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Comment Re:Why the hell are people accepting this? (Score 1) 622

That is an interesting way to look at that data.

Another interesting way is that nearly 3000 people died over a period of roughly 100 minutes on 9/11. If that rate were sustainable (of course not very likely), 15,768,000 people would have died that year in terrorist attacks in the US... quite a bit more than traffic accidents and hand guns combined, over 300 times that amount.

Comment Re:A Groupon pitfall (Score 1) 129

What? You tell me in one sentence that it costs way more to recruit a new customer and then in the next, you tell me that taking a 50% cut in revenue is bad to get a customer, which is it? If the restaurant can get 50% of the revenue for a new customer, and let's face it at some places that is probably breaking even or close to it (other places not so much), that is somehow too costly?

Comment Re:Nothing to surprising (Score 1) 1271

However, you need to take pure capitalism to its natural "conclusion" - industry monopolies. In this newly morphed monopolistic society, there would be high barriers to entry essentially creating an oligarchy. Eventually, the resources would be depleted and/or the market would be completely saturated and new industries would have to be created and the cycle would renew. Let's face it, these are all just models that have never run in a pure environment and never can. They are all related, interact and contribute to what we have now.

Censorship

China Restricts Minors From Using Virtual Currency 142

eldavojohn writes "For those under eighteen who play video games in China, life just got a little harder. Not only is gold farming illegal, but starting August 1, virtual currency platform makers are expected to put in safeties that prohibit underage players from using virtual currencies — because doing such a thing might promote 'unwholesome' behavior. The new regulations explicitly 'forbid content advocating pornography, cults, superstitions, gambling, and violence in all online games.' The business papers are picking it up as a number of stocks from companies like Tencent Holdings — which is heavily based in virtual currency in China — fell about 5%, though the company said that the ban on minors will not affect it."

Comment Re:This stat is rather curious (Score 1) 157

Yes and 2002 students. So 0% could still technically be about 10 students, and I believe that completely.

And yes, my son attends a school with no grades and he easily consumes less than 3 hours of media (other than music) a week along with a vast majority of his classmates.

Two weeks ago, I attended a talk at my my son's school by David Walsh (http://www.mediafamily.org/about/speak_biodavew.shtml), he had recently talked with the contributors to the report and they indicated that the numbers would go up from the previous year. I believe he said the number last year was 32 hours per week. That increase is scary to me.

I agree with David Walsh that not all media is bad, there most definitely are useful elements of all types of media, but the sheer volume of time spent on activities where you are alone does not help social interaction. Chatting with someone on-line is not the same as interacting person to person. He cited studies where it was shown that the brain's "filter" is not activated while chatting on-line but most definitely is activated in person. Think of emails you wish you hadn't sent, to get a better understanding of this.

He is a great speaker if you get a chance to hear him.

Comment Re:It's not the eye color screening that bugs me (Score 1) 847

Wow... you really are an anonymous coward!

Apparently, you have not tried to "just" adopt a child.

You have no idea of the expense of adopting a child. Adoption can be way more than fertility treatments - 3 times as much in our case.

You have no idea of the humiliation of adopting a child. Did you know they (agencies and birth mothers) look into every aspect of your life? Did you realize they evaluate you based on this partial image of you (there is no face to face early on, if at all)? Sound like prejudice to you?

You have no idea of the potential pain of adopting a child. Luckily, I don't either, but I know there is a waiting period before the adoption can be completed. The reason for the waiting period? Oh, the birth mother can change her mind, and rip the baby from your life. I'm not saying this is right or wrong (or even that it happens a lot), it is just a fact.

You have no idea the hardships it places on a marriage. I do, but it is none of your damn business.

The process of adoption is long and hard. To say, "just adopt the already-existing baby," is just plain offensive. We would have loved to "just adopt the already-existing baby," it ain't that easy. The process is a long test of how good a parent you may be judged by some arbitrary third party; this test may go on for months or years. What test have you ever taken that is as long and arduous with no guarantee of earning a "grade" or even being able to pass?

We would not have been picky. We would have taken a special needs child too.

It's simply not as easy as you (and others) seem to think it is.

Oh, but what do others have to do to become a parent? Many, simply need to have sex at the right time of the month.

Luckily, we eventually were able to have the most wonderful and healthy child in the world (on our own). But to imply that the process of adoption (or fertility treatments, for that matter) is easy, straightforward, and a given is just naive. To think, I was beginning to think there were people on slashdot that may actually have experienced life (outside of their parents basement). Oh well.

(I suppose some day I'll figure out how to separate paragraphs on /. with an extra break, but I am too busy enjoying being a parent)

Comment Re:Unethical, but not illegal (Score 1) 203

What is and isn't illegal is simply the first question. The second question is, how should mitigating factors be considered in answering the first question? The third question is, how is a violation punished? The fourth question is, to what extent should mitigating factors be considered in determining the intensity of punishment used?

Can't the secondary questions be the purpose of the judge? To, you know, judge the circumstances of the case within the "intent" of the law? For the others that said boxing, nose jobs and biopsies will be illegal. Um... the intent of boxing isn't to break noses, it is to win the match. The intent of a nose job is to fix a condition. The intent of a bone biopsy is to determine medical issues.

The Almighty Buck

Will Amazon Get a Visit From the Tax Man? 334

theodp writes to tell us that according to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com has raised a few eyebrows with their strategy to avoid paying sales tax in eight states where they have warehouses or distribution centers. "As an online retailer, Amazon can avoid collecting sales tax in states where it has no presence, at least until Congress changes the law. But in states where a company has actual facilities, such as warehouses, states tax officials can require the company to collect sales tax. Despite operating hundreds of thousands of square feet of distribution facilities in the eight states, Amazon says it doesn't have any presence in them. The company argues that it doesn't operate the plants, its wholly owned subsidiaries do."

Comment Are you kidding me? (Score 1) 777

So much for my long silence on /. ("first post!"). This post was marked as +5 Informative?!? The linked "article" was an opinion piece by, get this, the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. I think you need to quit buying the bull puckey talking points yourself. My guess (only reasonably educated - not based on fact), is that the oil industry wants a land grab so that once it is profitable enough, they will have all of drillable land, and all of the cards with the American people -- "let us drill here with limited regulation and oversight or else you will not have oil to run the country". The oil industry needs to get over it. They knew the rules going into it - it was pure speculation.

NASA Priorities Out of Whack? 258

amerinese writes "Just last week, we saw a story on NASA reconsidering the fate of the DAWN mission, another reminder of the space agency's budget woes. Gregg Easterbrook over at Slate.com argues not only is the budget a little short, but NASA's priorities are all wrong. From the article: 'For at least a decade, it's been clear that the space shuttle program is a clunker. Nonetheless, NASA's funding remains heavy on the shuttle and the space station, while usually slighting science. This year's proposed budget for fiscal 2007 takes the cosmic cake.' Is NASA just not thinking creatively enough?"

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