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Living Room / Re: R.I.P. Robin Williams
« Last post by Renegade on August 23, 2014, 12:24 AM »Bizarre coincidence - Family Guy episode that aired while the news broke had Robin Williams in it committing suicide.
Recent Posts
she's an acrobat-JavaJones (August 21, 2014, 12:40 PM)
How does downloading something for free fund anything?Please tell me that's photoshopped or somehow satirical.
-Deozaan (August 20, 2014, 11:12 PM)
Apropos of yesterday's blog post about the insane, paranoia-inducing "anti-terrorism" posters the London cops have put up, Peter Mahoney offers this remix of the "A bomb won't go off because weeks before, a shopper reported someone for studying the CCTV cameras. Don't rely on others: if you suspect it, report it." poster.
Don't they know that many folks have allergies to peanuts! Shame on them!
-Deozaan (August 20, 2014, 11:12 PM)
A> Dafuq?
B> Dafuq?
3> DAFUQ?-Stephen66515 (August 21, 2014, 08:28 PM)
To be honest, get me a cabled connection any day.-Shades (August 20, 2014, 09:37 PM)
Why didn't I know about this application? I'm really surprised I haven't seen it before, it is right up my alley! The simplicity, the spot-on-target, the high quality, the easy use while still very useful. I am impressed!
Well done, Renegade, really well done!
-Curt (August 19, 2014, 08:49 AM)
Should there be another version that doesn't rename, but maybe creates a subfolder?I know I would go for such a version, because right now I will have to rename the transcoded files.
-Curt (August 19, 2014, 08:49 AM)
nice, didn't even realize this was here! great, especially for video!-superboyac (August 19, 2014, 08:59 AM)
They would have to be packing military grade hardware surveillance to beat that one.-SeraphimLabs (August 20, 2014, 09:14 PM)
Nice! 
Or we may simply be dealing with the standard overypaying of academic/government contracts, where a product that would cost a normal human $200 somehow costs a government office $2000.-mouser (August 20, 2014, 11:29 AM)
Aggravating and non-intuitive to be sure.
But when you factor in the Byzantine bidding process, the paperwork, compliance auditing, and add-on social engineering (hiring requirements, rules for preference to be given to favored suppliers for parts of the contract, commitments to targeted groups and businesses, the GSA "discount", etc.) it's easy to see how the final sticker price can soar.-40hz (August 20, 2014, 02:20 PM)
Government people usually have no responsibility for recouping their expenses. Operating costs are not "real" to them. If they run in the red, they just ask the appropriations committees for more money. Businesses who need to run things off their P&L rather than the public tax base don't have that luxury.-40hz (August 20, 2014, 02:20 PM)
They're just following the NFL... I mean... what could go wrong?-wraith808 (August 20, 2014, 01:26 PM)
If the teacher's really want to know which students are screwing off, all they need to do is walk around to the back of the classroom and look ... Just like in the good old days - Surveillance software not required - and there are no maintenance and licensing fees to contend with.-Stoic Joker (August 20, 2014, 12:01 PM)
Memory
In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great uperas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meant to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison serpents and scaly things without a name. Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.
At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Demon of the Valley knows not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.
The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Demon of the Valley, saying, "I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and name of them who built these things of Stone." And the Demon replied, "I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood. Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect I recall dimly, it was like to that of the little apes in the trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the river. These beings of yesterday were called Man."
So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Demon looked intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard.
The powers of the executor or agent are specifically limited to the relevant EULA’s which, in the case of ebooks, place limits on ability to transfer ebooks.-40hz (August 20, 2014, 08:57 AM)
If it's not in the EULA... 
And I'm guessing the signed legal stuff about no privacy rights may be as much about school officials wanting to protect their ass in worst-case scenario, rather than real expectations of spying on kids, but you never know.-mouser (August 20, 2014, 09:49 AM)
"Yes. We have a desert in our home, and we're decapitating thousands of people! How did you know? )Don't be too surprised, however, if they accuse you of 'threatening' behavior because you had the temerity to question them. And to cobble together an ill-conceived and hasty little character assassination program to deal with you "troublemakers." Or possibly to just stonewall.That's the knee-jerk reaction of petty authority whenever it's challenged lately. So best to have a few people present when you call or go to meet them. Just to keep "the story" of what happened straight later on. (Because they'll never consent to your taping your conversation with them.)-40hz (August 20, 2014, 12:45 AM)
The goal remains topromotemanufactureselfstate-directed, life-longlearnersslaves.
As an addition to the above...how hard would it be to do the following example?:
(Current Permission): Take pictures and videos: This permission allows you to take photos and videos within the Messenger app to easily send to your friends and other contacts.
(Proposed Revision or Additional Permission): Take pictures and videos: This permission allows you to take photos and videos within the Messenger app to easily send to your friends and other contacts when explicitly requested by the end-user ONLY.
So basically...in your applications manifest, instead of havingCode: Text [Select]you would have something like
So again, just what special magic makes a person automatically qualified to raise a child just by virtue of their contributing an egg or sperm cell to the equation?-40hz (August 19, 2014, 01:43 PM)
What special magic makes the state capable? What special magic makes *anyone* capable?
It's at least a start if you can include love in the equation, which is more likely than if you go the other way.
So what are you arguing?-wraith808 (August 19, 2014, 02:01 PM)
)But we do! All the time. You don't drive until a certain age. You can't be out on certain nights of the week after a certain hour if you're under a certain age. You can't go to certain entertainments or watch certain films or play certain games until you reach what somebody else has determined is an "appropriate" age. You become eligible for military service at a given age regardless of how 'ready' your parent feels you are. You attend school on certain days at certain hours or face prosecution for truancy - along with your parents in some cases. There are so-called "juvenile courts" for dealing with seriously "troubled children." And laws that don't take full effect until you are no longer deemed a minor. None of these are based on a parent's consent or determination of their offspring's maturity. Schools look for signs of physical and emotional abuse - and are required by law to report any suspicions of same to the state's "child & family" authorities for investigation and possible legal action. And where does rearing and disciplining cross the line into the realm of abuse? The state authorities get the final word on that one.-40hz (August 19, 2014, 06:01 AM)
Some statistics revealed in the video show that foster kids are:
- 7-8 times more likely to be abused
- more likely to end up homeless with nearly half becoming homeless at the age of 18
- 3 times more likely to be put on psychotropic drugs
- 7 times more likely to develop an eating disorder
- more likely to have PTSD than veterans of war and less likely to recover from that PTSD
- more likely to become pregnant as a teenager
- 20% more likely to be arrested
- 6 times more likely to die
than if they stayed in an abusive household.
A Cthulhu Ouija Board! Ftaghn! Ia!-40hz (August 18, 2014, 11:41 AM)
Neat!
I'm not generally a superstitious type, but I think I'd be afraid to actually play with the thing.-mwb1100 (August 18, 2014, 12:52 PM)
No...not everybody did something life threatening when a kid.
No...not every kid got into serious trouble over something.
No...not every kid is easily led.
No...not every teen routinely indulged in sex, drugs, and alcohol while in high school.
No...it's definitely not true that most of us didn't pay any attention while in school.
No...not every teen speeds, cuts classes, steals, regularly lies to their parents, or does bad things.-40hz (August 18, 2014, 11:02 AM)
it's important to teach American children to accept electronic surveillance and coercion as early as possible. this misguided app will certainly help do that. :-(-Gwen7 (August 18, 2014, 08:46 AM)
To be (somewhat) contrarian...
"My phone. I bought it. I paid for it. I am responsible for it. My phone. You get the privilege of using it at my discretion. When you turn 18 and buy your own phone, then you get to set the rules for your phone and assume all responsibility and all privileges. I set the rules for my phone. Feel free to give it back to me at any time."-Renegade (August 18, 2014, 09:16 AM)
That's an oddly harsh and authoritarian argument (assuming you call a simple F.U. assertion an argument) coming from somebody who is so anti-authoritarian about just about everything else...
I sense a certain philosophical disconnect in progress.It is perfectly possible to use this tool to illustrate that surveillance and coercion are not good things. I'd argue that this tool provides an excellent opportunity for that.-Renegade (August 18, 2014, 09:16 AM)
Ah! The old trick of deliberately creating a horrible example of "what can happen" to teach a lesson about "the horrible thing that could happen - to you!" One could argue the same thing can be said for public flogging and capital punishment. Those have their advocates too. But again, that's hardly an argument. More what you'd call an assertion.
Just sayin'-40hz (August 18, 2014, 10:46 AM)
I sense a certain philosophical disconnect in progress.-40hz (August 18, 2014, 10:46 AM)
Lie-Clocks:
...
The man asked "Where's [insert favourite US president's name]'s clock?"
St. Peter replied "His clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."-IainB (August 18, 2014, 01:11 AM)
it's important to teach American children to accept electronic surveillance and coercion as early as possible. this misguided app will certainly help do that. :-(-Gwen7 (August 18, 2014, 08:46 AM)
