Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Legalized Extortion and Racketeering (Score 1) 764

Sounds like you've never sat on a jury. I have and I've never before sat in a room with such a group of uninformed, uninterested, and poorly educated people. The attorneys dismiss anyone they can if they think they care at all about the issues more than they care about getting home as quickly as possible with as little inconvience to themselves as possible. Yes, I know, this could be applied to me, but I ended up being dismissed after the evidence in the trial I sat through. I was an "alternate" selected just to make sure there were 12 people left standing by the time the deliberations began.

Comment What is the price of free speech? (Score 1) 1224

Trey and Matt could move the show to HBO, that will show Comedy Central. If that doesn't work, hell they could probably move it to the Playboy Channel and people would sign up. If we can pay for naked people maybe if we pay enough someday we can hear words and watch cartoons without censorship.

Comment Re:Here's An Idea ... (Score 1) 248

They may not have the source code anymore if it's that old. Modern mainframes have continued to evolve and a recompile might be necessary. It's actually not that hard to believe that the source code might be missing, in that era the source code was usually punched out on cards which had to be physically maintained in boxes which could easily be lost.

Comment White noise (Score 4, Interesting) 1019

Get a white noise generator. I have an ancient one that sits in the corner of my office. It helps drown out the background chit chat and definitely helps me focus my attention without distraction. No one notices that is is on but if I ever turn it off you suddenly become aware of just how noisy everyone is, you can hear every sniffle and word spoken and you realize just how distracting that really is. Maybe stage such a demo, have your noise generator running for a couple of weeks, then one day when your boss is in your cube, just reach over casually and turn it off. When he suddenly becomes aware of all the distracting chit chat pouring in, point out how much more productive you have been since you got the white noise generator and how it serves the same purpose for you music used to do when it was allowed. It might open his mind a little. Or not. But the main thing is you can concentrate.

Comment Re:Clueless (Score 1) 414

Same reason so many people use the crappy msn email accounts that come with their crappy msn internet connection. They don't know any better and since it's microsoft - it must be good enough. Microsoft dosen't need the smarter than average half of the bell curve to use their products, they only need a certain market share and they'll make buckets of money.

Comment Re:my take (Score 1) 1367

There is still no need to prohibit, rather educate and if necessary medically rehabilitate. Locking people up for addiction rather than helping them cope is not cheap, but it's still cheaper than housing them (in prison) for many years or even the rest of their lives. Many have lived out quite productive lives while nevertheless addicted to drugs like cocaine and heroin. Opiate additions do not really harm the organism until the supply is cut. I'm not saying it's great to be hooked on opiates, but there's no legitimate reason to favor criminal incarceration of an opiate addict vs. building a counseling and treatment network designed to build skillful means so that an addict can managing their use intelligently.

Comment Re:Which drugs? (Score 1) 1367

All drugs have a context for use that doesn't automatically put bystanders at risk. Clearly if you're going to do PCP you shouldn't get behind the wheel until it is safe to do so, several hours later. Provided guided and smart contexts where drug use can be matched with a responsible setting can eliminate these side effects. If you could go somewhere safe and guided to trip on LSD for 10 hours, be fed, spend time to reflect and consider your experience, it might be very interesting. You might be less likely to drop some acid and get behind the wheel and go look at the pretty lights and end up in the ditch wondering what happened.

Comment Re:Drugs are bad no matter what form they take (Score 1) 1367

This is a myopic POV. Imagine, if people were holding their breath until they passed out while driving people would die as a result, sure. But people don't do that. Create a context where smart drug use is allowed without the need for the furtive criminality, you can go somewhere safe, use, trip, sleep, whatever you need. You don't have to get behind the wheel. The reason people are driving around stoned on drugs is because we haven't funneled them into a constructive drug use pattern since it's illegal to do so. A supportive drug use setting removes much of the cultural and circumstantial reasons for the harm. No one really wants to combine doing drugs with driving, but they are forced to drive and do stupid stuff because we haven't provided smart conscious and innovative alternatives.

Comment Re:If you do, you've gotta PAY . . .. (Score 2, Insightful) 1367

I am willing to bet that people pay more to house and prosecute numberless drug users/sellers than it would cost to provide social services to help them cope when their usage becomes a detriment to sustaining themselves in the context of their other decisions. Not everyone has the same responsibilities. If you have a wife and kids and a mortgage and a bunch of bills it hurts you more to be an addict. If you live in a cheap apartment and live off your investments, what's the difference if you chose to live your life stoned out of your mind.

Comment Crowley had it right. Drugs are basically food. (Score 1, Insightful) 1367

1. Man has the right to live by his own law-- to live in the way that he wills to do: to work as he will: to play as he will: to rest as he will: to die when and how he will.
2. Man has the right to eat what he will: to drink what he will: to dwell where he will: to move as he will on the face of the earth.
3. Man has the right to think what he will: to speak what he will: to write what he will: to draw, paint, carve, etch, mould, build as he will: to dress as he will.
4. Man has the right to love as he will.
5. Man has the right to kill those who would thwart these rights.
Hardware Hacking

D.I.Y. Home Security 377

theodp writes "The NYTimes reports that pre-wired home security installations by alarm companies are on the way out. Thanks to wireless window and door sensors and motion detectors, installing and maintaining one's own security system is becoming a do-it-yourself project, with kits available from companies like InGrid and LaserShield. Time to start cranking out some new iPhone and Android apps, kids?"

Slashdot Top Deals

One way to make your old car run better is to look up the price of a new model.

Working...