And don't try telling me that you do things for other people because "it's the right thing to do" you fo them because doing so makes you feel good. However we look at it, everything that the majority of humanity ever does is selfish.
Ego is what makes us separate (this is me, that is you, that is a chair - not me, etc), so it depends how much ego you have. Most people got buckets, but some got very little ego. Thus help others without so much regard of how good it makes them feel, but more because they identify themselves with others. Generally, the more you help others, the more you will identify with them. So it's a development progress. In conclusion, if being egoistic can help you start helping others, that's a good thing.
A few years ago, I also bought into the "we humans do everything on the basis of selfishness". And while it's technically true, I don't think it speaks the whole truth anymore.
So what? It'd take an hour to train a new person to do it, and that person doesn't need even a high-school education. Any 14-year-old kid big enough to lift the bags could take over his job tomorrow.
My point wasn't that, it was your apparent lack of gratitude. Who do you have to thank for for having time to sit by your computer and waste time on/. (just like me;)? You seem to take society for granted, which is dangerous. A society can crumble just like that, and suddenly people will be bewildered, unable to help themselves.
Mine takes years of experience and training to do.
Yes, you do have a point. I'm just saying your priorities and self-image is a bit scewered.
Well, first off, you guessed wrong; system administrator focussing on security, actually.
A fine job it is. Security is very important, but breathing is more important than computers. Do you now see how I prioritize my life. Do you see that I have a point too? It's not all black and white you know: That either I'm right and you're wrong, or vica-versa.
However, yes, it's true, a sub-healthy economy can support garbage men. But a HEALTHY economy at our population level and technology level can't occur without programmers, and system administrators.
I wouldn't call dot-bombs healthy;) Anyways, my point wasn't to belittle your importance, just make you aware that there are other important people around you. Wether they are more or less important is uninteresting. I'm not after changing your life or something. It seems a bit odd though, that you put so much importance into population and technology level. Does it make you happy?
The importance of a job can partially be measured by how much damage is done if it's done wrong, and the incomptence of the programmers at one company and a small fraction of the system administrators in the US has resulted in that $10 billion estimated loss to our economy. Are we paying the garbage men $10 billion in total?
Wrong. The importance is more dependent on wether it's an essential job or not. Computers aren't essential, that's an illusion, a break-down of "common" sense, if you think so. Food, water, air, hygiene etc are more essential. If such a job you describe is very vulnerable to losses, maybe steps should be taken to reduce risk or avoid such vulnerability? Of course, in a good excess economy hiring an expensive sysadmin to sit on his ass all day kind of makes sense.;)
I'm not saying we should pay garbage men more than they "deserve". I'm just trying to bring some awareness of facts of life, or you might persuade me against my arguments. If you're good that is;) If you don't allow me a single point, then you're definately a troll though.
The bottom line is that if the government decreed tomorrow that we all have to take our garbage to the landfill, and the garbagemen couldn't help, there wouldn't be chaos, there'd just be grumbling and some traffic jams at the landfills.
No, there would be a stink all over town. Because people are unaware of what it takes to run a society. It wouldn't be so bad of course, just a nasty smell. However, just think of all the other essential jobs that nobody wants being done for minimum wage all over the country. How unhealthily vulnerable are we and why do we look down on other people?
If they decreed tomorrow that everybody had to write their own programs and administrate their own systems, and the programmers and sysadmins couldn't help, the economy would collapse.
Maybe it would, but then you seem to prioritize economy over sanitary conditions. So, no wonder why we're disagreeing so much. Not that I also see your points though.
Again, I'm not saying we should put money into people's pockets. People should get what they deserve. In a limited world, you have to give incentive to develop skills.
Funny, you didn't think it was pointless when you started it; only when you started losing.
In your mind, I'm losing. In my mind, we're having a discussion and I find it interesting that someone can have totally opposite views than me. Maybe you do too?:) Or maybe you just label me a wacko greenie or something. Go ahead, it's your loss anyways.
Anybody who's paying attention to this knows that you represent an organization that's anti-technology and thinks we'd all be better off grubbing for insects in rotting logs than driving down to the grocery store in our SUVs, so why don't you and Ned Ludd wander off into the forest and let the folks who don't consider death of old age by 30 to be "the good old days" continue the discussion.
I don't represent Art of Living, not officially and not statistically. However, as far as I can say AoL is not against technology or science (or anything or anybody) and I'm perplexed on where you have gotten such misinformation from. It's an organisation for making all people happy and healthy, wherever and whoever they are, if they want to. We learn to not judge anybody, because by judging we destroy our peace of mind. We also learn to balance logic and love/artistic brainhalf, because without balance you're not clear. Most importantly, there's no one way of living.
But of course, I can't help but see how an unhealthy society we have here in the west, grown out of sour attitudes towards life and human values. And I want to do what I can to help people, because I feel good and healthy. Sharing it is natural for me. (I never felt good for having something others didn't have) But maybe I'm wasting too much energy on people that are not receptive.
I am; the garbage man is doing something I could easily do for myself, for pocket change.
But he's the one doing it. Consider what an unthankful job he does, with little money, compensation and being looked down upon by people like you. Then consider this society without garbage men. Wether you could do it is irrelevant. It certainly wouldn't cost you pocket change, neither in time or money.
He couldn't come do my job. And if it weren't for people like me, the economy couldn't support paying him at all.
Surely, he doesn't want your job either. A sub-healthy economy should always be able to support garbage men, software programmers on the other hand are more of a luxury...
Of course, such a kneejerk reaction just shows that you're trolling me, so I think I'll abstain from continuing a pointless discussion.
Really? Personally, I lean to the hypothesis that the BSD-folks got abducted by aliens. Surely, their talent and philosophies can be better appreciated in a more developed society.
Besides, look at all the junk snail mail you get every day, do you think that's going away any time soon?
In Norway, we have new laws where we can opt-out on junk-mail and other types of mass snailmail. You register in an opt-out database that companies _have_ to filter through and you get a sticker to put on your postbox. My experiences with this is that it's working. It's great, because I really don't want trees to be used to spread junk I have no interest in, or to be sent junk involuntarily.
It stings my heart when I discuss this with my neighbour who manages to say she wants to support the _mailmen_, thus don't opt-out. I mean, a person can be as intelligent as he like, but having wrong priorities will just cloud your mind anyways.
One downside is that this apparently does not include free papers, which I never read. I'm going to raise some bruaha about this in the near future though, so maybe it'll be changed:-) I didn't opt-out on information from voluntary projects though (like Red Cross), but so far, I've received none.
Anyways, my point is that it's not impossible. Companies have to follow the laws to stay in bussiness. Now what are you doing, besides complaining and developing an ulcer?
I have a hard time digesting that companies can get full tax-refunds on their own software. If that's true, then that's a somewhat unlimited source of income. Each packaged copy costs less than 1/3 of $995 to produce. I mean, that's just too stupid, right? Ergo, it must be true;-)
That's what they want you to believe. What's from keeping people from making a HD-image to give to their friends? Never mind that CD-images is always necessary when you're not connected, so they can be copied too. Software cracks have existed for ages and will prevent other hoops.
Not to mention that many of these so-called freeloaders don't have the money to spend in the first place, but they are important for the future skillbase and mindshare. If you count everything in dollars, then you've cut out a big part of reality.
I'm for software subscription though. It will make companies realize how much they really spend on software, how much hassle it is and generally make open source/free software become more used for the tasks they're suited for.
If you're battling an addiction to porn, you're not supposed to avoid porn at all cost. That'll only strengthen the craving (subconscious maybe?) and make you snap twice as hard. Instead, it is usually better to observe yourself under every confrontation with it. By observing yourself then & there, you start to dissolve whatever drives you to be addicted. In fact, by observing yourself in everyday life, you become more aware of what makes you tick. Everytime you see some porn, you don't have to pull up your dick (sowwy, I couldn't help it!;-)
The real average person is a totally different story. On the net as well as off, they're fucking morons of the highest order. Setting up a dual-boot configuration of Linux and FreeBSD for one of these guys would be an catastrophic overload of their mental facilities and likely to lead to disaster. Some of them can't even handle my Wendy's order. I doubt you can think of a reason you want them on the Net. Remember though, that you surely want them in real life. Who else is going to make your fast food, pick up your garbage?
So little respect for human lives and other experiences than your own. So what if not everyone is a successful knowledgeable geek. Must they be, to fit into your world of respect? It seems they only do, when they are portrayed as some kind of dumb slaves for your bidding.
We are a minority, living in a place where the majority are dumb as a post. To boot, we live in a democracy, which is the rule of the majority over the minority, as well as under mass capitalism, in which you need to pander to the desires of the majority to succeed. It sucks being here, and it has for a long time. For a little while, the Internet was almost like an intellectual panacea. Since then, however, it has grown out into the real world (by "real world" I definitely do not mean the world of big business). Reality's flip side is the dissolution of fantasy. With reality always comes stupidity. The fantasy of a place separate from reality and stupidity is now officially over. The plus side is that the net is now actually good for real, useful things.
Of course, your previous rant was just to stroke your own ego, as evidenced in this paragrapth. Just remember that what we feel towards our fellow human beings, is always related to our own personal problems. I'm not going to speculate, because that would be rude and ignorant of me. You did however, leave an insightful clue at the end.
I can leave a hint. The world got problems. Are you a part of the problem, or part of the solution? Unless you do work that is an actually benefit for humanity, you are a burden to society. Now who is doing the most important work. You, or the garbage man? (Song reference: The Garbage Man Can;)
Yelling and bickering about problems, justifying your way of living, or discussing them in (supposedly) intellectual elite clubs, doesn't count. It's when you start doing stuff, you realize how average and small you really are, but it makes you grow.
You haven't heard of ip-logs I guess.. True, the site admins need a date and time stamp to look for in the logs and the incentive to go after the anonymous coward. But Freenet is really your best bet if you truly want to preserve your anonymity. However, a problem remains. How do you anonymously report the appropriate Freenet-link? An anonymous Wiki-web on Freenet would be a great forum for something like this, I believe. Oh yeah, take out your copyright reminder and other identificators within the program;-) Even 1337 nicks can track you down.
It's really sad that this is necessary if you don't want to be persecuted for making a program.
And how many of us really buy our O'Reilly books at a store? Who has that much free time.
I do. You know, just cut down on partying one friday, then you can get up early on saturday instead of feeling like shit and you can take a walk around town. It's really amazing how we have forgotten the most basic things, then start complaining.
In essence the corporation is a private citizen, responsible for its own actions, but able to enjoy many of the same freedoms that the public do.
In essence, an undead citizen that never dies, never gets sick, can be many places at the same time. It's a powerful citizen. Who do you arrest if/when it does something illegal? A schitzophrenic citizen. Its decisions vary from week-to-week, according to the newest and hottest agenda. Something that can give extra PR and a quick buck on others expense.
Companies have been abused for far too long. They have gotten too powerful. They are ammoral and benefit from far too many weak laws. There's no accountability, and some people use them to screw others again and again. They are not private citizens, the two are, as they should be, kept separate in law.
In other words, while you can stand on a street corner and say that Congress' spending is financial misconduct, you have NO GOD-GIVEN (or Congress-given) RIGHT to stand at a Walmart aisle and say their trade practices are monopolistic. They can and probably will ask you to leave their private property. You have no choice but to suck it in.
Who says you have to be GIVEN a right to do anything? If you aren't given the right to breathe, do you stop breathing? As long as you aren't violent or destructive, I'd say you can protest any way you like. It's when you believe you have to be given rights, that you've already lost your case.
So even if someone asks you to leave, you don't have to. Of course, doing so should only be for cases that you truly have good knowledge of and believe in. Don't even show rage, it's contagious and will only hurt you back, just protest passively and calmly.
What's wrong with telling the bookstore what you think of being under automatic surveillance? That you think it's a breach of your privacy? Keep in mind that most discussions are about different definitions, and therefore utterly meaningless.
So if you browse the web on your Palm or a flat-panel monitor, the web gets cooler?
Well, naturally yeah. Now if you use a webpad, you get even more points for über-geekdom.
How about projection screens?
Even better, especially if it's tiny & portable!
I've never seen anything projected except crappy Powerpoint slides, so I don't know.
Imagine Quake III or Counterstrike on one of those babies on a THX-certified system. Of course, if you can play something like that on a Palm, you'll rule the hill for a while..
But keep in mind, no matter what you use. The more money you have to dole out to get one, the better. So you don't really need a clue, just lots of cash;-)
And uuh, I think some people need to learn to appreciate jokes better;*)
Donation is something remarkable. It's giving something to other people, no strings attached, no expectations of the outcome. It may make you feel good, but without conditions, it can be even better. You can donate in many ways: Material, money, working, educating and generally helping out or being friendly.
What corporations like Microsoft do when they "donate" their own software to get tax-refunds and with conditions to ensure vendor lock-in, it can hardly be called donation at all. It's like a crack-dealer. The first dose is for free to get you hooked, then they start charging. Let me repeat: There's no way this is donation.
It should not be tax-refundable. Unfortunately, common sense has dropped significantly in later times. Now rules and laws reign supreme, and people abuse whatever holes they can to reach their own ends. It's ironical that donation is on that list too.
"Browsing videos (books, CDs, etc.) is one of the best occasions to talk
to an unknown person of the opposite sex browsing in the same section as
you. It does happen, just muster the courage to actually _talk_ first."
If you're after chicks, start doing volunteer work. You'll increase your chances a thousand fold and you don't have to date immature girls/women that are scared of being alone for the rest of their life.
I might try the video-store trick, but it's hard with their boyfriend at their side.;-P
"Yes over time everyone eventually makes some money, but they also lose it. I have some friends who are just now reaching level 60 (the highest in EQ) who are not finding themselves strapped for cash after buying hard to find items and spells."
Buying something at a reasonable rate will not lose you anything. As long as the market holds, you will be able to sell the stuff again. This is the basics - it's called balance. You might even benefit a little from the inflation!
Yes, your argument is correct. You lose money, but the conclusion one draws from it gets screwed up. Money is just another medium of wealth, not wealth itself.
Slashdot Mirror
And don't try telling me that you do things for other people because "it's the right thing to do" you fo them because doing so makes you feel good. However we look at it, everything that the majority of humanity ever does is selfish.
Ego is what makes us separate (this is me, that is you, that is a chair - not me, etc), so it depends how much ego you have. Most people got buckets, but some got very little ego. Thus help others without so much regard of how good it makes them feel, but more because they identify themselves with others. Generally, the more you help others, the more you will identify with them. So it's a development progress. In conclusion, if being egoistic can help you start helping others, that's a good thing.
A few years ago, I also bought into the "we humans do everything on the basis of selfishness". And while it's technically true, I don't think it speaks the whole truth anymore.
- Steeltoe
So what? It'd take an hour to train a new person to do it, and that person doesn't need even a high-school education. Any 14-year-old kid big enough to lift the bags could take over his job tomorrow.
/. (just like me ;)? You seem to take society for granted, which is dangerous. A society can crumble just like that, and suddenly people will be bewildered, unable to help themselves.
;) Anyways, my point wasn't to belittle your importance, just make you aware that there are other important people around you. Wether they are more or less important is uninteresting. I'm not after changing your life or something. It seems a bit odd though, that you put so much importance into population and technology level. Does it make you happy?
;)
;) If you don't allow me a single point, then you're definately a troll though.
:) Or maybe you just label me a wacko greenie or something. Go ahead, it's your loss anyways.
My point wasn't that, it was your apparent lack of gratitude. Who do you have to thank for for having time to sit by your computer and waste time on
Mine takes years of experience and training to do.
Yes, you do have a point. I'm just saying your priorities and self-image is a bit scewered.
Well, first off, you guessed wrong; system administrator focussing on security, actually.
A fine job it is. Security is very important, but breathing is more important than computers. Do you now see how I prioritize my life. Do you see that I have a point too? It's not all black and white you know: That either I'm right and you're wrong, or vica-versa.
However, yes, it's true, a sub-healthy economy can support garbage men. But a HEALTHY economy at our population level and technology level can't occur without programmers, and system administrators.
I wouldn't call dot-bombs healthy
The importance of a job can partially be measured by how much damage is done if it's done wrong, and the incomptence of the programmers at one company and a small fraction of the system administrators in the US has resulted in that $10 billion estimated loss to our economy. Are we paying the garbage men $10 billion in total?
Wrong. The importance is more dependent on wether it's an essential job or not. Computers aren't essential, that's an illusion, a break-down of "common" sense, if you think so. Food, water, air, hygiene etc are more essential. If such a job you describe is very vulnerable to losses, maybe steps should be taken to reduce risk or avoid such vulnerability? Of course, in a good excess economy hiring an expensive sysadmin to sit on his ass all day kind of makes sense.
I'm not saying we should pay garbage men more than they "deserve". I'm just trying to bring some awareness of facts of life, or you might persuade me against my arguments. If you're good that is
The bottom line is that if the government decreed tomorrow that we all have to take our garbage to the landfill, and the garbagemen couldn't help, there wouldn't be chaos, there'd just be grumbling and some traffic jams at the landfills.
No, there would be a stink all over town. Because people are unaware of what it takes to run a society. It wouldn't be so bad of course, just a nasty smell. However, just think of all the other essential jobs that nobody wants being done for minimum wage all over the country. How unhealthily vulnerable are we and why do we look down on other people?
If they decreed tomorrow that everybody had to write their own programs and administrate their own systems, and the programmers and sysadmins couldn't help, the economy would collapse.
Maybe it would, but then you seem to prioritize economy over sanitary conditions. So, no wonder why we're disagreeing so much. Not that I also see your points though.
Again, I'm not saying we should put money into people's pockets. People should get what they deserve. In a limited world, you have to give incentive to develop skills.
Funny, you didn't think it was pointless when you started it; only when you started losing.
In your mind, I'm losing. In my mind, we're having a discussion and I find it interesting that someone can have totally opposite views than me. Maybe you do too?
Anybody who's paying attention to this knows that you represent an organization that's anti-technology and thinks we'd all be better off grubbing for insects in rotting logs than driving down to the grocery store in our SUVs, so why don't you and Ned Ludd wander off into the forest and let the folks who don't consider death of old age by 30 to be "the good old days" continue the discussion.
I don't represent Art of Living, not officially and not statistically. However, as far as I can say AoL is not against technology or science (or anything or anybody) and I'm perplexed on where you have gotten such misinformation from. It's an organisation for making all people happy and healthy, wherever and whoever they are, if they want to. We learn to not judge anybody, because by judging we destroy our peace of mind. We also learn to balance logic and love/artistic brainhalf, because without balance you're not clear. Most importantly, there's no one way of living.
But of course, I can't help but see how an unhealthy society we have here in the west, grown out of sour attitudes towards life and human values. And I want to do what I can to help people, because I feel good and healthy. Sharing it is natural for me. (I never felt good for having something others didn't have) But maybe I'm wasting too much energy on people that are not receptive.
- Steeltoe
I am; the garbage man is doing something I could easily do for myself, for pocket change.
But he's the one doing it. Consider what an unthankful job he does, with little money, compensation and being looked down upon by people like you. Then consider this society without garbage men. Wether you could do it is irrelevant. It certainly wouldn't cost you pocket change, neither in time or money.
He couldn't come do my job. And if it weren't for people like me, the economy couldn't support paying him at all.
Surely, he doesn't want your job either. A sub-healthy economy should always be able to support garbage men, software programmers on the other hand are more of a luxury...
Of course, such a kneejerk reaction just shows that you're trolling me, so I think I'll abstain from continuing a pointless discussion.
- Steeltoe
Really? Personally, I lean to the hypothesis that the BSD-folks got abducted by aliens. Surely, their talent and philosophies can be better appreciated in a more developed society.
- Steeltoe
Of course you could use Ghostview to view pdf...
Only if they start using anti-aliased fonts!
It's a joke!
- Steeltoe
Besides, look at all the junk snail mail you get every day, do you think that's going away any time soon?
:-) I didn't opt-out on information from voluntary projects though (like Red Cross), but so far, I've received none.
In Norway, we have new laws where we can opt-out on junk-mail and other types of mass snailmail. You register in an opt-out database that companies _have_ to filter through and you get a sticker to put on your postbox. My experiences with this is that it's working. It's great, because I really don't want trees to be used to spread junk I have no interest in, or to be sent junk involuntarily.
It stings my heart when I discuss this with my neighbour who manages to say she wants to support the _mailmen_, thus don't opt-out. I mean, a person can be as intelligent as he like, but having wrong priorities will just cloud your mind anyways.
One downside is that this apparently does not include free papers, which I never read. I'm going to raise some bruaha about this in the near future though, so maybe it'll be changed
Anyways, my point is that it's not impossible. Companies have to follow the laws to stay in bussiness. Now what are you doing, besides complaining and developing an ulcer?
- Steeltoe
I don't get it.. what's so difficult in deleting a few messages that you might not want to read ?
/.? Try it, I think you might not like it.
Interesting... Is that why you don't have an open email address on
Now before you mod me as troll,
Saying that only confirms our suspicions.
- Steeltoe
I have a hard time digesting that companies can get full tax-refunds on their own software. If that's true, then that's a somewhat unlimited source of income. Each packaged copy costs less than 1/3 of $995 to produce. I mean, that's just too stupid, right? Ergo, it must be true ;-)
- Steeltoe
That's what they want you to believe. What's from keeping people from making a HD-image to give to their friends? Never mind that CD-images is always necessary when you're not connected, so they can be copied too. Software cracks have existed for ages and will prevent other hoops.
Not to mention that many of these so-called freeloaders don't have the money to spend in the first place, but they are important for the future skillbase and mindshare. If you count everything in dollars, then you've cut out a big part of reality.
I'm for software subscription though. It will make companies realize how much they really spend on software, how much hassle it is and generally make open source/free software become more used for the tasks they're suited for.
- Steeltoe
If you're battling an addiction to porn, you're not supposed to avoid porn at all cost. That'll only strengthen the craving (subconscious maybe?) and make you snap twice as hard. Instead, it is usually better to observe yourself under every confrontation with it. By observing yourself then & there, you start to dissolve whatever drives you to be addicted. In fact, by observing yourself in everyday life, you become more aware of what makes you tick. Everytime you see some porn, you don't have to pull up your dick (sowwy, I couldn't help it! ;-)
- Steeltoe
A nice and balanced post until this came up:
;)
The real average person is a totally different story. On the net as well as off, they're fucking morons of the highest order. Setting up a dual-boot configuration of Linux and FreeBSD for one of these guys would be an catastrophic overload of their mental facilities and likely to lead to disaster. Some of them can't even handle my Wendy's order. I doubt you can think of a reason you want them on the Net. Remember though, that you surely want them in real life. Who else is going to make your fast food, pick up your garbage?
So little respect for human lives and other experiences than your own. So what if not everyone is a successful knowledgeable geek. Must they be, to fit into your world of respect? It seems they only do, when they are portrayed as some kind of dumb slaves for your bidding.
We are a minority, living in a place where the majority are dumb as a post. To boot, we live in a democracy, which is the rule of the majority over the minority, as well as under mass capitalism, in which you need to pander to the desires of the majority to succeed. It sucks being here, and it has for a long time. For a little while, the Internet was almost like an intellectual panacea. Since then, however, it has grown out into the real world (by "real world" I definitely do not mean the world of big business). Reality's flip side is the dissolution of fantasy. With reality always comes stupidity. The fantasy of a place separate from reality and stupidity is now officially over. The plus side is that the net is now actually good for real, useful things.
Of course, your previous rant was just to stroke your own ego, as evidenced in this paragrapth. Just remember that what we feel towards our fellow human beings, is always related to our own personal problems. I'm not going to speculate, because that would be rude and ignorant of me. You did however, leave an insightful clue at the end.
I can leave a hint. The world got problems. Are you a part of the problem, or part of the solution? Unless you do work that is an actually benefit for humanity, you are a burden to society. Now who is doing the most important work. You, or the garbage man? (Song reference: The Garbage Man Can
Yelling and bickering about problems, justifying your way of living, or discussing them in (supposedly) intellectual elite clubs, doesn't count. It's when you start doing stuff, you realize how average and small you really are, but it makes you grow.
- Steeltoe
ST - 34. ST - 34. Get it?
;-)
Me neither
- Steeltoe
You haven't heard of ip-logs I guess.. True, the site admins need a date and time stamp to look for in the logs and the incentive to go after the anonymous coward. But Freenet is really your best bet if you truly want to preserve your anonymity. However, a problem remains. How do you anonymously report the appropriate Freenet-link? An anonymous Wiki-web on Freenet would be a great forum for something like this, I believe. Oh yeah, take out your copyright reminder and other identificators within the program ;-) Even 1337 nicks can track you down.
It's really sad that this is necessary if you don't want to be persecuted for making a program.
- Steeltoe
And how many of us really buy our O'Reilly books at a store? Who has that much free time.
I do. You know, just cut down on partying one friday, then you can get up early on saturday instead of feeling like shit and you can take a walk around town. It's really amazing how we have forgotten the most basic things, then start complaining.
- Steeltoe
In essence the corporation is a private citizen, responsible for its own actions, but able to enjoy many of the same freedoms that the public do.
In essence, an undead citizen that never dies, never gets sick, can be many places at the same time. It's a powerful citizen. Who do you arrest if/when it does something illegal? A schitzophrenic citizen. Its decisions vary from week-to-week, according to the newest and hottest agenda. Something that can give extra PR and a quick buck on others expense.
Companies have been abused for far too long. They have gotten too powerful. They are ammoral and benefit from far too many weak laws. There's no accountability, and some people use them to screw others again and again. They are not private citizens, the two are, as they should be, kept separate in law.
- Steeltoe
In other words, while you can stand on a street corner and say that Congress' spending is financial misconduct, you have NO GOD-GIVEN (or Congress-given) RIGHT to stand at a Walmart aisle and say their trade practices are monopolistic. They can and probably will ask you to leave their private property. You have no choice but to suck it in.
Who says you have to be GIVEN a right to do anything? If you aren't given the right to breathe, do you stop breathing? As long as you aren't violent or destructive, I'd say you can protest any way you like. It's when you believe you have to be given rights, that you've already lost your case.
So even if someone asks you to leave, you don't have to. Of course, doing so should only be for cases that you truly have good knowledge of and believe in. Don't even show rage, it's contagious and will only hurt you back, just protest passively and calmly.
- Steeltoe
What's wrong with telling the bookstore what you think of being under automatic surveillance? That you think it's a breach of your privacy? Keep in mind that most discussions are about different definitions, and therefore utterly meaningless.
- Steeltoe
Exactly. :)
:-)
Doh!
- Steeltoe
So if you browse the web on your Palm or a flat-panel monitor, the web gets cooler?
;-)
;*)
Well, naturally yeah. Now if you use a webpad, you get even more points for über-geekdom.
How about projection screens?
Even better, especially if it's tiny & portable!
I've never seen anything projected except crappy Powerpoint slides, so I don't know.
Imagine Quake III or Counterstrike on one of those babies on a THX-certified system. Of course, if you can play something like that on a Palm, you'll rule the hill for a while..
But keep in mind, no matter what you use. The more money you have to dole out to get one, the better. So you don't really need a clue, just lots of cash
And uuh, I think some people need to learn to appreciate jokes better
- Steeltoe
Of course, if you're opposed to these laws, you must be a terrorist or a child molestor...
I AM and I deeply oppose these laws. Maybe we should form a party? The Terrorist and Child Molestor Party (TCM-party). It's time we get heard..
- Steeltoe
The lawyers earn a lot of money regardless, no wonder we got so many frivilous suits. However, that's why counter-suits exists.
- Steeltoe
Donation is something remarkable. It's giving something to other people, no strings attached, no expectations of the outcome. It may make you feel good, but without conditions, it can be even better. You can donate in many ways: Material, money, working, educating and generally helping out or being friendly.
What corporations like Microsoft do when they "donate" their own software to get tax-refunds and with conditions to ensure vendor lock-in, it can hardly be called donation at all. It's like a crack-dealer. The first dose is for free to get you hooked, then they start charging. Let me repeat: There's no way this is donation.
It should not be tax-refundable. Unfortunately, common sense has dropped significantly in later times. Now rules and laws reign supreme, and people abuse whatever holes they can to reach their own ends. It's ironical that donation is on that list too.
- Steeltoe
"Browsing videos (books, CDs, etc.) is one of the best occasions to talk
;-P
to an unknown person of the opposite sex browsing in the same section as
you. It does happen, just muster the courage to actually _talk_ first."
If you're after chicks, start doing volunteer work. You'll increase your chances a thousand fold and you don't have to date immature girls/women that are scared of being alone for the rest of their life.
I might try the video-store trick, but it's hard with their boyfriend at their side.
- Steeltoe
Just try to find the post i replied to, and you'll see more than 2 posts in this thread. Good luck :-)
- Steeltoe
"Yes over time everyone eventually makes some money, but they also lose it. I have some friends who are just now reaching level 60 (the highest in EQ) who are not finding themselves strapped for cash after buying hard to find items and spells."
Buying something at a reasonable rate will not lose you anything. As long as the market holds, you will be able to sell the stuff again. This is the basics - it's called balance. You might even benefit a little from the inflation!
Yes, your argument is correct. You lose money, but the conclusion one draws from it gets screwed up. Money is just another medium of wealth, not wealth itself.
- Steeltoe