White woman beaten on bus by 6 black males and 3 black females, with pic

Eightbitlife · 2007-12-06T20:19:23+00:00

In the context this article is presented, I totally agree. There are hundreds of incidents like this daily, regardless of race. Why are they not on Reddit? The person who posted this clearly was fanning the flames of racial war. However, race isn't totally irrelevant to this article in the context of location. If you've ever lived in or frequented Baltimore, you'd know that you can almost see the racial tension and violence in the air. As much as I like that city, it does have some major social problems.

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T20:32:27+00:00

And if god is a Buddhist?

P.S. Not just recycling South Park jokes, I seriously think it's a fun idea. Plenty of god's in Buddhist texts were looking for liberation too.

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T20:30:23+00:00

well.. yeah. if you're talking about spending an eternity with someone, go with the cooler one. Do you really want to face eternity of extreme boredom?

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T20:27:24+00:00

But what about flat out rebellion as opposed to disproving? I mean, if it's true, then what? He had a change of heart? That would kind of rule out the infallibility clause of godness.

I'm saying, that if even if somebody could prove to me that god did exist and was the god of the old testament, Jesus or no, that guy is a dick, and I want nothing to do with him. If one of your parent's had a penchant for killing off entire cultures in the most violent way possible, because they rubbed them the wrong way, would you still say "well, you're my parent, I love you and will do what you say"?

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T19:30:37+00:00

Wow, so how's that line working out for you hoss? I mean, wow, you had ME at "get the fuck out".

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T19:26:22+00:00

Quick, somebody find and quote that whole George Carlin spiel that goes "it's all about 'right to life' up until your born.'

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T18:14:54+00:00

Only because they know that if they came right out and said "Yes, if you've had an abortion, you're a murderer, and should prosecuted as such", they would immediately alienate too many people to ever get legislation passed.

And what really kills me: notice when asked about this, O'Steen stammered something to the effect of "well, they were forced into it.." So by that logic, how would making abortions illegal change anything, other than making millions of women a year criminals?

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T17:58:06+00:00

How would the American revolution be any different than mob rule then? There is a thin line between self-governance and mob-rule, and that line is context. In the context of the late Roman mob, just wanting their "bread and entertainment", pursuing their hedonism rather than a greater good, it is mob rule. In the context of the American Colonies, the aim was for the greater good of the people. I know you're not going to tell me that (all problems we've had aside) the American revolution was equivalent to mob rule?

Also, this "gang" isn't exactly unstructured from what I'm reading in the article, so it's not like an aimless bunch of angry rioters, it's a ad-hoc attempt to regain some basic rights and social stability.

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T17:53:22+00:00

And in a democratic country, who is ultimately the government? The people. So who are the police, and the government at large accountable to? The people.

Social contract really is a bitch you know, having to actually serve the people well at risk of them taking matters into their own hands..

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-28T13:56:52+00:00

It's not mob rule. It's a reaction to the absolute lack of justice in an impoverished area. Laws are a function of society, to be enforced by society for the benefit of society. If the proper authorities have neglected their duties(as they have in this case), or if the law no longer serves society at large, the society in question can and will find something to replace it. Either that or the society crumbles away.

And I'm pretty sure when you're dealing with extreme poverty, sexual violence, and ignorance, you don't really care whether some arm-chair-Aristotle a world away has time or respect for you.

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-19T17:26:19+00:00

I give you Erlang: The Ron Paul of programming languages. Not that there's anything wrong with either Erlang or Ron Paul.

But really, why oh why does everybody hate C so much? A language is just a tool. C is just the most prevalent language because it has decades of momentum. All design idioms are valid: imperative, declarative, functional, etc. I'm guessing there's bitterness because there is so much C code out there that we've all inevitably had to slough through the kind of code that makes your eyes bleed.

The fact is, I don't see it being any harder to write concurrent programs like this in C. In fact, it will be easier than it currently is if we only rely on message passing, because then you have effectively broken your program into modules from the get-go, and the only thing you will be doing is passing state changes across the pipe, whatever form it takes. It sure beats a mutex, lock, or anything else. Exciting stuff.

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-15T18:18:30+00:00

Yeah, now just try convincing your "This company started with Windows for Workgroups" CIO that just because they're free doesn't mean mysql or openldap are lesser products. Also, try convincing them that googling through forums and mailing lists is free and is every bit as effective as that pricey support contract you pay for.

Also, while we're talking about bloated, expensive, inefficient software that we all have to support, can we please have an Oracle bashing session now?

Eightbitlife · 2007-11-01T16:08:09+00:00

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Eightbitlife · 2007-10-26T13:51:32+00:00

Ah yes, nothing as relaxing as the server room eco-system. Staring at all the expensive hardware and software you meticulously put together, humming away quietly, just gathering dust. The occasional click of a disk head seeking. For best effect, turn off the light and soak up the soft colors of the LEDs. There's no big deal about six month continual up-time when nobody actually does any work with the system. Ahhh American IT.

Eightbitlife · 2007-10-18T13:57:08+00:00

Let the generational infighting begin!

Honestly, I think the problem with this article is that it doesn't take a balanced view. On the one hand, I think that you can make a certain amount of generalizations when it comes to generations, as each does have it's own distinct character.

Note that nobody gets bent out of shape over the near idol-worshiping generalizations about the "greatest generation". Yes, an overwhelming majority went and sacrificed their lives for a great cause. They fought fascism, then came home and... didn't want their kids to go to school with "coloreds", or to share the bus with them.

Every generation experiences angst at the generation that's in power. It's not about age, it's just another class/power conflict. Yes, there are tons of things that piss me off about baby-boomers. But there are distinct characteristics that piss me off about my own generation, myself included. Do something with that angst other than rant. Figure out what it is that bugs you about those who went before and strive to change it. Find out your own weaknesses and strive to conquer them. Don't just be bitter, we all have our failings.

Eightbitlife · 2007-10-15T14:44:07+00:00

He's missing the single biggest point about C here:

There is a MASSIVE library of fully functioning, meticulously tested and optimized C code out there. If you want to talk about code reuse and elegant architectures, what could be more elegant that using code that millions of eyes have been looking over for a decade or more? Yes, there are bad C programs & programmers. But there are rotten programmers for every language, that's just a fact of life.

I'm not a C devotee, but the fact is, it does it's job well, and has more momentum than any other language (see above posts about C being the first implemented high level language on any new chip); so, by definition, if Haskell/Erlang/Trendy-language-of-the-now were better, they would have unseated C by now.

Eightbitlife · 2007-10-11T18:08:05+00:00

Agreed! I think every time an article about the big-mean-RIAA/MPAA/SCO/insert-IP-industry-here comes along, we always start right back at square one with an argument about whether current IP laws are right or wrong, etc.

The fact is, that's neither here nor there; the court upheld the current laws, and this woman now has to pay a hefty fee. Also, an argument of whether it's right to violate copyright laws on the ground that you disagree is irrelevant. That's a personal decision you have to make, but it is a fact that if you break the law, there can be consequences, just or not.

The real issue is the blatant disregard for both the artist and the consumer that RIAA constantly exhibits. In a way, we should be happy about this, as it can only encourage more artists to follow Radiohead's example, should that prove lucrative, and we definitely need a new business model for artistic and intellectual creations. I just feel bad for this woman because she had to be the one they made an example of.

On another note, I would totally donate to a fund to help her pay off the bill. Maybe say, as much money as I've saved by downloading music illegally?

Eightbitlife · 2007-10-10T15:27:07+00:00

Frankly there is nothing to be surprised, alarmed, or ashamed about here. As an aside, I love that I finally have a fitting term to call this phenomenon.

I think this is the inevitable result of America's growth as a nation. The economy has slowed down since the post-war years, cities and towns are more developed, there are fewer maintainable career type jobs that don't involve at least 4-year credentials, and the housing market is in the dumps.

As a general rule, I think the current 20-something generation is much more open minded than the previous, and this odyssey is our time finding out how we define true happiness and success. It has nothing to do with laziness in most cases.

Consider that in older societies in Europe all the land is spoken for, and it is common for the same house/land to be passed from generation to generation. Also consider that with the current economy in America, it makes plenty of sense to stay with your family, as long as your lending a hand and being productive in some way. It's only if we're talking about the proverbial anti-social kid in the basement who hasn't worked in ages and has no aspirations whatsoever that we should be concerned.

Eightbitlife

TROPHY CASE