no way in hell I was selling my PT Cruiser to buy a Volkwagen beetle and to be called a nerd
Er, the Best Buy "Geek Squad" drives VWs.
I just went back and the page has been considerably changed now
Yeah, Uncyclopedia does that too. But it says (just a start)
"Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, All my base are belong to you!" ~ Some Male Nerd on How to pick up female nerds
"Lemme in through ur tunnel frm de undrgrond, aka ur C drive:P, alrite, l8r." ~ An Average Male Nerd on How to pick up your nerdy friends computers
"In Soviet Russia, nerds hate YOU!!" ~ Russian reversal on nerds
A nerd (homo intelligencia, floro sapiens, virginus nerdius, or "homo supa smarcia") is a member of an odd species known for its love of computers, bad fashion sense, and inability to communicate with members of the opposite sex. While some lucky individuals are born nerds, the rest of us have to make an effort to evolve into nerds.
Geek is the nickname given by nerds to themselves if they want to look slightly higher up the social ladder. Geeks, contrary to Popular Belief, did not evolve from nerds through ingesting a catalyst known as alky-hol which suppresses nerds' innate phobia of non-nerds, allowing the two groups to exchange information - most often verbal, but in rare cases can also be genetic. Some nerds retained this inhibition of non-nerd phobia even when the effects of alcohol have worn off.
Geeks can be found living independently, often with other geeks, but also with nerds. Geeks can be found lying in filth in dark, dark rooms, hacking into chat sites pretending to be cool. Geek clothing is generally wrinkled, but acceptable in current society. Some geeks may even occasionally wear fashionable clothing or matching socks, but it can be rare. Another legend portrays the long lost geekdom as nerds with long hair, lots of earrings and heavy metal t-shirts (only prior to their metamorphosis into yuppies and migration into large financial institutions). The geeks have greasy hair and sweat all over the face; they call it "perfume". They spend hours trying to get onto porn websites that their mommies banned them from. Young geeks will often mutate into emos at 16, realizing they are misunderstood because they aren't allowed to drive cars.
Is there a problem if code is written so that only a developer can understand it?
No, but there is a problem if a program is written so only a programmer can use it, unless it's a program only a programmer would use. There is no problem designing a TV set that the average person can't understand the scematics, but there's a problem if the average person can't find the on switch.
A law the average person can't understand is like the TV that the average person can't use. If the law applies to everyone, then anyone should be able to use it. But like TV sets, IMO if you can't design one so that normal people can use them, you're in the wrong line of work.
This requires a jargon where words and phrases have very specific meanings that may differ from the layman's understanding of a corresponding plain English word or phrase
Take the dictionary definition. If there are more than one possible meaning to any or the words, define the word as used in the scope of the law.
the law may have to address situations that are beyond the understanding of your developmentally disabled daughter
Then she should NOT be beholden to those laws. If she doesn't understand something she reads on the internet there's little harm to her; hell there's stuff on Wikipedia alone I don't understand and my intelligence is pegged at well above normal. but if she doesn't understand the law how can it apply?
I can read at a postgraduate level, yet some legalese defies logic. How can copyright terms as specified in the Bono Act in any way be "limited"? Yet the Supreme Court says "limited" means whatever Congress says it means.
It should at LEAST be written so that any person of average intelligence should be able to understand it. I don't know of any circumstance (outside palentology or astrophysics) where "Limited time" is longer than a person can continue breathing.
It was "The Weavers On Tour" as I see from this page (thanks google).
I don't know how old the album was; I remember it was no later than the very early '60s. As I was only 10 in '62 my memory is of course not a good judge.
But at any rate, I don't see how his daughter would have not heard this album.
Actually I did read the summary, but I hadn't had my coffee yet.
And it wasn't the first, because I've been first before. I was surprised it was modded funny and not something stupid. It's usually a tough room when you're the first poster.
Actually when I see no posts I try not to be "first post" because they usually get modded to oblivion and nobody sees the joke.
Nope, no contract, I own the copyrights. One of them is completely worthless, since it will only work on a computer that they stopped selling in 1983, a program that hacked it into a higher graphics mode than it was designed for, along with a crude (by today's standards) program to let you draw pictures on it.
The other one is Artificial Insanity, I may port that one to javascript. I may even open-source it.
I talked about this in a journal last year. It was about "Klutzo the Clown" who was a former police officer, former minister, former day care worker, and profesional clown who was arrested for child pornagraphy after a trip he took to the Phillipines to fuck little boys.
Why would a pedophile need the internet? The kids are all at the mall. A pedophile only needs a job a Chuck-E-Cheese and he's got all the kids he wants. And if he's never been caught molesting children he's got a job there.
The idea that the internet causes or even contributes to pedophilia is ludicrous.
Don't insult Stallman like that. A whore I know jumped my shit when I referred to myself as a "computer nerd". Are you by chance a five foot seven inch tall seventy five pound woman with a big head and a flatter chest than most men?
Why, I have a wife at my house. She's not mine of course but she's there... if you follow that link you will see the phrase "unfuckable nerd" more than once.
Don't bother with the link, it isn't worth it. Really. Nothing there but whores, alcoholics, an alien and and a needle junkie. Nothing you're not dealing with every day, ya know?
-mcgrew
(-1 offtopic, except for the comment it is responding to. Is your head about to asplode, mr. mod?)
Not actually having RTFM (What?) but I don't see how this makes you vulnerable at all. You have your data backed up, right? Offsite and secure? How is having your hard drive unencryptable any different than a head crash or a building fire?
And as to encrypted email, you can always send it again.
Making people fear encryption because of this verges on sociopathic. BTW, BACK UPI YOUR DATA DAMMIT
(OT but I'm wondering how the comment I just replied to was a troll? Can't mod up a FP no matter what and it actually was on-topic? Beware of us metamods, young moderators! Mod this one any way you want, I don't have to whore for karma)
I was a beta tester for dirt. We never did get all the bugs out.
How about they just write laws in plain english, write them so my developmentally disabled daughter can understand them?
I didn't see why laws should be written so that you have to be a lawyer to understand them. But I don't think this idea is much of an improvement.
I mean, today's software sucks like an F-5 tornado, why would anybody think thet anything else developed using the same plan would suck any less?
-mcgrew
PS: speaking of laws, my latest journal has hookers, alcoholics, a needle junlkie, and an alien. Read at your own risk as it may make your head asplode
Star Trek is back on? Damn, how many episodes have I missed?
Would one of you pseudonerds care to poing to a nerd TV show that is affected by the writer's strike RIGHT NOW? Because if there is indeed a nerd show on I'd like to see it.
Oh waith there's that Terminator show, I keep forgetting to watch it. Is it any good?
"Pop" means popular. The stuff we watch usually isn't. How many non-nerds do you know who like Dr Who?
How many nerds do you know that waytch American Idol or, damn, what was that stupid show Tami was watching last night ablut building a house for a one-legged marine? I was reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy again (my daughter bought me an omnibus set for Christmas) while it was on and wasn't paying attention to the TV.
-mcgrew
(BTW, my original comment was modded fairly, I'd have modded it that way myslef.)
My dad had an album, late 50s or early 60s, called ICRC, either The Weavers On Tour or The Weavers Live at Carnegie Hall. It had such great folks songs like "Drill, ye terrier, drill" and "So Long, It's Been Good ta know ya".
Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger were both on this album.
After my folks were divorced in 1976 (the year I got married) it wound up being mine. Sadly the copy was stolen along with my killer stereo and most of my other albums.
Unlike what they call "stealing music" these days I no longer have my copy of the Weavers. Furthermore, it's out of print and I can't get a new copy. It should be in the public domain and I should be able to at least get a good SHN of it.
In the US, before a thing can be copyrighted it must be "affixed in tangible form". That should give a clue to one place where the insudtry has gone and is going wrong. They should NOT be selling downloads, certainly not selling them for a dollar a pop.
Instead, downloads should be free, or at least cheap enough to discourage anyone from wanting to upload them. Instead of a dollar, a nickle or dime should be enough. If a file is on my own server the cost of letting someone download it from me is negligible.
CDs should have value added, and this should be touted by the record companies. The musicians understand this - when the Offspring finished Original Prankster they wanted to put the whole CD on their website in MP3 format, and their label had a cow. They "compromised" by putting one song up. Their stance made me want to buy that CD (well, that and I like their music).
I was pleasantly surprised to find a half dozen videos on the CD. I shouldn't have been surprised - the label let their musicians down (when don't they?) by not advertising this fact!
And finally, the biggest reason CD sales are down is because nobody likes getting ripped off. I can buy a two hour movie, with extras, at Wal Mart for five to fifteen dollars. In case the record labels haven't noticed, there is music all through about every movie ever filmed.
Contrast the five to fifteen bucks for a two hour movie for twenty or thirty (Beatles White Album). Add the fact that music CD prices haven't declined much, while blanks have dropped from five bucks a pop to a quarter or less.
Most of us aren't rich. We have l a limited supply of dollars, and an even more limited disposable income. Do I spend that thirty bucks on a CD or two DVDs? Not a hard choice for most of us.
If the music industry sold cars, they'd be trying to sell Yugos for a hundred thousand bucks each and suing anybody who made their own cars (this actually happened in the beginning of the auto industry, the established players sued Ford for patent infringement).
If the internet didn't exist the established recording industry would still be dying, because nobody likes being ripped off. The cost of recording has plummeted, the cost of distribution has plummeted, the cost of the media has plummeted. CDs should retail for no more than five bucks each, and downloads should be no more than a dime.
It's incredibly insulting to be called a thief by a pack of thieves. But then again, thieves think everyone steals. That's part of the problem as well.
I get my MP3s by ripping CDs. And I buy my CDs from the independant bands themselves; I think Original Prankster may have been the last RIAA CD I bought. And it will remain that way AFAIC until the music industry gets a clue.
Slashdot Mirror
Er, the Best Buy "Geek Squad" drives VWs.
I just went back and the page has been considerably changed now
Yeah, Uncyclopedia does that too. But it says (just a start)It says about Geeks:
Jeff Foxwirthy says "A redneck's last words:
'Hey Billybob, watch this!'"
Missed the last part, sorry
Is there a problem if code is written so that only a developer can understand it?
No, but there is a problem if a program is written so only a programmer can use it, unless it's a program only a programmer would use. There is no problem designing a TV set that the average person can't understand the scematics, but there's a problem if the average person can't find the on switch.
A law the average person can't understand is like the TV that the average person can't use. If the law applies to everyone, then anyone should be able to use it. But like TV sets, IMO if you can't design one so that normal people can use them, you're in the wrong line of work.
This requires a jargon where words and phrases have very specific meanings that may differ from the layman's understanding of a corresponding plain English word or phrase
Take the dictionary definition. If there are more than one possible meaning to any or the words, define the word as used in the scope of the law.
the law may have to address situations that are beyond the understanding of your developmentally disabled daughter
Then she should NOT be beholden to those laws. If she doesn't understand something she reads on the internet there's little harm to her; hell there's stuff on Wikipedia alone I don't understand and my intelligence is pegged at well above normal. but if she doesn't understand the law how can it apply?
I can read at a postgraduate level, yet some legalese defies logic. How can copyright terms as specified in the Bono Act in any way be "limited"? Yet the Supreme Court says "limited" means whatever Congress says it means.
It should at LEAST be written so that any person of average intelligence should be able to understand it. I don't know of any circumstance (outside palentology or astrophysics) where "Limited time" is longer than a person can continue breathing.
It was "The Weavers On Tour" as I see from this page (thanks google).
I don't know how old the album was; I remember it was no later than the very early '60s. As I was only 10 in '62 my memory is of course not a good judge.
But at any rate, I don't see how his daughter would have not heard this album.
No, Vogons have only the THIRD worst poetry in the glaxy. It's either the guy whose guts strangled his brain, or that little girl from England.
Actually I did read the summary, but I hadn't had my coffee yet.
And it wasn't the first, because I've been first before. I was surprised it was modded funny and not something stupid. It's usually a tough room when you're the first poster.
Actually when I see no posts I try not to be "first post" because they usually get modded to oblivion and nobody sees the joke.
Well, they're certainly not masters of writing good software.
Nope, no contract, I own the copyrights. One of them is completely worthless, since it will only work on a computer that they stopped selling in 1983, a program that hacked it into a higher graphics mode than it was designed for, along with a crude (by today's standards) program to let you draw pictures on it.
The other one is Artificial Insanity, I may port that one to javascript. I may even open-source it.
OH NOES! TEH INTARWEBS!
I talked about this in a journal last year. It was about "Klutzo the Clown" who was a former police officer, former minister, former day care worker, and profesional clown who was arrested for child pornagraphy after a trip he took to the Phillipines to fuck little boys.
Why would a pedophile need the internet? The kids are all at the mall. A pedophile only needs a job a Chuck-E-Cheese and he's got all the kids he wants. And if he's never been caught molesting children he's got a job there.
The idea that the internet causes or even contributes to pedophilia is ludicrous.
-mcgrew
Don't insult Stallman like that. A whore I know jumped my shit when I referred to myself as a "computer nerd". Are you by chance a five foot seven inch tall seventy five pound woman with a big head and a flatter chest than most men?
Why, I have a wife at my house. She's not mine of course but she's there... if you follow that link you will see the phrase "unfuckable nerd" more than once.
Don't bother with the link, it isn't worth it. Really. Nothing there but whores, alcoholics, an alien and and a needle junkie. Nothing you're not dealing with every day, ya know?
-mcgrew
(-1 offtopic, except for the comment it is responding to. Is your head about to asplode, mr. mod?)
Condoms from Amazon? Are they like, really really BIG condoms for warrior women?
No, that was me. Only I let it lapse because I was tired of it.
Honest,
Not actually having RTFM (What?) but I don't see how this makes you vulnerable at all. You have your data backed up, right? Offsite and secure? How is having your hard drive unencryptable any different than a head crash or a building fire?
And as to encrypted email, you can always send it again.
Making people fear encryption because of this verges on sociopathic. BTW, BACK UPI YOUR DATA DAMMIT
-mcgrew (not the security guy)
The second guy turned the rubber inside out, getting his partner pregnant with the first guy's kid
Dumb kids, never heard of water? Now get off my lawn!
-mcgrew
(OT but I'm wondering how the comment I just replied to was a troll? Can't mod up a FP no matter what and it actually was on-topic? Beware of us metamods, young moderators! Mod this one any way you want, I don't have to whore for karma)
I was a beta tester for dirt. We never did get all the bugs out.
How about they just write laws in plain english, write them so my developmentally disabled daughter can understand them?
I didn't see why laws should be written so that you have to be a lawyer to understand them. But I don't think this idea is much of an improvement.
I mean, today's software sucks like an F-5 tornado, why would anybody think thet anything else developed using the same plan would suck any less?
-mcgrew
PS: speaking of laws, my latest journal has hookers, alcoholics, a needle junlkie, and an alien. Read at your own risk as it may make your head asplode
Star Trek is back on? Damn, how many episodes have I missed?
Would one of you pseudonerds care to poing to a nerd TV show that is affected by the writer's strike RIGHT NOW? Because if there is indeed a nerd show on I'd like to see it.
Oh waith there's that Terminator show, I keep forgetting to watch it. Is it any good?
"Pop" means popular. The stuff we watch usually isn't. How many non-nerds do you know who like Dr Who?
How many nerds do you know that waytch American Idol or, damn, what was that stupid show Tami was watching last night ablut building a house for a one-legged marine? I was reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy again (my daughter bought me an omnibus set for Christmas) while it was on and wasn't paying attention to the TV.
-mcgrew
(BTW, my original comment was modded fairly, I'd have modded it that way myslef.)
WOOSH!
I'd post anonymously too. The point is that copyright is supposed to convince artists to create in order to make more works go into the public domain.
Hindrix' works should be in the public domain, as there's no way outside of hell he's going to record again.
My dad had an album, late 50s or early 60s, called ICRC, either The Weavers On Tour or The Weavers Live at Carnegie Hall. It had such great folks songs like "Drill, ye terrier, drill" and "So Long, It's Been Good ta know ya".
Woodie Guthrie and Pete Seeger were both on this album.
After my folks were divorced in 1976 (the year I got married) it wound up being mine. Sadly the copy was stolen along with my killer stereo and most of my other albums.
Unlike what they call "stealing music" these days I no longer have my copy of the Weavers. Furthermore, it's out of print and I can't get a new copy. It should be in the public domain and I should be able to at least get a good SHN of it.
In USSA, copyright steals from ME.
-mcgrew
In the US, before a thing can be copyrighted it must be "affixed in tangible form". That should give a clue to one place where the insudtry has gone and is going wrong. They should NOT be selling downloads, certainly not selling them for a dollar a pop.
Instead, downloads should be free, or at least cheap enough to discourage anyone from wanting to upload them. Instead of a dollar, a nickle or dime should be enough. If a file is on my own server the cost of letting someone download it from me is negligible.
CDs should have value added, and this should be touted by the record companies. The musicians understand this - when the Offspring finished Original Prankster they wanted to put the whole CD on their website in MP3 format, and their label had a cow. They "compromised" by putting one song up. Their stance made me want to buy that CD (well, that and I like their music).
I was pleasantly surprised to find a half dozen videos on the CD. I shouldn't have been surprised - the label let their musicians down (when don't they?) by not advertising this fact!
And finally, the biggest reason CD sales are down is because nobody likes getting ripped off. I can buy a two hour movie, with extras, at Wal Mart for five to fifteen dollars. In case the record labels haven't noticed, there is music all through about every movie ever filmed.
Contrast the five to fifteen bucks for a two hour movie for twenty or thirty (Beatles White Album). Add the fact that music CD prices haven't declined much, while blanks have dropped from five bucks a pop to a quarter or less.
Most of us aren't rich. We have l a limited supply of dollars, and an even more limited disposable income. Do I spend that thirty bucks on a CD or two DVDs? Not a hard choice for most of us.
If the music industry sold cars, they'd be trying to sell Yugos for a hundred thousand bucks each and suing anybody who made their own cars (this actually happened in the beginning of the auto industry, the established players sued Ford for patent infringement).
If the internet didn't exist the established recording industry would still be dying, because nobody likes being ripped off. The cost of recording has plummeted, the cost of distribution has plummeted, the cost of the media has plummeted. CDs should retail for no more than five bucks each, and downloads should be no more than a dime.
It's incredibly insulting to be called a thief by a pack of thieves. But then again, thieves think everyone steals. That's part of the problem as well.
I get my MP3s by ripping CDs. And I buy my CDs from the independant bands themselves; I think Original Prankster may have been the last RIAA CD I bought. And it will remain that way AFAIC until the music industry gets a clue.
-mcgrew
A Windows upgrade leaves Windows vulnerable? It didn't fix the problem? I'm shocked! SHOCKED, I tell ya!
-mcgrew
My two remaining addictions are caffeine and pussy. I'm noit sure if the second counts, as it's really a bodily function.
Spoken like a true busybody.
"If I derive pleasure out of it, then it can't be wrong."
No. If it harms nobody but myself, it's nobody's business but my own.
Have you even read the constitution?
Yes, I have. It does not grant rights to citizens, it assumes your rights are given by "the creator". It grants powers to the Federal government.