Comment Gentlemen, start your start-ups (Score 2, Insightful) 431
Creation of showerhead disinfection industry in 3...2...1...
Man Accuses Cat of Downloading Child Porn
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bruce_the_loon writes "They have blamed viruses. They have blamed neighbors. They have accused police of planting it. In rare cases, they have admitted downloading it. This is the first time someone has accused a cat of downloading child porn onto their computer. This seems like a defense almost too stupid to be made up."
Comment I might not have been clear (Score 1) 311
I don't crouch in my house. I am involved in a LOT of stuff and am actually pretty extroverted. I have a ton of friends, am out every weekend, and am currently in a relationship with a woman that is giving me fantastic sex but that I know isn't going anywhere (she's 9 years older than me, I'm 30, and she has two kids, one of whom is 19). Right now I am applying to go into the military as an officer, participating in local civic theater, and assisting with the creation of a hackerspace. I'm out there. My point was that all of that still isn't enough. You still have to just get lucky, and you may never, ever get lucky.
And in my case, that means that some portion of my life may always feel empty and incomplete, because I've known I wanted to be a father since I was 16 years old.
Comment I'm 30, and I know these things. (Score 1) 311
My life is dizzyingly active. I'm involved in all sorts of things, have a ton of friends and a girlfriend who is fantastic in the sack (but we're over in two weeks because she's moving).
My point was that enjoying all life has to offer and putting yourself out there and "living" is still no guarantor of anything. It all comes down to luck, and some of us simply don't have it.
"Facile" seemed to work better in that sentence than "easy" to me. Note that I used "easy" in the subject line. If you don't like it, you are free to edit it out with your internal mental sed.
Comment For the record (Score 1) 311
I'm in a relationship with someone right now. The problem is that I know it can't last. She's 9 years older than me (still a fantastic lay) and has two kids, one of whom is 19. But she's way, way too clingy and manipulative. It's going to be over soon.
My point was that you can go out and be an extrovert and have a fantastic social life and STILL be alone your entire life. Being in a successful romantic relationship is far, far more about luck than self-help books care to admit.
Comment Enjoy your church mice. (Score 1) 311
Also the public health insurance option we're about to get.
Comment From VERIZON??? It is to fucking laugh! (Score 1) 272
Wow. You have rural coverage. Congratulations, guys. How about the fact that you've ADMITTED your business model orbit around fleecing customers by crippling handsets such that everything customers do has to go through your "nation's most reliable network," thereby incurring pay-to-play fees over and over for simple operations that could otherwise take place over WiFi or Bluetooth?
FUCK Verizon. Fuck them right in the ear. Sideways.
Comment Easy for you to say (Score 5, Insightful) 311
Maybe people should just stop dating and learn how to experience life and just get out and do things. My friends that try the hardest to meet someone are the ones that are the least successful at it.
This is a very facile thing for someone in your position to say. For many of the rest of us "experiencing life" all by itself simply means interminable years of crushing loneliness.
I have started to come to the following realization:
Happiness is guaranteed to no one. The best one can expect out of life is that you can always find some way to respect yourself and say "I did something with my life that I can look myself in the mirror and approve of." That status of self-respect is prerequisite for happiness, but it is by no means a guarantor. There is every chance that you'll just get out there and do your thing and live your life and be alone and lonely right up until the day you die.
Comment Why online "dating" is useful (Score 4, Insightful) 311
It's not "dating" so much as it is being efficient by running the population through a filter. If I filter out all women under the age of 22, all political conservatives, and all evangelical Christians, I'm probably not missing out on the love of my life an it let's me focus on people I might actually be compatible with.
The reality is that the vast majority of people in the US seem to have gotten married because they figured "it was about time for that" or something similar. If you have anything resembling standards, dating is really, really fucking hard.
Hope that marrying someone wonderful and having a family isn't part of what you need to be really happy, because it sure as hell isn't guaranteed.
Comment Interesting way you phrase that (Score 1) 120
I'd wager the people who wouldn't identify themselves as "European" come from/live in backwater towns, and the ones who would are from big cities.
Also, that would be "a US-American," firstly, as the phoneme that starts the pronunciation of "US" in this context is a "y" sound, considered a consonant in this case, and secondly, no one says "US-American" or "United Statesian" other than idiots.
It is commonly understood outside the context of formal geographical discussion that "American" means "of or having to do with the United States of America." No one else in either of the Americas lays claim to the term "American," and so it is completely absurd to insist on pedantry like that found in the tags of this article.
The Birth and Battle of Conficker 239
NewScientist has an interesting look back at the birth of the Conficker worm and how this sophisticated monster quickly grew to such power and infamy. "Since that flurry of activity in early April, all has been uneasily quiet on the Conficker front. In some senses, that marks a victory for the criminals. The zombie network is now established and being used for its intended purpose: to make money. Through its peer-to-peer capabilities, the worm can be updated on the infected network at any time. It is not an unprecedented situation. There are several other large networks of machines infected with malicious software. Conficker has simply joined the list. The security community will continue to fight them, but as long as the worm remains embedded in any computer there can be no quick fixes."
Comment Cute, but engaged, obviously. (Score 1) 296
Come on, haven't you figured out the way this works yet?
- Physically attractive
- Intelligent
- Sane
- Single
Pick any three.
Comment Not so good for developers (Score 1) 176
AJAX? Really? Didn't we go through this once already with the iPhone?
Why don't we try asking ourselves this: Why are cell phone companies (handset manufacturers AND carriers) so terrified of putting real, honest-to-God *NIX-powered cell phones in the hands of consumers?
18 Android Phones, In 3 Flavors, By Year's End 152
Hugh Pickens writes "Andy Rubin, senior director for Mobile Platforms for Google, has announced that by the end of the year there will be 18 to 20 phones using the Android OS made by 8 or 9 different manufacturers. Google will offer three different versions of Android OS: a completely free and generic flavor with no pre-loaded Google applications; a slightly customized version that comes pre-loaded with Google apps like Gmail and Google Calendar; and a completely 'Google-fied' Android OS bearing all sorts of Google branding and integration with Google's services. Will Park reports that the expectation is that 12 to 14 of the upcoming Android phones will use the slightly-customized version of Google's Android OS requiring the manufacturer to agree to a distribution deal with Google that would allow the handsets to come pre-installed with Google-ware. The remaining 5 or 6 Android phones will come to market completely decked out with 'The Google Experience' and a Google logo on the phone. This third option provides risk and reward opportunities because the openness of the store could be a hit with consumers, but could also lead to poorly constructed or offensive applications that could give Google a taint. When it comes to apps, Rubin says: 'We want to abide by the law, but not rule with an open fist.'" Yes, it seems he really said "open fist," though he probably meant "iron fist."
Best Way To Build A DIY UAV? 259
Shojun writes "I am very interested in building my own UAV. Not just one that can fly around happily, but one that I can program to say, take photos every second as it does a barrel roll under a bus (ok, that part may be a pipe dream). I have enough embedded programming experience — it's the hardware which I'm uncertain about. I can go the kit way, and then build the remaining stuff, or get some Dollar Tree Foam boards and build it all. I'm in favor of ease, however. Once the plane is built, buying a dev board seems like a possibility, but I wonder whether it's overkill. Alternatively, if there was a How-to-build example on the net for such an activity that I could adapt, to the degree that I could then program in even completely hardcoded flight instructions, I can certainly take it from there. Thoughts? Has anyone here tried something like this before?"
