That's very funny--I think I'll have to steal it!

The early days of the Internet really were the best. There were some really awesome communities back then. I'm sure such things are still around, but damn if they don't seem to be covered in mounds of crap.

Like many slashdot users, for most of my life, I've been accused of spending too much time on computers.

As a child of the 80s, I've spent countless hours on BBSes, terminal internet, dialup internet, AOL instant messenger, battle.net, mmos, civilization 1, civilization 2, civilization 3, etc. ;-)

Today, however, I feel like a luddite. I don't use Facebook. I don't use instagram or snapchat or whatsapp. I read one or two twitter accounts, but don't have an account myself. My wife is totally hooked on Facebook, and I'm now I'm the one complaining about spending so much time on the computer!

It's a bizarre world.

Funny, I just had a conversation with the same answer from my low 20-somethings sister. She never uses Facebook and chats with instagram and snapchat. Seems inefficient, but maybe that's just me!

She does have a twitter account--a marketing course in one of her college classes required all the students to open a twitter account. If THAT'S not the death knell of a social network (professors ordering students to open an account!), I don't know what is.

Right, but only if you define a need solely as a "basic survival requirement." I do not agree with this definition.

I would use a simpler definition in the context of cars/hardware/software/housing/etc (none of which are "basic survival requirements")--if it's a dealbreaker, it's a need. If it's not, it's a want.

Seems like there can be some pretty straightforward guidelines.

If you require a dvorak keyboard, and the lack of a dvorak keyboard is a dealbreaker, then it's a need.

If you want a dvorak keyboard and would use a dvorak keyboard if you could (but it's not a dealbreaker), then it's a want.

It's about degrees. If you limit wants/needs to "basic survival requirements" then pretty much the entirety of modern civilization falls into the category of "wants."

I'm a "one app" jailbreak user too. For me, it's BiteSMS. BiteSMS is great--it's a messaging overhaul that implements popup sms/imessage that lets you compose orreply to messages without leaving your current app. You can schedule messages to send in the future, actually see timestamps, etc. Great program. If this is a legit jailbreak and bitesms works, I'll upgrade to iOS7 right away.

If you're not riding along in the left lane, you shouldn't be a problem.

Ounces and pounds are still in common usage in the UK (the country that the GP referred to!). Don't let that stand in the way of an opportunity for you to try to attack the US though. We appreciate your fresh take on the metric system!

I'm American and I've definitely heard "get in front of a problem" but I've never heard it shortened to just "get out front" as it was in the story (nor removed from context as it was). I was confused as well. Perhaps the submitter was just being idiosyncratic.

How exactly is this news? It's even on Wikipedia--the Five Eyes (FVEY, i.e., the English-speaking countries, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the United States) share just about everything. There's also the even MORE exclusive sharing group that excludes New Zealand -- ACGU -- Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States (I believe the origins of this clique go back to some disputes around US nuclear warships berthing in New Zealand).

The arrangement is specifically designed so that, for instance, the NSA can spy on British citizens for the Brits (or vice versa) without breaking any local laws. Each country has geographic regions of specialty.

Let me guess....Cary??

Who plans to advocate for transit workers if not their union (that is made up of transit workers, by the way, not a separate entity)? Certainly not you.

The general public thinks public servants are really important when they're "not doing their job," but look for their support on any given day when they're just being treated unfairly and it's a big fuck you. Well, fuck you all back. How you treat the people that "work for you" says a lot about you.

Googling for 5 whole minutes is not research.

Guess what: it's not all about you. This treatment of public employees really angers me, and it happens whenever public servants decide enough is enough. Do you think if you were working a job to be able to pay your bills, you'd be interested in hearing "shut up and get back to work, I have stuff to do?" or be thinking "I know I have to feed my family, but how will Steve get to work?! Nevermind!"

How this works with police officers and other essential folks is that there are rules to protect the employees because they, basically, can't walk off the job because they serve the public good. Same sometimes with transit workers. If you want people to be at work no matter what, there has to be something else that takes the place of the right to strike.

I don't know about your salary numbers and don't have the time to go into them, but they almost always take into account people who've been working there a very long time, and some that have specialized skills. I see teachers salary numbers and they almost never reflect the reality.