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6601

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 29, 2011, 11:10 AM »

The WTF doesn't end there.

http://www.smh.com.a...-20111028-1mmrr.html

Ten quirky details from the Steve Jobs bio

Jobs thought different … about deodorant.
Jobs cared about tiny details, and the best biographies are all about them - the impressionistic traits that really shape your understanding of a whole person. In Jobs's case, one of those would have to be the fact that he spent decades insisting his vegan diet would naturally clear up any body odor issues. All you need is fruit. It was an early but persistent example of what Isaacson calls Jobs's “magical thinking.”

It gets wonkier.

6602

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by Renegade on October 29, 2011, 11:02 AM »

...it's a Nuremberg-type defense when it comes to their guilt.

-Renegade (October 28, 2011, 07:02 PM)

Wow, that's a bit harsh isn't it?

...

This kind of Nazi comparison was the sort of thing that sparked off "Godwin's Law":

-IainB (October 29, 2011, 01:58 AM)

It's not a Nazi comparison. It's a legal defense. "I was just following orders." I think that's pretty accurate. i.e. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

I don't think it's harsh at all.

I think we all know that I can be much harsher than just that.

Shame on me...

This rant is so horribly vicious, that I can't even link to it properly: 24504.msg223184#msg223184

6603

Living Room / Re: Private Censorship of the Internet? Seriously... Like WTF?!?

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 07:17 PM »

Please... God... Strike down all the politicians and lawyers and deliver us from evil. Amen.

-Renegade (October 28, 2011, 08:26 AM)

Well, if you pedantically reword:

...all the politicians and lawyers...

and make it:

...all the lawmakers and lawyers...

- then you may be hitting the nail on the head with greater accuracy.

-IainB (October 28, 2011, 03:22 PM)

God'll figger it out!

I don't see this ending well...

But it's one thing to have state censorship, and another thing entirely to allow private censorship. Jeez. this is just completely nutty.

6604

Living Room / Re: Google Publishes Government Take Down Requests

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 07:07 PM »

Meh... Maybe that's not the best example in the US considering how many people they lock up.

-Renegade (October 28, 2011, 08:31 AM)

Eh? Could you explain for me please? No sure I Understand this.

-IainB (October 28, 2011, 02:39 PM)

He's picking on the fact that we (in the US) like to lockup citizens for dumb shit, and then let the real criminals go free ('cause there's no room left/) ... Because they're harder to catch and dangerous and stuff.

-Stoic Joker (October 28, 2011, 03:02 PM)

Yes. It was a tongue in cheek comment on how the US has more people in prison per capita than pretty much anywhere else (a failed attempt at humour). The implication is that either all the "criminals" go scot-free elsewhere, or the US is locking up a lot of people that it doesn't need to.

e.g. You always hear some nutty case in the US like the bum that got 17 years in prison for stealing something like an apple or whatever. Disproportionate sentences, etc. etc.

I'm not really much of an advocate for the prison system. It doesn't seem to work very well.

6605

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 07:02 PM »

@IainB - Got it. I sort of included lawmakers in the same group as lawyers as many/most are lawyers. Your distinction is better though. Still, at best it's a Nuremberg-type defense when it comes to their guilt.

6606

Living Room / Re: Google Publishes Government Take Down Requests

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 08:31 AM »

This would seem to be quite natural. Research apparently shows that many criminals in prisons are apparently unable to perceive/accept that they have done anything wrong.

-IainB (October 27, 2011, 05:54 PM)

Meh... Maybe that's not the best example in the US considering how many people they lock up.

But yeah... I hear you. The self-righteous and self-appointed saviours... God deliver us from them...

6607

Living Room / Private Censorship of the Internet? Seriously... Like WTF?!?

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 08:26 AM »

Well, you thought that you'd seen it all. You thought that you'd seen utter insanity run rampant... You thought it couldn't get worse...

Prepare yourself...

It just got worse. A lot worse. 

http://arstechnica.c...l-makes-it-worse.ars

Imagine a world in which any intellectual property holder can, without ever appearing before a judge or setting foot in a courtroom, shut down any website's online advertising programs and block access to credit card payments. The credit card processors and the advertising networks would be required to take quick action against the named website; only the filing of a “counter notification” by the website could get service restored.

It's the world envisioned by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in today's introduction of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US House of Representatives. This isn't some off-the-wall piece of legislation with no chance of passing, either; it's the House equivalent to the Senate's PROTECT IP Act, which would officially bring Internet censorship to the US as a matter of law.

Please... God... Strike down all the politicians and lawyers and deliver us from evil. Amen.

6608

Living Room / Stupid Murderers and Computer Search Histories =D

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 04:16 AM »

I love stories about dumb criminals. They're just hilarious. Well, the stupidity part is funny at least...

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...shafia-kingston.html

Someone used a Montreal family's home computer to search the internet for information about murder just days before three sisters and their father's first wife were found dead in a car submerged in a canal near Kingston, Ont.

...

A Kingston police officer testified Thursday about searches conducted on a laptop used by Hamed Shafia such as "documentaries on murders," "can a prisoner have control over their real estate," "where to commit a murder" and numerous searches for areas with bodies of water.

Gotta love that.

6609

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: 24-Hours Giveaway - VX Search Pro

« Last post by Renegade on October 28, 2011, 12:59 AM »

I've been using this over the last few days, and quite like it. It's fast and does what it says. It's certainly a million times better than trying Windows search.

6610

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 09:16 PM »

What Apple have done here is simply characteristic of exactly the sort of thing that they should be doing as a legal corporate identity which has been set up under, and is operating according to the statutes/laws of the US. They can not do otherwise without breaching their legal obligations to stockholders to ensure that they maximise corporate profit.
The lawyers didn't create this situation, they are just feeding off of it - that's their role and legal duty.
We created it. We must accept responsibility for fixing it, if we don't like what we have created. The trouble is, what we have created has a will of its own.

-IainB (October 27, 2011, 04:02 PM)

I'm on board there with much of the general sentiment, but I wouldn't let lawyers off the hook so easily. They're the front-line troops that have enabled the entire mess. They're the backbone of the broken system.

For too long people have dismissed dissent as "craziness", but the long term insanity is now becoming apparent. In a lot of ways, it's vindication for the tinfoil-hat community.

+1 for "The Corporation" - Bought the DVD a while back. It's a great documentary.

6611

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 09:04 PM »

^Easy to be negative  But I'll still take something done right (even if it is allegedly for the wrong reason) than seeing another wrong if it comes down to that simple a choice. 

-40hz (October 27, 2011, 05:25 PM)

+1

(Lines up with Kant's hierarchy of worth in moral behaviour as well.)

6612

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 08:55 AM »

Larry Ellison? May he suffer in hell. whOracle is right up there with crApple in terms of pure evil.

-f0dder (October 27, 2011, 08:37 AM)

No... Tell us how you *really* feel!

In the case of Gates, it's probably because that - even though he's done some nasty things, and MS is a big nasty bully - the person Bill Gates seems to have a lot of redeeming qualities... and doesn't think of himself as a super very important demigod.

-f0dder (October 27, 2011, 08:37 AM)

It's kind of sad that we never focus on the good, but rather on the negative.

6613

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 06:59 AM »

...slavery...

-Stoic Joker (October 27, 2011, 06:51 AM)

THANK YOU!

You've nailed it.

6614

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 06:54 AM »

My question is, why is it the Steve Wozniak keeps getting shoved into a corner?? He's the one that actually created the launch-worthy Apple II ... Jobs just decided to package it in a smooth plastic shell, because he thought some veg-a-matic he saw at an appliance store looked sexy.

There is nothing negative about saying Jobs was brilliant at marketing, he quite obviously was. Technology innovator ...Meh... Not so much. He was more Billy Mays than Ben Franklin.

-Stoic Joker (October 27, 2011, 06:29 AM)

Y'know, Ellison, Gates, and Wozniak all have something in common... They didn't have the vision and foresight to have Issey Miyake create 100 black turtleneck sweaters... That must be it.

6615

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 01:51 AM »

The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement
http://www.alternet....movement?page=entire

____________________________________________

Oh, there won't be any EU or anything else in 50 years worth of time - we'll all be Chinamen by then, so no worries. I don't plan on sticking around for that long anyway

-f0dder (October 26, 2011, 02:54 PM)

I turned 50 yesterday, which means I'm living on free time from here out. The sooner I check out, the easier life gets from here on. I'm one of the very few people I know who doesn't want to live forever. The planet just added its 7 billionth person this week and that's too damn many people belching, farting, and texting.

-zridling (October 27, 2011, 12:41 AM)

Don't you dare checkout! You're not allowed to! You're my source for wicked amazing information like that stuff above. You'd be doing everyone a disservice! 

Having a read there... Cripes... Out. Of. Control.

The graphics do an amazing job of illustrating the problem. In particular, I think this one is very telling:



I've had this in the back of my mind for a long time -- while productivity increases, the value there filters to the top, with nothing coming back down. People are being asked to produce more for no additional benefit. This seems fundamentally wrong to me. It seems outright predatory.

6616

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 01:40 AM »

I don't think Ellison or Gates have croaked yet, have they?

-IainB (October 27, 2011, 12:37 AM)

Hahahah~!

No, but even with Jobs still alive, you never heard any kind of banter about them like you did for Jobs.

6617

Living Room / Google Publishes Government Take Down Requests

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 01:39 AM »

Well, sounds like Google is trying to do the right thing:

http://www.theregist...country_differences/

Google report reveals YouTube takedown requests... by country

UK wants jihadists off, Germany nixes Nazis, US wants to hide cop brutality

...


Among other things, US authorities got in touch with Google when they wanted to kill some YouTube videos showing police brutality. Google states:

We received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove YouTube videos of police brutality, which we did not remove. Separately, we received requests from a different local law enforcement agency for removal of videos allegedly defaming law enforcement officials. We did not comply with those requests, which we have categorized in this Report as defamation requests.

In total the US courts, government and police asked for 113 videos to be taken down, one because it showed "government criticism".

Google complied with just 63 per cent of content removal requests from American authorities... ®

Direct from Google:

http://www.google.co...TENT_REMOVAL_REQUEST

Yet more chilling effects... Sigh...

6618

Living Room / Re: Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by Renegade on October 27, 2011, 01:28 AM »

(see attachment in previous post)

-Jibz (October 27, 2011, 01:12 AM)

BWAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Nice one! Love it!

Apple will soon be nothing more than a lawsuit factory (wait, it already is!). And they still attack people for their unlawful interpretation of their Apple trademark. This is the same company who used the Beatles' record label name and is now running around the entire globe suing anyone using any form of apple logo in their business. Here's the German cafe story from this week:
http://www.techdirt....ll-german-cafe.shtml

-zridling (October 27, 2011, 12:46 AM)

Out. Of. Control.

This is so far beyond idiotic...

Please.. God... Strike all the lawyers in the world dead and deliver us from evil. Amen.

6619

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 09:38 PM »

The police busted up protests here in Melbourne. I heard something about issuing permits and what not. Huh? WTF? You need a permit to protest? That's pretty f***ing pointless...

-Renegade (October 26, 2011, 03:19 AM)

Dunno about that, really.

We need permits in .dk. That way the police can redirect traffic and stuff. And since we have freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and freedom of forming political groups, even the nazis and the anarchists are allowed to protest... having to file for permits in advance means the police can protect those silly groups from eachother.

The last couple of years we're beginning to see very heavy-handed methods being used against protesters, especially left-wing people. While a good number of them deserve everything they got (it really isn't such a hot idea throwing rocks at the police), a lot of innocents have been arrested as well - without reason - and have been forced to sit in the "ever so wonderful scandinavian winter weather" for hours, pissing their pants, et cetera.

Yay for the Amerikan influence.

-f0dder (October 26, 2011, 01:48 PM)

Dunno... While I loathe the ideas in some groups, I don't think that they should be blocked from *peaceful* protest. i.e. While I may hate your ideas, I certainly support your freedom to voice them.

But forcing everyone to apply for a permit simply isn't "freedom". That's veiled censorship. It's the bread and butter of totalitarian states.

I can see why the police would be needed for protests from some groups, but I can't see limiting freedom of speech because of criminal behaviour in essentially unrelated areas. i.e. Violence in Nazi protests is not related to peaceful protest by some environmental group. It's unfair to gag and punish regular people for the offenses of a few nutbars.


If the state is doing something wrong, and people want to protest, it seems utterly insane to me that the protesters be required to ask the permission of those they are protesting against. There's a clear conflict of interest there.

6620

Living Room / Apple Patents Unlocking Touchscreen

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 09:15 PM »

Here we go yet again... 

http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-15461732

Apple has been granted a patent on unlocking a smartphone or tablet using a touchscreen gesture.

The application, which was filed in June 2009, covers a range of commonly used techniques including swiping and pattern entry.

As well as on the iPhone and iPad, such systems are built into Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.

I utterly fail to understand how that could be patented. There's nothing novel or innovative about it. Unlocking a system is a pretty standard thing, and the main input method on a touchscreen device is the touchscreen and finger. Gestures are old. Opera has used them since forever and a day.

This is the kind of lunacy that makes me wonder if I'm really human, and if I share the same DNA as the <insert profanity here /> that passed this patent.

6621

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 09:00 PM »

And one last point I'll add- most people can't say that they truly innovated *anything* without dependence on *any* other technologies, so take that for what its worth.

-wraith808 (October 26, 2011, 03:13 PM)

There are few true giants out there, and everyone else stands on their shoulders.

I would put Descartes, Liebniz, Pascal, Einstein, Tesla, and a few others in the category of true giants. But still, even their works relied on past math and science.


But let's have a quick question...

Why does this debate/argument/whatever NOT happen for other CEOs like Larry Ellison or Bill Gates?

If all Apple devices suddenly and magically disappeared from the planet, not much would happen. If all Oracle and Microsoft products disappeared, the planet would grind to a halt very quickly. It would be a disaster of biblical proportions.

Yet, nobody ever talks about Ellison or Gates...

6622

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 11:23 AM »

Don't have to like the guy, but if you don't respect what he accomplished, you are missing a critical piece of your brain ...

-http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/2011/10/snipers.html

Nothing's missing from my brain, truth is I don't respect what he accomplished because I don't respect how he accomplished it.

-Eóin (October 26, 2011, 09:53 AM)

I'm split. Part of me has to give him credit for a lot of what he did. Another part of me has to give him credit in the same way that I'd give Pol Pot credit for his "accomplishments".

As for respect, well... The first part there, sure. The second, not so much.

6623

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 06:47 AM »

See! You do know more than me! I knew that there was no right to free speech in Australia, but didn't know there wasn't any kind of a bill of rights. 

Seems Australia is one-up on the US towards the police state there.

6624

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 06:27 AM »

Something to help ye warm up for halloween
The Struggle (ScroobiusPip)...

-tomos (October 26, 2011, 06:02 AM)

That was pretty cool! 

6625

Living Room / Re: Albany City & NY State Police refuse orders to arrest peaceful protestors

« Last post by Renegade on October 26, 2011, 03:19 AM »

The Albany District Attorney was on TV Monday evening saying, "If the people can't peacefully assemble without being harassed, then democracy is a sham." He also pointed out that the state courts' dockets are full and don't need another 2000-12000 cases for legal assembly.*
_________________
This hasn't stopped every city in the country from establishing labyrinthine -- and virtually secret (even the cops can't interpret them correctly) -- permit policies that trick and trap protesters at every turn.

-zridling (October 26, 2011, 02:33 AM)

The police busted up protests here in Melbourne. I heard something about issuing permits and what not. Huh? WTF? You need a permit to protest? That's pretty f***ing pointless...

I'm certain 4wd knows more about it than me. I always seem to miss something here.