Nor should you be embarrassed by "being different." There's no reason at all for you to completely blend in, or "hide" among the masses. In fact, as much as people claim, it is almost impossible to "blend in" to a point where no one will see a difference.
You're Chinese. I'm Puerto Rican. I may think that I "look like everyone else" (read: caucasian), but I am not, and people can see that just by looking at my skin tone. My girlfriend is Jewish (ancestry is Polish) and she calls me a spic. I call her a kike. She makes "latino jokes." I make Pollock and Jewish jokes. We laugh. Because as much as we pretend that we are all the same, we are not, and stereotypes exist. Stereotypes exist.

I'm getting away from my point, which is: when you set yourself apart, when you are proud of your differences, when you're proud to "NOT blend in" you also have to be ready for others to point out that you're different. You have to grow a little bit of a thicker skin if you set yourself apart from your peers or community. There is no choice.

It has nothing to do with race, but as a young man (in the early 90's) I pierced myself up. My hair was ridiculous colors. I dressed in outlandish ways. Of course, I've grown up since then, but I spent most of my teenage years and my 20's TRYING to look different.

It accomplished 2 things: one, it attracted the attention of people who were either like me (dressing the same, etc) or wanted to be like me. Great. The second thing it accomplished was that I was different, very different at the time; this was the early 90's... body modification and "being a freak" hadn't become as popular as it is now and getting your tongue pierced wasn't as common or as "cool" as getting your ear pierced in the 80's. I received the attention that I wanted and TONS of attention that I didn't want in terms of derogatory comments, ladies clutching their handbags, people outright asking what was wrong with me for "messing up my body" and asking why I didn't want to "be like everyone else." I was called freak.

Point being: although CHOOSING to be different is not the same as being born a minor ethnicity in a majority, you have chosen to hold on to what you think is your cultural identity. It's your choice. If, occasionally, someone hurls some Chingrish at you for a laugh, you need to learn to deal with it. Just as I CHOSE not to be like my peers, and received negative attitudes toward it, it was my choice, I dealt with it, and I grew a thicker skin because of it. I also think I'm a better person and more tolerant of others because of it.

Don't even get me started on the thinly veiled racism I receive when someone thinks I'm caucasian and they find out that I am Puerto Rican. Or the typically horrible "chicano accent" people try to affect at times, or the mistake of thinking "puerto ricans and mexicans are 'the same thing'"
It happens all the time. I pick my battles and most of the time, they aren't worth fighting.

I wonder how many people on /. will stop making Chingrish (or Engrish) jokes because of your diatribe? I wonder if you actually opened anyone's eyes, or if you appeared to be the one with the "race issue" who's eyes need to be opened. That's what I ask myself whenever someone uses the word "spic" to describe a latino without realizing that the guy sitting next to them (ME) is Puerto Rican. I could attempt to make them feel guilty for it (and not change anything, they just won't use the word around me). Or I could just ignore it, keep it to myself that I don't like to use those words and take pride in that.

Sometimes I enjoy the fact that I feel I'm "different" because I don't force my opinions on others and I don't bash people over their heads with my Moral Ruler every time they do or say something that I find questionable.

I choose my battles. Someone making fun of latinos by using Spanglish on /. wouldn't be a battle I pick to fight. But to each his own.

If that's the case, all the Emo kids have a very bright future!

So, your argument is that once a group is a minority, it's suddenly ok to discriminate against them? It's ok to breach a contract because the individual is part of a minority in the population? I might be able to get on board with your argument if you hadn't made that incredibly ignorant statement.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's called a "case."

A computer case. There's your universal term, straight from the mouth of all of those tower, machine, and box manufacturers. Computer case. It even sound like what it is.

Amazing.

ROFL!

Right, and then she promptly uses the music you downloaded for her to impress the new "bad boy" who she's *so* totally in love with.

Oh, they had a valid reason. It's called "disorderly conduct."

I'm a little curious as to where race comes into this discussion. Maybe you can enlighten me.

Regardless, once you're arrested, you're arrested and although you may think it's an excuse, it's legal and in this case, justified.

Once a person is under arrest they may be frisked. It's a fairly common, necessary, and lawful practice.

Incidentally, the subject of your post is exactly the reason the police were called. The teachers can't physically hold a student or force said student out of a classroom without fear of lawsuit so the police were involved. Perhaps if people like yourself didn't run around screaming "Laaaawwwsuuuuit" constantly the situation wouldn't have escalated to that point in the first place.

"See Right, Religious. Also see Neo-Conservative."

There, I fixed that for you since you don't seem to realize that Republican and Neo-Conservative are not synonymous.

Belkin's president Mark Reynoso has issued a statement apologizing and saying that 'this is an isolated incident' and that 'Belkin does not participate in, nor does it endorse, unethical practices like this.'

Phew, for a second I thought I was going to have to use some doublethink to convince myself that Belkin didn't do exactly what he just claimed they never do!!!

Mr. Reynoso's apology means nothing. He's only sorry because they were caught; as with most people.

It doesn't matter if they apologize because a business that engages in that sort of unethical behavior will not hesitate to do it again (unless it effects their pocketbooks, in that case they'll just be more careful to not be caught). Once a cheater always a cheater.

2003 called. They want their idea back.

I was actually commenting on the elitist tone of your post, not your security practices.

I take steps to avoid affection, too. These steps include practices such as yours. Prevention is the best defense, right? However, I'm not about to claim that any of the 3 OSes I run are completely impenetrable and invulnerable whether the system is Windows, OS X, or a flavor of Linux. To make such a claim would be arrogant, not sensible.

But, hey, we are talking about Mac users; arrogance is part of Apple's marketing strategy.

Safety and security is everyone's problem, not everyone else's.

I also think that slashdotters tend to forget that they are atypical computer users. You may have your comp locked down, but for every one of you there are 100 other people who wouldn't even have a clue what you're talking about, let alone "dump Windows" and fork out thousands of dollars for OS X. And for every one of you there are 100 people who are terrified of Linux.
Just because the typical user isn't as "geek" as you doesn't mean they're fools; it just means you're a geek. And I use the word in the nicest possible way. It's a compliment, actually.

Incidentally, I run AV on my Windows box (not Linux or OS X) because Windows is a target; I've never had an infection, yet I still run an AV program. Strange, huh?

My thoughts exactly. It should be up to everyone else to protect themselves so that I'm protected by virtue of their diligence.

I mean, I don't wear condoms because everyone else has been told to protect themselves with birth control and prophylactics. I have nothing to worry about, right?

Not to mention that such laws only effect law abiding citizens. The copper thieves don't care if they do not have invoices for all the copper in their possession... the plan is to not be in a position to have to show those invoices to someone in the first place.

No, laws like the one you mentioned only impede and effect those who wouldn't have broken the law in the first place. I'm sure I'll be modded flamebait or off-topic, but the situation is similar to draconian gun control laws.