Every few weeks when I log into YouTube it asks if I want to use my real name. Before I can actually get to YouTube I have to fill out why I do not. The graphics make it highly easy to switch to a real name and not so easy to opt out. Google does something similar with email accounts when you login. They want your cellphone number. The options to put it in are Big, Bright and In Your Face. The link to just go to your account is small enough you have to look at the screen for a second or two to see it.

That was pretty cool.

A few years ago I worked for a company that was still using Foxpro for many of its production systems. I found an ancient copy of Foxpro for DOS on eBay and got it running on my Ubuntu box via a DOS emulator.

I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, but that is simply not true. If you read the news you can find plenty examples of long established, "legitimate religions" still doing shitty things to people.

I'm an atheist without any love for Scientology. I don't see Scientology as any different from the "legitimate religions" that people have grown up in.

- all have done unethical acts ( read your history )

- all have beliefs people not brought in the religion would call
    superstition ( and less respectful terms )

- all what people not brought in the religion would call myths.

- all, from my viewpoint, are man-made (apologies to the women in the audience for the term )

The only thing I can think of that separates Scientology from any of the "legitimate religions" is that Scientology is so new that there are people outside of the religion old enough to remember seeing it be created by a person.

My guess is that "being created in murky distance" past as well as being brought up in a certain way gives other religions an aura of credibility that Scientology lacks.

However, when you look at they claim, how they act and what they do, it all seems the same, from an atheists point of view.

No disrespect meant to anyone.

It would be interesting ( if the information was available ) to see the demographics of regular slashdot users.

I mention this because of this poll, not everyone is in college and some people conduct themselves in an adolescent manner when writing comments.

To the credit of the new overlords I have seen a reduction in that.

I can't agree with your post ( I do like the poem by the way ). There are some things which have been clinically proven to help most people and the few that it does not, does no harm. Cognitive therapy, vigourous exercise, better nutrition, meditation, socializing more, etc

I agree with you that the United States has incredible air superiority over North Korea. However, I have read that North Korea has an incredible amount of ground defense. Highly motivated troops, traps and even factories underground that could keep operating during a bombing. That is one reason why there still is a North Korea.

I will second that.

I worked my way through school at at a food collective ( co-op ) on campus. Many of my coworkers were regular activists. In the years since I've also interacted with activists for issues I care about.

It is true, many of them have problems, some of which they aren't aware of and that they are using the cause as source of catharsis.

To be fair, MOST people have problems and many other people get into things because of their problems, rather than thing itself. No disrespect to anyone, but look at some of the gun advocates in the news fighting against an assault weapon ban.

There are many healthy, reasonable people who own guns for self protection and who want the right to keep those kind of guns.

When I first read this post I thought " yes, but what can be done?". I've been a programmer for 13 years. Socially maladjusted people are all over the industry. You can't force people to take a look at themselves and go get help.

However, there is the power of the example. Look how many IT types went from being obese to slim with John Walkers "The Hacker's Diet".

What is needed for high profile ubergeeks to publish their own accounts cleaning up their mental health and perhaps providing a geeky way, a "Hacker's Diet" for mental health and social skills ( beyond the ground covered by the PUA community ).

I'm sure there are at least a few ubergeeks who had mental health issues, social adjustment issues and who overcame them. It is time to publish.

Ubuntu is still *one* of the best distros. As someone who has been using it since it came out I am surprised Cox chose to runaway from Fedora to Ubuntu. Ubuntu used to be the most "least hassle" and user friendly distro. I would say with the default desktop of Unity that title now belongs to MINT linux and that is what I am putting on the new home PC I am buying in March.

I have a friend who is living with her father after her divorce. The guy is a retired engineer. Super duper modern big screen television, but all of the other technology in the house is from the 1970s, including, the working rotary dial phone on the kitchen wall.

You can laugh, but if all you want it is, you know, a phone call those phones are superior in a few ways. The receiver fits around your ear and mouth much more comfortably. The quality of the calls are consistent. If the power goes out ( not an infrequent occurence in the Washington D.C. Metro area thanks to PEPCO ) it still works. No batteries to recharge either.

To the developers of that software,

I do not want to see that software open sourced, possibly giving Republicans an advantage and one they did not pay for. I am one of the people who contributed a non-trivial amount to President Obama's campaign. I'm sure other contributors do not like the idea of liberal donated funds going to help a Republican downstream.

If you want open source political software, make something new, make something that will be fair to all candidates and make something that will serve the public good.

How about an open source "get out the vote" software for local elections? Due to years of intense gerrymandering Republicans still won the House, despite more people from their areas voting for other people. Gerrymandering happened in part due to not every liberal who could have voted in local elections doing so.

Help reverse that trend with open source software to inform the ordinary voter of that situation and to get them out to vote when the battle to reverse that gerrymandering begins.

That will give all candidates, from every party a level, fair, playing field. More importantly it will give people fair representation.

It only matters who legally owns the code. It is their decision to open source it or not. I hope they do not. I do not want the Republicans gaining advantage they did not pay for.

I remember reading that Romney campaign workers found their expense cards shut off between the time Romney finished his confession speech and the cabs they took to arrive home. If somebody like that is too cheap to take care of people who were fighting for him he shouldn't get a freebie to help him win.