middle of a business meeting.
8. Lastly, be sure to get a phone with a built-in digital camera. People love having their pictures taken and plastered all over the internet.