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Comment Re:Not this time: (Score 1) 261

Source: http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/surrender

surrender, yielding, capitulation, giving up, resignation, fall, forsaking, concession, surrender, resignation, conceding

Depending on your point of view these can apply as well: Withdraw, fall back, retreat.

So what does that say about English speaking countries?

You forgot ---

"Yes, dear"
and its variant
"OK, honey"

Comment Re:Still an unsustainable deficit (Score 1) 1040

This reminds me of a tale of woe in a company cafeteria many many many moons ago.

A stock room clerk was lamenting the spending of $1500 (on the credit card) by his wife for shoes and clothing the previous month. He told us that when he confronted his wife as to the large outflow, she sincerely responded that she didn't actually spend $1500. She told him she SAVED the family $300 since she bought the merchandise on sale. Further explanation of flawed reasoning led to tears.

Image

Education Official Says Bad Teachers Can Be Good For Students 279

Zenna Atkins, the chairman of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), has raised some eyebrows by saying that, "every school should have a useless teacher." She stresses that schools shouldn't seek out or tolerate bad teaching, but thinks bad teachers provide a valuable life-lesson. From the article: "... on Sunday Ms Atkins told the BBC that schools needed to reflect society, especially at primary level. 'In society there are people you don't like, there are people who are incompetent and there are often people above you in authority who you think are incompetent, and learning that ability to deal with that and, actually surviving that environment can be an advantage.'"

Comment All things in DC rise with taxes (Score 0, Troll) 362

What this seems to say is that the price of helium has historically been inversely proportional to the televised quantity of hot air generated by Washington pols. Now they're changing the rules so it is directly proportional to Washington gas emissions. This includes all gases generated by any Washington orifice -- lighter than air or not...

Comment Movie references (Score 1) 896

From the movie "The Treasure of Silicon Valley", Bill Gates in a bandito hat indignantly replies to Humphrey "Don't" Bogart:

"Antivirus? We ain't got no Antivirus. We don't need no Antivirus! I don't have to show you any stinkin' Antivirus!"

Often misquoted from "Blazing Windows" as
"We don't need no stinkin' Antivirus!"

Comment Re:Culture, not money (Score 1) 290

You hit the proverbial nail -- Sad to say.

      I'd like to add how television aids in reinforcing this behavior pattern. It would probably be a safe bet to say that education desire/absorption is inversely proportion to the number of hours in front of the tube.
      (In my formative years, I could count on one hand the number of UHF and VHF channels. Therefore, less TV watching, not to mention that one had to actually get up off the sofa to change the channel. A TV in one's room was a non starter.)
      Try and convince the inner city single parent to limit the hours in front of the electronic babysitter. The imagery on the tube almost never reinforces education for advancement. Street smarts and gaming the system is all that is required to get ahead and/or be popular.

Comment Boogie man (Score 1) 434

Good idea -- incorrect routing.

Have the dolphin button ring the parents cell phone with a message like:
"(Kid's name) is having an Internet Panic Attack --- If you don't respond to this message, then the call will be routed to your local law enforcement division -- Remember, please monitor and talk with your children!"

Supply a pager to the parents without a cell phone. Seems like a far less costly method than having to hire thousands of police and/or SS workers to handle the plethora of "I wanna see someone jump when I feel bad" abusers.

And don't forget the legions of lawyers that will be necessary to sort through the pile of litigation!

Comment Re:The soylent nature of /. --- is people! (Score 1) 92

My initial gut reaction was also ants.
But ants are unconsciously programmed to create a huge feeding mechanism for their queen and her progeny. They throw themselves on the metaphorical sword in its defense. I don't see that in /.
More like piranha at times.

Maybe some kind of hybrid ? Or ants on LSD? I remember reading some time ago they somehow dosed a spider with LSD and the resulting web was pretty bizarre and unsymmetrical.

This is /. after all -- free your mind. I've had my fill of the Bickersons.

Comment The soylent nature of /. --- is people! (Score 1) 92

Though not strictly a physical material, this got me thinking.
What would be the underlying metaphorical model for /.
  ?

Ants, piranha, beavers, jellyfish, cats?

Leave It to Beaver, The Honeymooners, Star Trek?

The school lunch room, D&D party, After work at the pub, French salons on hypnotics?

Logical / illogical anarchy at its finest?

?????

The Internet

EU Telecom Deal Finished — No Three Strikes 109

a_n_d_e_r_s writes "The battle was hard, but the final text of the agreement ensures that people in the EU are not disconnected from the Internet without a chance to get a fair and impartial hearing beforehand. The important part is: 'Accordingly, these measures may only be taken with due respect for the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to privacy. A prior fair and impartial procedure shall be guaranteed, including the right to be heard of the person or persons concerned, subject to the need for appropriate conditions and procedural arrangements in duly substantiated cases of urgency in conformity with European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The right to an effective and timely judicial review shall be guaranteed.' This means that if someone is accused of copyright infringement, they can't just be disconnected from Internet. It lets the accused get a chance to disagree and take it to court first. The urgency clause means that a computer can be disconnected if it is part of an ongoing DDoS attack. Next, this has to be implemented into the EU nations' own laws, so the final ruling on how this will be implemented is not out yet. But, overall, it looks like a great success in stopping informal three-strikes disconnections."

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