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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Stevo23
Published Letters: 101 Editor's Choice: 2
The people on here who argue that tinkering with hardware that you own is somehow illegal or immoral kind of freak me out. What if I bought an iPhone, and then instead of signing up for AT&T's service, I smashed it into a thousand pieces on my driveway? Would that be okay with you people? I'd still be using the hardware in a manner AT&T didn't want me to.
By the way, Businees Week (not exactly a bunch of hippie hackers) agrees that there's nothing illegal about hacking the iPhone: http://businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2007/tc20070827_230698.htm
Am I missing something?
Palette <> Palate. Good catch.
I'm really sick of people trying to claim that somehow, if you're man, you have no right to have an opinion about abortion. How many of you out there are soldiers? How many of you are going to be soldiers? Yet I'll bet you ALL have a strong opinion about the war in Iraq. The argument that just because you won't be experiencing something personally disqualifies you from taking a position on that subject is a fallacious one that stifles debate.
I don't understand why everyone is so paranoid about nuclear power. A normal coal-burning plant actually produces more radiation over its lifetime than a fission reactor, and it spreads that radiation into the atmosphere. Right now, we have the worst of both worlds where we're too scared to build newer, safer nuclear plants, but if nuclear is really that dangerous, why aren't we shutting down our older plants?
The fact of the matter is that things like wind and solar power are never going to provide enough power to replace oil. The whole green movement needs to start getting more realistic and start making hard choices. There are always tradeoffs, and the negatives of nuclear power aren't nearly as great as some people make them out to be.
Seriously. The very next sentence in the OP is
"Even if the videos are faked, they are presented as reality, and tell a truth about people's expectations."
The poster clearly wasn't saying that s/he really thought this japanese porn was actual footage of real rapes happening, just that it's indicative of a culture that considers subway rape an acceptable subject for porn. And, next time, RTFP.
Is the porn you watch presented as reality or fantasy? Do you believe the porn you watch tells a truth about your expectations?
Obviously that depends on the particular porn. Some porn pretends to be "real" (usually of the pick-up-a-girl-on-the-street variety) but actually stars paid actors and actresses. Other porn is obviously intended to be fantasy.
I haven't seen the Japanese subway porn in question (and I suspect neither have you), so I have no idea how it's presented.
But yes, I do think the pornography a culture produces (like all media) has something to say about the values of that culture. I don't see why that's a radical concept.
But why think so small? After all, if Android can run on a phone, why couldn't it run on a tablet PC? Or an e-book reader? Or a media player? Or, right, the desktop on your desk at work?
See what I'm getting at? For Google, a gPhone, or even an OS for all phones, is probably aiming too low.
An operating system for all computers everywhere, one that's open source and owned by no one and maintained by everyone: Any such effort would be a huge threat to a computing industry that, fundamentally, has long been bent on keeping platforms closed (whether we're talking about Apple or Microsoft). Well, that's more in line with Google's grand aims.
As other comm enters have pointed out, this already exists. It has existed for like a decade now. It's called Linux (or GNU/Linux if you're anal retentive). Where have you been, Farhad?
There has been speculation for years that Google would bring its own Linux distro to market, and this may be the beginning of that move. If they choose to start with phones, that's certainly an interesting choice. But let's be clear here, Linux is revolutionary. Google marketing Linux to the masses is evolutionary.
You damn kids! Get off my lawn!
"There are no illegal people"
Really? I guess there are no "illegal drug users" then? Obviously the word "illegal" refers to their border-crossing (which is against the law) and not to their mere existence or their personhood.
Don't get me wrong, there's lots of valid reasons for changing our current immigration law, but let's call a spade a spade here. Until that law is changed, they're illegal immigrants. I'm sick of people (on both the left and the right) trying to cheat at debates by redefining the terms.
If you won't talk about "illegal immigrants" only "undocumented workers" then I expect you to also eschew "torture" in favor of "enhanced interrogation techniques."
The Internet Is Serious Business(tm).
It turns out The Road Warrior was an accurate prediction of the future after all. God bless that prescient Mel Gibson.
Grr...those damn corporations! With their...corporate-ness!
seems like an honest an sincere guy. However, his economic policies would take us straight back to the 1890s. None of his campaign's math on abolishing the income tax adds up, and sales taxes are horribly regressive anyway. Not to mention the fact that he's stridently anti-abortion, which doesn't jive with the rest of his libertarian rhetoric. Furthermore, his supporters border on cultlike. They remind of the Lyndon LaRouche people. Watch how many of them are going to come on this thread, rant about North American Union conspiracies and loudly attack anyone who disagrees with Dr. Paul or his policies.
They're building a highway!!!! Heaven forfend!!!!
You know what else I just realized? There are *gasp* ALREADY highways connecting Mexico, the US, and Canada! The conspiracy is complete!
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
