Or maybe, just maybe, the absolute majority of "non-functional device" returns are functional for someone with a clue and a capability to RTFM.
I saw one too many "elite hackers" returning "defective" hardware AND sofware (incl. MS Office) clearly labeled *Windows 98/2k/XP* after it "failed" to work under their generic install of Fedora Core, or their POS box not liking the CS jumper. Or a kid genius returning Linux Mathematica because it did not work on this 10.2 mac ("But OS Ex is linux too").
Or even likelier explanation is to prevent bystanders from sending off snapshots/videos of the next Rodney King. Or that lady they shot up in Atlanta. Or the black bridegroom shot 22 times last weekend.
Then again, the mischievious part of me wonders if we should just let this gentle version of natural selection run its course.
No we should not: 1) It would not be natural. It is man-made! 2) It is precisely the smarter, more intelligent people who have a propensity to become virtuality addicts.
That's what makes this an addiction: rejecting the natural rewards (food, sex, sleep) in favor of a virtual reward of some sort.
If you need help getting rid of your game addiction, try imbibing some emetic shortly after you start playing (check with your doctor). Or try taking strong laxatives each time you go on a gaming spree.
Or even simpler, buy two galons+ of whole milk, then each time you score a "kill" or whatever it is you score in those games, reward yourself by drinking a whole glass.
what has he done that makes you think he's anything other than a rich kid who was in the right place at the right time?
Bush Jr. was also a rich kid, in the right place, and at the right time; yet somehow his every single business venture ended up in a miserable failure (Arbusto Energy, Harken, Spectrum, Rangers, Sammy Sosa fuckup, etc. etc.)
So I might, just might be willing to give Bill Gates a try.
Unfortunately, not being a sociopathic sadist, Gates is at real disadvantage.
why not? i bet you it is possible many a caveman gave up on innovation after considering their options: either try rubbing sticks/grass/stones/ice/hair/meat together in the hope that it would produce something useful (which will be immediately stolen) or go out and hunt the elephant to put bread on their children.
The real innovation did not start until shamans (read, IP protection) emerged.
IP protection was strengthened during the last two centuries, which directly correlates to the amount of innovation we have.
*Zero IP protection: took millenia to discover fire, wheels, bows/arrows, masonry.
*Increased IP protection: in the last 2-3 centuries we got metalloconcrete construction, steam engine, IC engine, diesel, electricity, AC applications, radio, telephone, light bulbs, vacuum valves, transistors, TV, computers, the Internet, antibiotics, fertilizers, EM, biotech/genetic engineering, etc. etc.
So is IP protection really that bad, given almost all of our technology derives under strong IP conditions? Correlation does not always imply causation, and yet...
The news here is what law he broke and how he broke it, and whether this law even makes sense. Apparently he broke the law by trading virtual items in a virtual economy, sending all proceeds to a foreign contry. How this is Japan's business is the real issue.
Crying 'he broke the law' is just not helpful. After all, me saying Rosa Parks broke the law!!!11!!!!1!@ makes about just as much sense...
I might also point out that a consenting, married couple in Texas can spend years in jail for using a dildo in the privacy of their bedroom during their lovemaking. In over a dozen US states you can become a felon by engaging in oral sex with your spouse.
How 'bout we tattoo a unique number onto a forhead of every person (and make it so that nobody could buy or sell without it) like the Good Book said we should?
It's really a question of National Security, not a question of how well off people are.
The janitors and the "ditch diggers" do not design cruise-missiles, next-gen GPS, quantum computers, cold fusion reactors, cancer vaccine, or nanobots.
The way things are going America will be relegated to the ashheap of history just like Britain, Hungary, Poland, or Argentina were in the 19th and 20th century.
As long as unskilled jobs offer good compensation, there is little incentive for students to study hard and work hard. And we can't snatch up the specialists from the outside given our current level of xenophobia (and job entitlement attitudes e.g. "as an IT specialist I deserve 200k/year+benefits to sit on my ass reading Slashdot half the day")
Is it normal that his FC5 lags so badly? Does it always take 1-2 seconds to re-draw the menu icons? And what's with the qvga desktop resolution, bad videocard drivers?
Slashdot Mirror
Or maybe, just maybe, the absolute majority of "non-functional device" returns are functional for someone with a clue and a capability to RTFM.
I saw one too many "elite hackers" returning "defective" hardware AND sofware (incl. MS Office) clearly labeled *Windows 98/2k/XP* after it "failed" to work under their generic install of Fedora Core, or their POS box not liking the CS jumper. Or a kid genius returning Linux Mathematica because it did not work on this 10.2 mac ("But OS Ex is linux too").
Well, to be fair, there ARE white people in jail: 1/3 white people, 1/3 black people, 1/3 hispanic people (the breakdown includes the guards).
Or even likelier explanation is to prevent bystanders from sending off snapshots/videos of the next Rodney King. Or that lady they shot up in Atlanta. Or the black bridegroom shot 22 times last weekend.
No we should not:
1) It would not be natural. It is man-made!
2) It is precisely the smarter, more intelligent people who have a propensity to become virtuality addicts.
That's what makes this an addiction: rejecting the natural rewards (food, sex, sleep) in favor of a virtual reward of some sort.
If you need help getting rid of your game addiction, try imbibing some emetic shortly after you start playing (check with your doctor). Or try taking strong laxatives each time you go on a gaming spree.
Or even simpler, buy two galons+ of whole milk, then each time you score a "kill" or whatever it is you score in those games, reward yourself by drinking a whole glass.
Bush Jr. was also a rich kid, in the right place, and at the right time; yet somehow his every single business venture ended up in a miserable failure (Arbusto Energy, Harken, Spectrum, Rangers, Sammy Sosa fuckup, etc. etc.)
So I might, just might be willing to give Bill Gates a try.
Unfortunately, not being a sociopathic sadist, Gates is at real disadvantage.
No, that's the $50 they made off their La-Z-Boy Inc. shares.
The true Republicans don't throw stones, they sell them... to Ralf Nader fanboys... who throw them at hobos while we watch.
The longer a frat party goes on, the more likely it is that someone will barf.
substitute internet discussion for frat party, and bringing up Nazis for barfing, and you have Goodwin's Law -- merely an empirical observation.
So bringing up Nazis does not mean the party is over or less fun afterwards. With any luck it might even turn into an orgy/cicrle-j*
Uh... Oh yeah! Why do you hate America so much!!!!!1!!
scary shit.
As my mom used to say, 'Megaditto, always finish reading your spam messages: there are kids that can't read in Africa!'
--
I am going to hell for that one, ain't I?
why not? i bet you it is possible many a caveman gave up on innovation after considering their options: either try rubbing sticks/grass/stones/ice/hair/meat together in the hope that it would produce something useful (which will be immediately stolen) or go out and hunt the elephant to put bread on their children.
The real innovation did not start until shamans (read, IP protection) emerged.
IP protection was strengthened during the last two centuries, which directly correlates to the amount of innovation we have.
*Zero IP protection: took millenia to discover fire, wheels, bows/arrows, masonry.
*Increased IP protection: in the last 2-3 centuries we got metalloconcrete construction, steam engine, IC engine, diesel, electricity, AC applications, radio, telephone, light bulbs, vacuum valves, transistors, TV, computers, the Internet, antibiotics, fertilizers, EM, biotech/genetic engineering, etc. etc.
So is IP protection really that bad, given almost all of our technology derives under strong IP conditions? Correlation does not always imply causation, and yet...
The news here is what law he broke and how he broke it, and whether this law even makes sense. Apparently he broke the law by trading virtual items in a virtual economy, sending all proceeds to a foreign contry. How this is Japan's business is the real issue.
Crying 'he broke the law' is just not helpful. After all, me saying Rosa Parks broke the law!!!11!!!!1!@ makes about just as much sense...
I might also point out that a consenting, married couple in Texas can spend years in jail for using a dildo in the privacy of their bedroom during their lovemaking. In over a dozen US states you can become a felon by engaging in oral sex with your spouse.
not really, since he took their jerbs.
How 'bout we tattoo a unique number onto a forhead of every person (and make it so that nobody could buy or sell without it) like the Good Book said we should?
It's really a question of National Security, not a question of how well off people are.
The janitors and the "ditch diggers" do not design cruise-missiles, next-gen GPS, quantum computers, cold fusion reactors, cancer vaccine, or nanobots.
The way things are going America will be relegated to the ashheap of history just like Britain, Hungary, Poland, or Argentina were in the 19th and 20th century.
As long as unskilled jobs offer good compensation, there is little incentive for students to study hard and work hard.
And we can't snatch up the specialists from the outside given our current level of xenophobia (and job entitlement attitudes e.g. "as an IT specialist I deserve 200k/year+benefits to sit on my ass reading Slashdot half the day")
Why are we so fucking full of ourselves?
Why do we think the future humans will care what some Joe Nerd brogged after watching a porno in his mom's basement?
The truth is, 99.99% of all our "information" is simply not worth preserving. The rest, print of some acid-free paper.
Wouldn't you need a truck to move that thing around?
Is it normal that his FC5 lags so badly?
Does it always take 1-2 seconds to re-draw the menu icons?
And what's with the qvga desktop resolution, bad videocard drivers?