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Comment Re:Rain attenuates the radio signal (Score 1) 150

TBH, I did radio/wireless internet for 4-5 years, back in the early 00's. It was pretty rock-solid, with perhaps one instance of trouble due to weather (during a full-on blizzard... the link dropped packets on occasion, but that was about it. My house antenna was 34 miles away from the ISP's antenna, which was just barely within the 35 mile range.

Only real issue I had was with the lag, which made it rough for FPS gaming, though doable.

Comment Re:Sexism = Sexy these days (Score 5, Interesting) 642

I actually went and asked a female physicist about it. Her response if she'd been at this lab when younger (older academics develop a very, very thick skin it seems) then yes she would have found it (a lab head with a shirt emblazoned with nearly naked women on it) very off putting probably to the point of not going there.

Anecdotes mean nothing, and here's why: My wife's favorite t-shirt has an almost-nude Bettie Page in full dominatrix gear, and she happily wore it to work when we first met (albeit she's not a physicist or in academia, but she does work in the tech realm.) The difference? She's completely secure in her self-image, and in her femininity - enough that she doesn't give a damn about what some guy wears.

...at making a group feel completely excluded.

What group - militant feministas who are so insecure in their self-image that they have to lash out at the planet? In all honesty, fuck them. I get the whole professional attire business, but I refuse to attenuate my life or attire out of fear that I might somehow offend the perpetually-offended.

If the group you refer to is simply 'women in general'? Sorry, but that group is way too damned diverse to be put into a container, and the dude's shirt wasn't pornographic, so what the hell?

Comment Re:More detailed ratings are a good thing (Score 1) 642

30 years ago, you would be absolutely correct.

Today is a different story, as movies are no longer confined to obtaining theater owners' blessings. Even 10 years ago, movies like Equilibrium and {insert your favorite anime here} would happily gain widespread viewing and acceptance without ever seeing the inside of a movie theater. In fact, I daresay that movie theaters are going the way of the dinosaur, especially in the age of VOD and the Internet (most notably Netflix).

Sure the MPAA can ruin lives... by over-stepping their charter and chasing copyright ghosts. However, the MPAA's original charter and mission was to rate movies, and nothing more.

Comment Re:Sexism = Sexy these days (Score 0) 642

Sadly, you're right.

I look at this from my POV, where I see pin-up pages run by women (and some awesome artwork of the same style drawn-up by women), women all across Facebook who happily wax nostalgic about the whole genre (retro, rockabilly, pin-up, you-name-it), and I saw the shirt in the same light. Hell, the shirt was designed by a woman, and given to him as a gift.

But no... we have some overwrought bitter old hags who got their crusty old uteri all knotted up because a --gasp-- man was wearing that shirt. Cue the spineless bureaucrats who fear for their careers, and you have some poor bastard who has to tear-up in front of a camera begging forgiveness and estrogen from the now-smug aforementioned hags.

It's feminists like that which explains why we cannot have nice things.

Comment Re:More detailed ratings are a good thing (Score 3, Insightful) 642

They would rather the government does stuff because it tends to be cheaper and better run than when private companies get involved.

As a blanket statement, I disagree vehemently. See also NIS (WRT healthcare rationing), overburdening the taxpayer, the insane EU rules governing everything from gasoline to what constitutes an actual croissant, etc.

Note that private companies are not an end-all be-all answer either. Both government and private corporations are limited in what they can do well. In the case of the article, I suspect a non-profit organization would serve the purpose better (ironically, see also the MPAA's original role as to ratings).

Comment Re:More detailed ratings are a good thing (Score 4, Interesting) 642

Ever read a credit card agreement, insurance contract, or mortgage agreement?

There's a huge difference between a private contract you willingly enter into, and a government edict that you are forced into and cannot opt out of.

"Business has a very limited range of things that they do as well or better than the public at large ... - business action beyond that range invariably becomes incompetent, expensive, dangerous, or worse.", and

I agree, and my agreement to your point does not invalidate what I wrote. ;)

Comment Re:Goddamn it! (Score 2) 276

1) He said most, not all.

2) It's beyond-belief true for Microsoft exams. Unless you think like a MSFT marketing manager (and not, you know, an actual sysadmin), the MCSE tests will be impossible to pass. I've gotten near-perfect scores on those things simply by suspending disbelief and thinking like a Redmond Marketing droid.

3) I actually agree with you about the Cisco tests - or at least concerning the older ones (not sure about more recent ones, as I haven't had to touch one in years), since they did probe the protocols pretty deeply.

Comment Re:What about the male stereotypes? (Score 1) 642

All of them. A *real* woman wouldn't be mindlessly chasing her prince charming... she'd be building a tyrannical empire on her own power, maybe displaying the severed head of Prince Charming on a pike next to her throne built of skulls, and have a horde of male slaves who would...

Aw Crap - I've been playing too many MMORPGs again.

Comment Re:Sexism = Sexy these days (Score 3, Insightful) 642

Damn - where are mod points where you need them?

Now if that scientists had looked dead into the camera and said "Yeah, it's a nice shirt a ladyfriend of mine designed, and I wore it as a favor to her. Don't like it? Get the sand outta yer vag and shut the fuck up", I think I would have fell out of my chair in trying to get up and cheer... and so would most other men.

Comment Re:Horribly sexist ! (Score 4, Insightful) 642

The notion that "portraying men as muscled killing machines" is a kind of sexism has not yet arrived in the mainstream.
Which tells you interesting things about our society.

Yeah - it basically means that male humans aren't generally hung up on that kind of 'OMG impossible body-image expectations for boys to reach!!111!' bullshit.

Comment Re:More detailed ratings are a good thing (Score 5, Insightful) 642

Wat. How will having a private entity help with non-biased labeling?

A private entity cannot enforce anything upon the populace, nor can they promulgate laws based on their ratings.

Government has a very limited range of things that they do as well or better than the public at large (war/defense, money, basic law enforcement, etc) - governmental action beyond that range invariably becomes incompetent, expensive, dangerous, or worse.

Never give government more power than the worst-case scenario you would be willing to live under.

Comment Re:Coastal people live in their own universe (Score 3, Informative) 264

Have you been to Seaside Oregon lately? It's pretty built up.

The law grandfathers existing shoreline development (whatever existed as of 1967).

Also, "right behind" high-tide is a misnomer. Anything new can only be built on land higher than 16' (altitude) above sea level at low-tide, which is much farther back than the mere high-tide mark (which averages around 8'), so unless you're building on a cliff-edge, or a mountainside or suchlike, you're not really going to get a beach view out of your new property...

The state also reserves the right to regulate such land further as needed.

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