I am not sure how to feel about this.

browsing the comments you seem to be in the minority...most of the posts on this article go a step further than you and **admit the dont' like it**

it's funny to note how different commenters qualify their comment in support of the US government **controlling the internet**

let's remember this moment...

as soon as an article is posted about a **domestic issue** the trolls come out in droves....comment after comment....endless discussions between "libertarians" vocally opposing **anything** the US government does and their detractors.

let's remember this...and moderate accordingly

The best way to discredit an idiot is to hand him a microphone and let him speak.

I think I understand what GP was saying here, but when I read it I thought of exactly the same criticism as you.

Giving someone a platform *inherently* gives credibility to w/e they say next.

I do agree w/ GP that Nazi and other b.s. ideology needs to be "beaten not hidden" very much.

There's a lesson to learn here & I'm trying to figure it out...

Maybe it's this: The GP that we're responding to really made a great point about free speech followed by a statement that *sort of* logically flows from the first point. I remember a poster on a teacher's wall from middle school with 3 chicks, one with beak open others beaks closed. The caption read,

"It's better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

Which is awesome + seems to bolster the "give the idiot the mic" comment...

What is different is the "microphone" implies a **public gathering**...in that context you simply cannot just give the microphone to any idiot willing to take it because of human nature.

I know this seems pedantic but it's not in my mind. GP makes a great point but I think the lesson is that free speech isn't the same as letting anyone use a public forum. It implies choice...***who chooses who gets to speak*** becomes the deciding question of who will have the most influence.

It's too complex to give a one-sentence answer. The variable is context. In an undergrad philosophy class all students should feel welcome to ask questions, but not free to dominate the discussion.

No one wants to be "that guy"...

But anyways I want to hear this, how exactly is Google bogging down the public transportation system in SF?

it's the same as taxi cabs lining up for pick ups at a bus station...they are not allowed & neither should google busses

***but i wrote that in my previous comment*** and you didn't actually respond

if you want to start make demands in the conversation ***YOU HAVE TO ENGAGE AS WELL***

just like i pointed out in my last comment, you're being selfish and myopic...the community of *this conversation* is the same as your Bay Area community...and in both you're completely self-centered and myopic

if you want to continue this conversation, actually engage my counterpoints from the last two rounds

otherwise, this conversation is over

Are there buses at these stops 24/7?

no

Do the Google buses occupy space at the same time that public buses would otherwise occupy? No?

yes...i mean 'no'...the right answer to the first question you posed was answered correctly by you: no

Then how the fuckin shit is that a valid comparison?

b/c those aren't the criteria for misuse/abuse of public property...***cab drivers have all kinds of rules & limitations for using public roads and bus stops***

cabs can't line up at bus stops for the same reasoning...

it's part of a **system** and it taxes **other parts of the system**

if google wants buses to be able to use the stops, they must get permission and pay...or they could **donate money to the city to improve the infrastructure**

see, your problem is you don't see yourself as *part* of the community you live in...its a complex system and you only look at THE PART THAT AFFECTS YOU DIRECTLY...

you (and Google) are being myopic & selfish

yeah...it did..otherwise Soulskill looks like a shill or loses credibility...he looks like Tom Delay when he mistook a parody show for a real show

the little "from the X dept" area is completely neutral..."left my pants in SF" ???...that's where the /. editors *always* get cute...even if they just quote TFA for their summary

i'd have looked askew at this article as presented even ***if*** the "from X dept" was sarcastic...but we don't even have that

I read your comment b/c it got up-modded, but I'm not sure I know where you're coming from...

But my impression for the first half of that week? "You fucking savages call this shithole home??? Google couldn't pay me enough to put up with this!"

I don't disagee with you...it's your opinion...but I just don't know, comparatively, what would not be a "shithole" to you...and it's not evident by context other than the types that vacation in SF are usually from the midwest.

So what's **not** a shithole?

I live in Portland & often people mistake *problems inherent to any big city* with problems of the specific city, or even neighborhood they visit.

I've had country bumpkin friends visit & had to explain that all big cities have homeless people downtown...

You seem familiar with the language of the Google Bus debate, but you don't exemplify any higher intellectual analysis beyond just agreeing with whatever in-group you *feel* closest to

It's not about comparing paint cost.

It's as if one of the biggest private tennis academies in the city decided to use all public courts for its tennis lessons.

A 'bus stop' isn't just a coat of paint...it's a ***NODE IN A SYSTEM***

Google is using public property (bus stop) as if it was its own infrastructure...it's similar to theft...it's taking resources on a time/space basis.

What about Pepsi, or Dr Pepper?

yeah, What about them?

your comparison shows the scale of your concept of what happens in computing....in your mind, what happens in tech is equivalent to soda pop

you know what else doesn't make sense? why the candy Nerds are called 'Nerds'...or Mr. Goodbar (how can candy have a gender????)

you know why that point, and by logic your points, don't matter?

because we aren't talking about *candy and soda pop*

some of us do ***really critical*** work in tech & it is important for things to make sense in our interactions with ***non-techs***

you are inventing a distinction where none exists

common tactic when you are trolling

The greatest cowardice a free society can display is the desire to avoid debating ideas. Nazi propaganda must be beaten, not hidden. The best way to discredit an idiot is to hand him a microphone and let him speak.

Diego Garcia

Otherwise known as "Fernando Poo".

No. St. Pancras is a Circle Line trip from Notting Hill Gate. That's my doorstep. :-)

I don't know my Metro, that well. By Christ. Gare DuNord is a shorter ride than that, to Pere Lachaise. That the step of a friend...

today's coder-kings are working to reinvent economic structures in much the same way Renaissance painters, poets

today's coder-kings !!!

what is almost as hilarious is that 'Soulskill' posted the summary without a HINT of irony!

You know very well, you can have a knob on your head, but speak good French, and get about. No French? Even Raquel Welch would have been dissed with a brush off.

false dichotomy..."abstract/non-abstract"

how's this...**some** names are more abstract than others

names of things tell us their function **all the time**

if you want to prove me wrong, type out a long reply then hit "cancel" to post it

not the "preview" button...hit "cancel"

if names cannot denote function and are totally abstract then you will prove me right