Comment Re: Anecdote from 3/9 (Score 1) 349
...and I did not mean to post this anonymously. C'est moi.
Submission + - Surgeries on Friday Are More Frequently Fatal (bmj.com)
antdude writes: British Medical Journal (BMJ) research report said that "Surgeries on Friday Are More Frequently Fatal ... compared to those who opt for really bad Mondays, Britons who have a planned surgery on a Friday are 44 percent more likely to die. And the few patients who had a leisurely weekend surgery saw that number jump to 82 percent. The skeleton staff working on weekends might be to blame..." and the "day of week of procedure and 30 day mortality for elective surgery: retrospective analysis of hospital episode statistics..."
Submission + - Montréal cops' union want camera on every policemen uniform (cjad.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Montréal Policemen's Brotherhood is proposing that officers be equipped with uniform-mounted cameras that can be used to video-tape various interventions. The union says in other jurisdictions where police officers are equipped with point-of-view cameras, the use of force by officers and assaults on officers drops by as much as 60%. One system is currently being tested in Edmonton, Alberta. Arguments for and against the project here (french). There are evidences cops need these cameras to refrain themselves but if cops get them, maybe being a glasshole isn't a bad idea after all.
Submission + - Facebook Pre-screening offensive comments? (google.com) 1
bhagwad writes: "Apparently Robert Scoble tried to post a long comment on Facebook only to have a message pop up saying "This comment seems irrelevant or inappropriate and can't be posted. To avoid having your comments blocked, please make sure they contribute to the post in a positive way". If true, this is huge. For one the self moderating system of comments has always been the rule so far. And with countries like India rooting for the pre screening of content and comments, is Facebook thinking of caving into these demands?"
Submission + - Why Verizon Doesn't Want You to Buy an iPhone
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Sascha Segan writes that although Verizon adamantly denies steering customers away from Apple's iPhones in favor of 4G LTE-enabled Android devices, he is convinced that Verizon has a strong reason to push buyers away from the iPhone. "Here's the problem," writes Segan. "Verizon has spent millions of dollars rolling out its massive LTE network" but the carrier can't easily add capacity on its old 3G network. Since the iPhone isn't a 4G phone sales of Verizon iPhones just crowd up their already busy 3G network while their 4G network has plenty of space. "The iPhone is a great device. But it's making a crowded network more crowded. Until the LTE iPhone comes along, to rebalance its network, Verizon may quietly push Android phones.""
Comment Re:The problem... (Score 1) 478
"They" are a group of graduates over a 10 or 12 year span who all happen to play in a band together, and recently got an indie deal; first two albums now available for purchase on iTunes. Songs for the third album are currently in production, with some of the tracks cut at Sun Records. (If you are a music nerd of a certain age, this is Godhead - but if you're that age, you're not likely hanging out at wikipedia. This is part of the problem of a self-selecting "Board of Authority.") None of them are my family - I'm an old acquantance living 1,000 miles away who happens to be a fan.
Now, contrast them with the sleezeball wanna-be "sports agent" who lists himself as a "prominent graduate" on the same page, even though he has no clients and is totally unheard of in recruiting circles (at least the ones I participate in - does that make me an expert? No, of course not. He can stay up there if he wants. Or more accurately, if "they" want.) He's practically advertising to current student ball-players. But guys who make music I can purchase on iTunes? "Oh, they're not good enough."
Please note: I am now engaged in the same "debating picayune subjects with anonymous people" situation that I *didn't* want to be in, in the first place! It's ridiculous! I'm quitting!
Defend the wikipedia all you want, it's still a human endeavor... and human endeavors will always be swayed by cliques, groupthink, self-selection, etc, whether those endeavors are trivial "notable graduates from our HS" lists, or management of a collectivist nation. All the self-imposed "rules" in the world can't get around this immutable fact; the rules themselves carry the taint of human endeavor.
Perhaps we can agree on this at least: One day, the Robot Overlords will worry about this stuff for us! What was it Perry Ferrell said? "We'll make great pets?"
Now, contrast them with the sleezeball wanna-be "sports agent" who lists himself as a "prominent graduate" on the same page, even though he has no clients and is totally unheard of in recruiting circles (at least the ones I participate in - does that make me an expert? No, of course not. He can stay up there if he wants. Or more accurately, if "they" want.) He's practically advertising to current student ball-players. But guys who make music I can purchase on iTunes? "Oh, they're not good enough."
Please note: I am now engaged in the same "debating picayune subjects with anonymous people" situation that I *didn't* want to be in, in the first place! It's ridiculous! I'm quitting!
Defend the wikipedia all you want, it's still a human endeavor... and human endeavors will always be swayed by cliques, groupthink, self-selection, etc, whether those endeavors are trivial "notable graduates from our HS" lists, or management of a collectivist nation. All the self-imposed "rules" in the world can't get around this immutable fact; the rules themselves carry the taint of human endeavor.
Perhaps we can agree on this at least: One day, the Robot Overlords will worry about this stuff for us! What was it Perry Ferrell said? "We'll make great pets?"
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A sheet of paper is an ink-lined plane. -- Willard Espy, "An Almanac of Words at Play"
