Last year, I wrote up (self-link) my experiences with debit fraud from what I think is organized crime in Spain. I was stunned at how completely clueless and helpless my bank acted with regard to the whole thing.
To make a long story short, I had to close my bank account to end the debit drain. Nothing else worked, and I was getting hit multiple times a week, every week.
I expect that the biotech advancements in our lifetimes will parallel the computer/industrial advancements in our parents and grandparents lifetimes. I doubt that purely "robotic" replacement parts will ever be a big/common deal, but that biotech enhanced organic parts will be.
I think that very many people in my (Gen-X) generation will not be able to accept large changes. It is too much. They/we'll accept medical advancements, but not like the stuff the youth will do. Extreme body modification will be common within my lifetime.
Personally, I'd like a significantly enhanced immune system, a better digestive system, and more efficient muscles which are not as subject to random pain and which do not require regular maintenance. In addition, I'd like the ability to regulate my body fat without resort to brute-force cutting or suction, and without requiring hours of mind-numbingly-dull exercise.
I might like horns, I'm not sure about that. It would be fun, especially if easily reversible.
I would like wings, especially if they were not permanent.
The one saving grace of this obvious list of foods was that the naive myth "OMG CARBS ARE SO BAD" was only hinted at a couple times.
It seems half the lack-wit wanna-be-dieters in the U.S. adopted the low-carb part of Atkins, without reading any background or understanding why, and now they act as if a piece of friggin bread is what is packing the inches on their hips. Sure, eat more bacon, just avoid that deadly bagel. Sheesh.
I'd eat it. No problem. In fact, I believe it is almost inevitable that most people will eat it.
However, my guess is that for a long time, it will taste like unmitigated crap. Think of the processed "ham" they sell at Safeway. Not the nice stuff, the stuff which costs $1.xx/pound. Yick.
Predictions:
- Someone will make an appliance-type-box to do this. This will happen much sooner than most people would predict. I suspect within a decade.
- At first it will be a crazy extravagance. People will pretend to like it. It will be advertised as much healthier, better for the environment, etc.
- Then, after a long while, the situation will reverse and constructed-meat will be what the proletariat eats as its staple. "Real Meat" will be hotly debated as a legal option, but will finally remain available and expensive. I will basically only be available at nice restaurants and from specialty stores for wealthy folks. Trader Joes will carry it, of course.
I used to rationalize smoking as a enforced-by-my-body break. When I quit smoking, I found myself regularly working all day with no break, and getting kind of irritated about that. Now I just go outside as if I am going to smoke, but read instead. People can assume what they like, and I still get my nice breaks.
Here's a great study about the stupidity of companies requiring regular greater-than-40-hour weeks.
I simply won't do it. Luckily, I am at a point in my career (as a senior programamer) where I am comfortable saying exactly that during interviews. I frame it the best way I can, something along the lines of "I try to manage my time and my expectations so that huge crunches do not happen. If they do happen occasionally, I am quite willing to do what it takes to get a project out the door, even if it means 12 hour days for a week or two. But I can't sign up for 50-60 hours every week, it is proven to be a net negative for the project, and even moreso on my family life. Hopefully this company understands that...?" I don't say that until the job is pretty much in-the-bag, and I've never had a company back off at that point.
Non-competes are garbage. I've *never* seen or heard of one being successfully prosecuted. I have on the other hand seen people get slapped down by judges for trying to enforce them. One lawyer I worked with was told by the judge that he would report her to the ethics board if she ever brought such a foolish waste-of-time case before him again. Priceless. Simply ignore the non-compete, it is just there to scare ignorant people into compliance.
Nal, what the hell? Not the dog discussion ... I think we are actually quite close on that question now. What I'm reacting to now is your offhand comment about pink guns.
In short: Never heard that one/might work/extremely silly/made me laugh.
Nal, I apologize for putting words in your mouth. I was conflating you with others who argue for what I believe to be foolish and ill-founded bans.
However, I still believe you are too ready to accept anecdotes as proven fact. "Its the DNA, people" you say, with no evidence to back you. DNA doing what exactly? Causing these dogs to be more likely to attack people? Prove it, and prove that it happens at a greater rate than any other similarly sized dogs, and I'll agree that something might need to be done. I just don't think you or anyone has proved that.
When I talk about "everybody knows" comments, I am pointing out that without proof, I reject what many seem to be taking as fact, that pit bulls are a danger to humans (moreso than other dogs of a similar size). You seem to be starting with that as a base assumption, but again I may be reading into your statement more than you are intending.
Nal, you don't have a clue. Prove the danger without "everybody knows" anecdotes and baseless speculation about what you believe motivates "scum" and then I *might* agree with you that something should be done.
The point is, you can't do it, because it isn't true. Basically, what happens is that many dog bite accidents are reported as "pit bulls" regardless of the true breed of the offending dog. I saw a list once where someone had collected a list of the true breeds of attacks misreported as "pit attacks", and saw a freakin' Golden Retriever. But, your "everybody knows" ignorance trumps my actual research, I suppose.
BlueHorse, yup, I read that one. Adam's Task is my favorite of hers, but that's a great one too.
Take the "spot the pitbull test", it might be enlightening.
Historically, there have been many other breeds accused of being no-good-shits-due-to-their-genes. Laughably, at the turn of (last) century, the popularly understood to be evil breed was ... the bloodhound. [1]
People are reacting to anecdotal evidence and perpetrating a genetic crime, trying to wipe out this breed. Even if the pit bull bigots are 100% successful in destroying the genetic line, I can with certainty predict that the overall dogbite rate will not change in the slightest. It is the owners, stupid.
[1] Source, "Adam's Task" by Vicki Hearne, professional Dog Trainer, Professor (of english, IIRC), and philosopher. Unreservedly recommended.
After playing a lot of GTA, Vice City a couple years ago, I actually did find myself appraising cars as I drove to work. I found myself thinking "I wonder if I could just run up and carjack that guy." It was creepy and I quit playing the game, due to this mindset invasion tendency.
On the other hand, I play a lot of RPGs and I've never thought, "Maybe if I was to stab that guy to death it would get me enough experience points to reach the next level."
I'm not advocating censoring anything, I'm personally opposed to all censorship, but I really was creeped out by GTA, just as I would be by "Serial Killer".
Wasn't there a popular game about being a hitman out a year or two ago? Also creepy.
OK, step by step for an embedding script:
1) get a good opensourced script. Here's one:
http://www.laszlosystems.com/lps/includes/embed.js
2) load the on your page. Either put the literal text of the whole thing script tags:
<script>
copied text here
/<script>
or, if Xanga will let you, just upload the js file and then refer to it like so:
<script src="embed.js"/>
3) embed your flash file using the javascript, like so:
<script>lzEmbed({url: 'your_flipbook_file.swf', bgcolor: '#ffffff', width: '800', height: '600'});
</script>
When I need to embed Flash, I always use a javascript to do it. It is just so much cleaner.
Here's a good one:
http://blog.deconcept.com/2004/10/14/web-standards-compliant-javascript-flash-detect-and-embed/
Assuming you are allowed Javascript, it should be a nobrainer to use a script for your embedding.
Cynnbad, I don't get that feeling of "excruciation", nor do I really understand it. I've been chewed out by self-righteous jerks for talking on a cellphone on a bus, and I came right back at 'em. Seriously, a bus is a loud, rattly, uncomfortable thing with dozens of conversations going on all around. Why is *my* conversation any more offensive than anyone else's? Because it is on a cell? Sorry, you'll have to do better than that.
Is it the "enclosed space" which defines it as a wrong place for cell usage? Should cell usage be like smoking, "Go stand outside and no one except extreme zealots will give you crap for it"?
Don't get me wrong, I agree that loud/long cell conversations in a restaurant are right out. In that setting, one expects some privacy and decorum. But in a bus? Seriously, I think some people just let their pet peeves run away with them.
I wish we could come up with a set of universally recognized rules-of-decorum for cellphone usage. Because they aint goin' away, we need to come to some agreement about how to properly use them. Maybe the smoking analogue might work ... but a lot of people smoke in their cars.
I'd use Vonage, for $.07 cents a minute. My father-in-law lives in Brazil, and we had not been able to find a reliable way to call him inexpensively & reliably, until we switched to VOIP. If you do use them,
It is kind of a big switch, but at $27/month for unlimited US and Canada calling, it is saving me quite a bit of money even before the newly cheap and reliable Brazil calling is factored in.
Middleclasstool, if the sites are seriously worried, then they should not put the .mp3s in their RSS. Very simple. Done.
Or if you are talking about using DownThemAll...how are you assuming anyone would discover the use of it? Are music orgs going to pull server logs and look for any non IE/Firefox downloads? In that edge case, they won't find any. DownThemAll, as a plugin, will show up as Firefox in the logs.
Information put on the web with no access restriction can and will be "spidered", and this is not (IMHO) unethical. This is especially so in the case where a site goes out of its way to provide the information in spiderable form, as in RSS.
Last year, I wrote up (self-link) my experiences with debit fraud from what I think is organized crime in Spain. I was stunned at how completely clueless and helpless my bank acted with regard to the whole thing. To make a long story short, I had to close my bank account to end the debit drain. Nothing else worked, and I was getting hit multiple times a week, every week.
posted by invoke 18 years ago
In "The iArm"
Ooo, yeah, a long prehensile tail. That would rule.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
I expect that the biotech advancements in our lifetimes will parallel the computer/industrial advancements in our parents and grandparents lifetimes. I doubt that purely "robotic" replacement parts will ever be a big/common deal, but that biotech enhanced organic parts will be. I think that very many people in my (Gen-X) generation will not be able to accept large changes. It is too much. They/we'll accept medical advancements, but not like the stuff the youth will do. Extreme body modification will be common within my lifetime. Personally, I'd like a significantly enhanced immune system, a better digestive system, and more efficient muscles which are not as subject to random pain and which do not require regular maintenance. In addition, I'd like the ability to regulate my body fat without resort to brute-force cutting or suction, and without requiring hours of mind-numbingly-dull exercise. I might like horns, I'm not sure about that. It would be fun, especially if easily reversible. I would like wings, especially if they were not permanent.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "The worst foods for your health"
The one saving grace of this obvious list of foods was that the naive myth "OMG CARBS ARE SO BAD" was only hinted at a couple times. It seems half the lack-wit wanna-be-dieters in the U.S. adopted the low-carb part of Atkins, without reading any background or understanding why, and now they act as if a piece of friggin bread is what is packing the inches on their hips. Sure, eat more bacon, just avoid that deadly bagel. Sheesh.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Your next chicken nuggets "
I'd eat it. No problem. In fact, I believe it is almost inevitable that most people will eat it. However, my guess is that for a long time, it will taste like unmitigated crap. Think of the processed "ham" they sell at Safeway. Not the nice stuff, the stuff which costs $1.xx/pound. Yick. Predictions: - Someone will make an appliance-type-box to do this. This will happen much sooner than most people would predict. I suspect within a decade. - At first it will be a crazy extravagance. People will pretend to like it. It will be advertised as much healthier, better for the environment, etc. - Then, after a long while, the situation will reverse and constructed-meat will be what the proletariat eats as its staple. "Real Meat" will be hotly debated as a legal option, but will finally remain available and expensive. I will basically only be available at nice restaurants and from specialty stores for wealthy folks. Trader Joes will carry it, of course.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Curious George (yes, another): Wiki "
jotspot, which I've been planning to try out for a personal site, seems to support stuff like that.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Curious George: Salary Slavery?"
I used to rationalize smoking as a enforced-by-my-body break. When I quit smoking, I found myself regularly working all day with no break, and getting kind of irritated about that. Now I just go outside as if I am going to smoke, but read instead. People can assume what they like, and I still get my nice breaks.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
Here's a great study about the stupidity of companies requiring regular greater-than-40-hour weeks. I simply won't do it. Luckily, I am at a point in my career (as a senior programamer) where I am comfortable saying exactly that during interviews. I frame it the best way I can, something along the lines of "I try to manage my time and my expectations so that huge crunches do not happen. If they do happen occasionally, I am quite willing to do what it takes to get a project out the door, even if it means 12 hour days for a week or two. But I can't sign up for 50-60 hours every week, it is proven to be a net negative for the project, and even moreso on my family life. Hopefully this company understands that...?" I don't say that until the job is pretty much in-the-bag, and I've never had a company back off at that point. Non-competes are garbage. I've *never* seen or heard of one being successfully prosecuted. I have on the other hand seen people get slapped down by judges for trying to enforce them. One lawyer I worked with was told by the judge that he would report her to the ethics board if she ever brought such a foolish waste-of-time case before him again. Priceless. Simply ignore the non-compete, it is just there to scare ignorant people into compliance.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Death to all pitt bulls!"
Nal, what the hell? Not the dog discussion ... I think we are actually quite close on that question now. What I'm reacting to now is your offhand comment about pink guns. In short: Never heard that one/might work/extremely silly/made me laugh.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
Nal, I apologize for putting words in your mouth. I was conflating you with others who argue for what I believe to be foolish and ill-founded bans. However, I still believe you are too ready to accept anecdotes as proven fact. "Its the DNA, people" you say, with no evidence to back you. DNA doing what exactly? Causing these dogs to be more likely to attack people? Prove it, and prove that it happens at a greater rate than any other similarly sized dogs, and I'll agree that something might need to be done. I just don't think you or anyone has proved that. When I talk about "everybody knows" comments, I am pointing out that without proof, I reject what many seem to be taking as fact, that pit bulls are a danger to humans (moreso than other dogs of a similar size). You seem to be starting with that as a base assumption, but again I may be reading into your statement more than you are intending.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
Nal, you don't have a clue. Prove the danger without "everybody knows" anecdotes and baseless speculation about what you believe motivates "scum" and then I *might* agree with you that something should be done. The point is, you can't do it, because it isn't true. Basically, what happens is that many dog bite accidents are reported as "pit bulls" regardless of the true breed of the offending dog. I saw a list once where someone had collected a list of the true breeds of attacks misreported as "pit attacks", and saw a freakin' Golden Retriever. But, your "everybody knows" ignorance trumps my actual research, I suppose. BlueHorse, yup, I read that one. Adam's Task is my favorite of hers, but that's a great one too.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
Take the "spot the pitbull test", it might be enlightening. Historically, there have been many other breeds accused of being no-good-shits-due-to-their-genes. Laughably, at the turn of (last) century, the popularly understood to be evil breed was ... the bloodhound. [1] People are reacting to anecdotal evidence and perpetrating a genetic crime, trying to wipe out this breed. Even if the pit bull bigots are 100% successful in destroying the genetic line, I can with certainty predict that the overall dogbite rate will not change in the slightest. It is the owners, stupid. [1] Source, "Adam's Task" by Vicki Hearne, professional Dog Trainer, Professor (of english, IIRC), and philosopher. Unreservedly recommended.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Hillary Clinton You F&^^%$ing Idiot"
After playing a lot of GTA, Vice City a couple years ago, I actually did find myself appraising cars as I drove to work. I found myself thinking "I wonder if I could just run up and carjack that guy." It was creepy and I quit playing the game, due to this mindset invasion tendency. On the other hand, I play a lot of RPGs and I've never thought, "Maybe if I was to stab that guy to death it would get me enough experience points to reach the next level." I'm not advocating censoring anything, I'm personally opposed to all censorship, but I really was creeped out by GTA, just as I would be by "Serial Killer". Wasn't there a popular game about being a hitman out a year or two ago? Also creepy.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Curious, George: Embed flash file"
OK, step by step for an embedding script: 1) get a good opensourced script. Here's one: http://www.laszlosystems.com/lps/includes/embed.js 2) load the on your page. Either put the literal text of the whole thing script tags:
<script> copied text here /<script>or, if Xanga will let you, just upload the js file and then refer to it like so:<script src="embed.js"/>3) embed your flash file using the javascript, like so:<script>lzEmbed({url: 'your_flipbook_file.swf', bgcolor: '#ffffff', width: '800', height: '600'}); </script>posted by invoke 19 years ago
When I need to embed Flash, I always use a javascript to do it. It is just so much cleaner. Here's a good one: http://blog.deconcept.com/2004/10/14/web-standards-compliant-javascript-flash-detect-and-embed/ Assuming you are allowed Javascript, it should be a nobrainer to use a script for your embedding.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Using a cell phone — even a hands-free one — while driving"
Cynnbad, I don't get that feeling of "excruciation", nor do I really understand it. I've been chewed out by self-righteous jerks for talking on a cellphone on a bus, and I came right back at 'em. Seriously, a bus is a loud, rattly, uncomfortable thing with dozens of conversations going on all around. Why is *my* conversation any more offensive than anyone else's? Because it is on a cell? Sorry, you'll have to do better than that. Is it the "enclosed space" which defines it as a wrong place for cell usage? Should cell usage be like smoking, "Go stand outside and no one except extreme zealots will give you crap for it"? Don't get me wrong, I agree that loud/long cell conversations in a restaurant are right out. In that setting, one expects some privacy and decorum. But in a bus? Seriously, I think some people just let their pet peeves run away with them. I wish we could come up with a set of universally recognized rules-of-decorum for cellphone usage. Because they aint goin' away, we need to come to some agreement about how to properly use them. Maybe the smoking analogue might work ... but a lot of people smoke in their cars.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Curious George: International calls"
Sheesh, please ignore the sentence fragment in my previous message.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
I'd use Vonage, for $.07 cents a minute. My father-in-law lives in Brazil, and we had not been able to find a reliable way to call him inexpensively & reliably, until we switched to VOIP. If you do use them, It is kind of a big switch, but at $27/month for unlimited US and Canada calling, it is saving me quite a bit of money even before the newly cheap and reliable Brazil calling is factored in.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
In "Curious George: It ain't stealin'!"
Re OSX 10.2.x ... You could try some older versions of IPodder. all versions here
posted by invoke 19 years ago
Middleclasstool, if the sites are seriously worried, then they should not put the .mp3s in their RSS. Very simple. Done. Or if you are talking about using DownThemAll...how are you assuming anyone would discover the use of it? Are music orgs going to pull server logs and look for any non IE/Firefox downloads? In that edge case, they won't find any. DownThemAll, as a plugin, will show up as Firefox in the logs. Information put on the web with no access restriction can and will be "spidered", and this is not (IMHO) unethical. This is especially so in the case where a site goes out of its way to provide the information in spiderable form, as in RSS.
posted by invoke 19 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)