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Comment This isn't a victory for Behring-Breivik. (Score 3, Insightful) 491

Someone once pointed out that hoping a rapist gets raped in prison isn't a victory for his victim(s), because it somehow gives him what he had coming to him, but it's actually a victory for rape and violence. I wish I could remember who said that, because they are right. The score doesn't go Rapist: 1 World: 1. It goes Rape: 2.

What this man did is unspeakable, and he absolutely deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. If he needs to be kept away from other prisoners as a safety issue, there are ways to do that without keeping him in solitary confinement, which has been shown conclusively to be profoundly cruel and harmful.

Putting him in solitary confinement, as a punitive measure, is not a victory for the good people in the world. It's a victory for inhumane treatment of human beings. This ruling is, in my opinion, very good and very strong for human rights, *precisely* because it was brought by such a despicable and horrible person. It affirms that all of us have basic human rights, even the absolute worst of us on this planet.

Comment Thailand too.... (Score 5, Interesting) 151

About 2 years ago, when it came to light these bomb detectors were totally fake, the Thai government, who has bought a whole bunch of these came out insisting they were real and worked. My hunch is there are no "real" portable bomb detectors (other than a trained dog), and government middle managers under pressure to buy bomb detectors bought the only thing on the market claiming to do that regardless of whether it worked or not. They knew it didn't work, but the politicians further up the chain didn't care, they just wanted to be able to say they'd purchased bomb detectors and people would be safe. Alternately, maybe James was just really good at structuring kickbacks and bribes to the decision makers. Its not like Thailand, Iraq or Kenya's governments are corruption free.

Comment Re:Drove in circles to draw the battery down!!! (Score 2) 841

Whoops, I made a mistake. That's for commercial vehicles. For cars it must be accurate to within 5%. I can't find the federal law that states that, but I've seen multiple stories mention it. See link below. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/05/11/how-fast-are-really-going-accuracy-speedometers/
User Journal

Journal Journal: in which i am a noob all over again 17

I haven't posted a journal here in almost three years, because I couldn't find the button to start a new entry. ...yeah, it turns out that it's at the bottom of the page.

So... hi, Slashdot. I used to be really active here, but now I mostly lurk and read. I've missed you.

Comment Re:We are getting one (Score 2) 381

I've got an iPad 2, and I've got a Kindle Fire on the way for exactly this reason. I found that 90% of my time on the iPad is just using it to check message boards, or look up info on IMDB while watching TV. So a 7" tablet that lighter is a perfect replacement for what I'm using it for. For all those saying "Why not a netbook"? Because a tablet is smaller, or for basic browsing a touch screen is a lot easier to use than a stupid tracpad.

Comment Re:Or Not (Score 1) 588

The problem with learning a language in school is that you quickly forget it if you don't use it. I know many Canadians from the western provinces in Canada who can't speak a lick of French despite it being taught from an early age in school and being printed on most consumer products. Why? Because everyone around them speaks English and they quickly forget. What's the point in learning Chinese or German in high school if you quickly forget it due to lack of use? And as someone who has traveled outside the US, I've found very little opportunity to speak the local language beyond ordering at a restaurant or asking for directions. Usually the people I'm doing business with speak English better than I speak their language, so choose to converse in English when talking with me for expediency and clarity.

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