Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Yer a cunt, Harry. (Score 2) 87

Don't be a retard. The name means nothing, at least to liberals like me. His actions however make him somewhat to the right of Richard Nixon. For Obama to be worse is somewhat of an anti-achievement, but face it, he has engaged in more war and more surveillance than Nixon could even have imagined, and he got Nixon's health care plan passed.

So, while you are there making fun of republicans, what you fail to recognize is that the Democrats ARE the fucking new Republicans.

Comment Re:Books (Score 1) 698

I think you make a very good point. I wasn't close to my grandparents and I would very much like to have heard about their lives. My mom and I had a close relationship and I'm glad I don't have a bunch of videos for exactly the reason you say -- it would be too much ... too much something. Don't know how to say it.

There's an interesting This American Life about a person who's mother left a pile of letters to be opened once per year on the daughter's birthday, and one for her wedding. It started out very good, but ended not so great (see Act 1) ("... you shouldn't be dragged back into the grave with them every year ...):

http://www.thisamericanlife.or...

So I started this post, listened again to that TAL episode, and coming back to this post, will sort of disagree with what I said at first. I still think periodic mailing is a bad idea, but maybe the poster could make the videos, but they would be given to the daughter immediately after the funeral, and in a whole pile all at once (backups kept somewhere in case of accidental or intentional destruction). Then in the future, if she chooses, she can watch what she wants -- all, some, or none. This leaves watching as a choice she may or may not exercise -- in contrast, the periodic shipment seems like it has a good chance of becoming a source of resentment and pain (i.e., why should a ghost appear on the wedding to potentially create great sadness or feelings of being a disappointment or whatever).

Comment Re:Instilling values more important (Score 2) 698

That isn't a hurt she might want to work thru in the midst of other big life events. She might be really having fun with her friends on graduation day and not feel like opening that wound, and if she does not sit down and watch the video of day feel guilty at betraying your memory.

This is really insightful. My mom died when I was 20, which is probably better than if she had died when I was 6 -- or maybe worse, I don't know. I skipped my graduation ceremony for college and graduate school (no second parent either). I buried myself in doing things, hard and difficult things, as a way to alleviate the pain. I really don't know if I'd want to have to relive that pain periodically by watching videos. In fact I know I wouldn't have -- I'd inevitably feel like I was in some way, disappointing a ghost or missing that person or some other random negative emotion.

I probably didn't deal with things the right way when my mom died, and my response affected my whole life. I still will pick up a subject of one kind or another and totally immerse myself in it -- just like I did back then -- but now it is out of habit. It isn't even a joy thing. It's simply a means to get to a state of not-existing. I suppose it is better than having had used alcohol or drugs to achieve that feeling, but finding and engaging in new subjects at a totally immersive compulsive level isn't exactly healthy either.

I don't know what to to tell the poster -- I don't think I'm saying "don't leave videos" -- I was older and more aware than I would have been at six, I didn't have a second parent to pick up the slack, and I had my own personality oddities fully baked in. But, he should consider that it is possible that the kindest thing he can do, is to not leave a stack of videos. That making and leaving these videos is perhaps his way to not think about the disease and while they are a comfort to him, they would be a huge burden to his daughter.

Just last year while moving, I found a short final thoughts note my mom left for me, and I just totally broke down over it. That was a year ago and it still haunts me a little. A video would have been debilitating, at least for me.

Comment Re:Bring on the lausuits (Score 1) 599

Question for everyone: what are those rules?

Common Carriers Title II rules are on page 35 to 137 (102 pages long) of the linked PDF. The FCC currently classifies ISPs under Title I (first 35 pages of the same PDF), they vote tomorrow on whether or not the next 102 pages in the same Act should apply to ISPs.

Comment Re:get to work (Score 1) 309

2) If you want to actually use (G)PG(P) your recipient also has to grok it, install software to use it, and you have to exchange keys. This is a massive hurdle to overcome for all but the most dedicated cryptonerds. Until there is a majority of people who want to use encrypted mail, that will carry on being the case.

Of the hundreds of people I exchange email with, about four regularly use encryption. Even amongst people who value privacy, GPG use is rare. It doesn't seem like it should be hard, but it is, and there are some confusing things about it. For example, adding a public key requires closing and restarting the email app for it to work, but there isn't even a popup that notifies about this. Recipe for frustration and rejection.

Comment Re: Oh bullshit! (Score 1) 320

You mean Democrats, the New GOP, right? A more pro-war, pro-surveillance, pro-wall-street group of assholes could only be found ... nowhere. The difference between the Old GOP and the New GOP can be summed up in total over the issues of abortion and gay marriage. Other than that, the two groups are entirely fungible.

Seriously, Democrats today are to the right of Nixon and do everything he loved to do (war and surveil) and one thing he couldn't do (Nixon Care, conveniently relabeled Obama Care).

So get over yourself -- you're just a blue team neo-con no better than a red team neo-con.

Comment Re:Well, the jig is up for them now. (Score 1) 65

I don't think Casey (handmade hero) has anything to do with these guys. He's been streaming for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week since mid/late 2014.

His goal is to teach people how to build a game from scratch in C without an engine or much reliance on libraries. His stream is extremely informative and fun to watch, it feels like pair programming most of the time.

You can also pre-order the game (he's estimating 2 years to completion) which will give you access to the source code nightly to follow along.

An added bonus to watching the stream live (8pm PST) is that he does almost an hour of Q&A after each stream discussing ideas, explaining things anyone didn't get, next steps, etc.

I highly recommend starting his streams from the beginning if game programming interests you. There's a community already porting the code to Linux/OSX (which he intends to do later on as well).

Comment Re:You are free to have killer robots (Score 1) 318

This AC needs modding up. The real problem with a robotic army is that the soldiers are safe and war becomes an easy go-to solution whereas constituents tend to get pissed and fail to re-elect people they think are spilling blood for no reason. Making war cheap, in the shed blood sense, is a very bad idea.

Comment Re:Artists paid 16 times as much for Spotify than (Score 1) 305

How much would you pay for a copy of Windows 3.1? I'm no Microsoft shill -- I don't even use Windows -- but the people paying for Windows today aren't paying for something that was laid down on a disc 20 years ago. They're paying for ongoing updates, bug fixes, increased functionality, wholly different functionality, etc. etc. That Alanis Morrisette song "Isn't It Ironic" -- it's just as grammatically fucked up as it ever was despite being out there for the last 20 years.

Comment Re:Artists paid 16 times as much for Spotify than (Score 1) 305

Same with me -- I rarely listen to music while driving these days. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks. I remember as a teen riding around with my Grandpa being annoyed at him listening to AM talk radio rather than playing music. Now I'm doing essentially the same thing, just with better technology.

Slashdot Top Deals

Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. - Paul Tillich, German theologian and historian

Working...