prev <-> next
[2012-09-24 14:00:48] - mig: no. ~a
[2012-09-24 13:10:55] - g: Continued math: Bottle of wine (13%*) = $15 retail. Federal tax: $0.21 , State excise tax: $4.14, state sales tax: $0.75. Total price: $15.75. Total tax: $5.10. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 13:07:46] - g: I can't do math today. The combined tax rate for beer is 13-14% depending on rounding, though it will also (because of the nature of the tax) fluctuate with quality. Lower priced (= lower quality?) goods will have a higher tax rate. Maybe you want wine though, given the bottle evidence of the poker nights... -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 13:03:23] - a: I understand the immediate visceral reaction against it, but I'm curious exactly which specific parts of it annoy people and how they draw the line between that and free speech. Although, considering your stance on the Chick-Fil-A being banned in cities issue, I guess I can figure out some of where you draw the line. -Paul
[2012-09-24 13:01:18] - a: I don't want to overwhelm you with stuff considering you are discussing things with Miguel and Xpovos, but I do think it would be interesting to discuss your opposition to Citizen's United at some point. -Paul
[2012-09-24 13:00:08] - a: Interesting. Tobacco seems obvious enough, but why are you for the reduction in consumption of alcohol? Or at least for the reduction of consumption from alcohol from an unknown arbitrary neutral point to the current point on the spectrum? -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 12:59:40] - mig: Nice. Although I think there were a few more things that made her crazy than her random thoughts on which schools were worth anything.
-Paul[2012-09-24 12:59:23] - a: so if states decided to allow gay marriage but add a surcharge for gay couples to get married, you'd be ok with that? - mig
[2012-09-24 12:58:55] - g: To do some of the math: When I buy a case of beer in Virginia and the beer is $1/bottle that $1 includes approximately $0.05 for the federal government and approximately $0.02 for the state government. I then pay $0.05 additional to the state government for sales tax. That yields a total tax rate of about 11%, maybe 12. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 12:52:51] - xpovos: both. i'm not against syntax. esp when you talk about other (currently illegal) drugs. g: i'm not positive, but i think so. ~a
[2012-09-24 12:51:54] - g: There are both federal and state excise taxes on alcohol. The taxes can be substantial. http://www.ttb.gov/tax_audit/atftaxes.shtml and http://www.tax-rates.org/virginia/excise-tax -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 12:42:01] - a: are there additional taxes on alcohol? I was under the impression that there were a ton of extra taxes on cigarettes but didnt realize the same applied to alcohol. ~g
[2012-09-24 12:39:02] - a: For revenue or for decreasing consumption (sin tax). -- Xpovos
[2012-09-24 12:37:53] - mig: some people are for removing taxes on tobacco and alcohol. i am not for that. ~a
[2012-09-24 12:17:56] - "for taxing of tobacco and alcohol" is there something missing in there? did you mean taxing marijuana like tobacco and alcohol or do you think the current taxes on tobacco and alcohol are not high enough? - mig
[2012-09-24 12:11:12] - a: thiose are certainly discussions worth having. - mig
[2012-09-24 12:09:15] - paul: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Justice-Thomas-criticizes-law-school-rankings-3883661.php i found this article to be very amusing, given our encounter with crazy opiniated lecture lady on the metro yesterday. - mig
[2012-09-24 12:07:13] - fear of voter fraud is like the fear of illegal immigrants: mostly based on unfounded fright. oppose the death penalty strongly. net neutrality favors small companies with small amounts of money. ~a
[2012-09-24 12:06:41] - anti sb 1070. for taxing of tobacco and alcohol. don't dismantle the epa. pro progressive income tax system. anti citizens united v. fec. money is not speech. companies are not citizens. ~a
[2012-09-24 12:06:00] - well lets talk about their policy positions. start with: i care about: a woman's right to choose her own reproductive health should be strongly protected at the federal level. marriage equity for homosexuals should be protected at the federal level. anti dadt. there are exceptions to the second amendment just like there are exceptions to the first amendment. ~a
[2012-09-24 09:23:21] - Cheating on taxes or being born overseas is obviously more serious, but as has already been mentioned, there doesn't appear to be any evidence that either is true right now. -Paul
[2012-09-24 09:22:28] - Sure, but I think some critical analysis of their policy positions is a better use of the media's time. Like Miguel said, in an election I would much rather hear about the differences between candidate's policy positions than what recent accidental slip of the tongue one of them made or whatever. -Paul
[2012-09-24 09:20:42] - Like Vinnie said, it reminds me of the birth certificate issue for Obama. Did Romney cheat on his taxes/was Obama born overseas? Maybe, but there doesn't appear to be any evidence. Should Romney/Obama produce paperwork to prove their "innocence"? I guess, but it seems kinda silly. Does it matter if Romney cheated/Obama was born overseas? -Paul
[2012-09-23 09:18:06] - policy positions and the results of those polices (in Obama's case) than whether they have a swiss bank account, were a prankster as a kid, or if they accidently ate a dog. - mig
[2012-09-23 09:17:22] - Anyways, all I'm really trying to say is that I care a hell of a lot more about a candidate
[2012-09-23 09:16:50] - You talk as if it's a rock solid fact that Romney has done something illegal, but there's nothing to really support that assertion. - mig
[2012-09-23 09:11:16] - a: well wrongs may be moot because as far as I know, Romney hasn't been proven to have done anything illegal either (I'm afraid I'm going to need a bit more evidence than wild speculation from a left-leaning news site). - mig
[2012-09-22 16:48:40] - i didn't know that two wrongs make a right. what's more, obama didn't cheat as far as you know. ~a
[2012-09-22 16:10:47] - also as paul pointed out we already entrust some tax cheaters to running aspects of the government (one of them is head of the treasury department!) - mig
[2012-09-22 16:09:23] - a: it ranks pretty low on my "I care"-o-meter. If such a candidate was running under a "increase taxes" platform I'd care a little bit more, because that's just plain hypocrtical. - mig
[2012-09-22 02:13:26] - mig: if the guy you're going to trust with running the government is illegally cheating on his taxes, you wouldn't want to know? ~a
[2012-09-21 23:06:51] - I'm still at a loss why I'm supposed to care? So Romeny *might* have money in a swiss bank account. Lots of people have money in swiss bank accounts. They're pretty popular internationally, especially if you do business abroad. - mig
[2012-09-21 20:51:22] - G'night everybody! Joe Biden on cheerleaders -- Xpovos
[2012-09-21 17:10:02] - Vinnie: I could see that, but after all the ruckus Warren Buffet has made, would the revelation that Mitt Romney doesn't pay "enough" taxes (whatever that means) sway any minds? -Paul
[2012-09-21 17:01:38] - it does feel like a bit like revenge for the birth certificate fiasco - vinnie
[2012-09-21 17:00:41] - I thought the whole tax kerfuffle was to show how low Romney's tax rate is to illustrate why the rich need to be taxed more, not to expose him as a cheat - vinnie
[2012-09-21 16:38:50] - it's past my bedtime. i sorry! ttyl. ~a
[2012-09-21 16:37:37] - a: Hmmm, ok. So I guess technically you only said that Audrey gave us reasons why we should care about Romney's tax returns. Would she care to venture any guesses why Obama cares about Romney's tax returns? -Paul
[2012-09-21 16:30:34] - when ~a
[2012-09-21 16:27:13] - a: I thought you were saying that is why Obama wants Romney to reveal his tax returns. -Paul
[2012-09-21 16:23:51] - "obama would be playing the tax cheat card" how is he playing the tax cheat card? ~a
[2012-09-21 16:23:15] - http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/21/pf/taxes/romney-tax-return/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 Either way, it sounds like Romney is pretty clean, unless I am missing something. -Paul
[2012-09-21 16:18:35] - a: I'm sure both sides cheat on their taxes about equally.
-Paul[2012-09-21 16:18:06] - a: But, yeah, Obama's administration has had a few taxes cheaters on it. I'm actually not trying to be partisan at all, it was just the first thing I thought of: how amusing it is that Obama would be playing the tax cheat card (with apparently no more evidence than the birthers had for Obama) when his own administration has had some high profile tax cheats. -Paul
[2012-09-21 16:16:21] - a: I guess it depends on your definition of "cover it up". Doesn't cheating on your taxes involve a certain amount of inherent covering up? -Paul
[2012-09-21 16:14:33] - then tried to cover it up? ~a
[2012-09-21 16:11:41] - they all cheated on their taxes? ~a
[2012-09-21 16:07:52] - a: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-4908247-503544.html So we should care because he might end up being like Timothy Geithner, Ron Kirk, Hilda Solis, Kathleen Sebelius or Tom Daschle?
-Paul[2012-09-21 15:42:26] - mig: why you're supposed to care about what's in Mitt Romney's tax returns (from audrey) ~a
[2012-09-21 15:40:42] - Xpovos: Yeah, I think there is a lot of confusion regarding federal income tax rates, marginal tax rates, payroll taxes, etc. Hell, I'll be honest, I hardly know the differences myself and couldn't even tell you what my tax rate is just for something like federal taxes. -Paul
[2012-09-21 14:52:35] - Included in that discussion were such gems as "If you're paying 30%+ marginal you're doing pretty well anyway" and "If you're paying 30%+ marginal, you're an iditot/you need a new tax attorney". So much of this is the simple realization that federal tax != taxes you paid. I have that conversation with European friends too who try to claim the U.S. is low tax -- Xpovos
[2012-09-21 14:50:47] - I was reading some message board where someone claimed to be paying a 30%+ marginal tax rate compared to Mitt's 13 or so. She was outraged. She was then completely schooled by the rest of the board about what the words she was using actually meant. Recalculate: 11. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-21 14:44:40] - xpovos: you also forgot "How dare he take deductions that I take myself without a second thought!" - mig
[2012-09-21 14:39:58] - mig: Other than "How dare Mitt Romney be rich", and "The tax code is unfair because Mitt Romney paid an on-the-face lower rate on his income than he would have if it weren't capital gains; let ignore the fact that capital gains are taxed on the business side too", no... not really. I guess maybe his charitable contributions to his church? -- Xpovos
[2012-09-21 14:30:07] - is there a particular reason I'm supposed to care about what's in Mitt Romney's tax returns, other than the fact that Harry Reid is a big fat liar? Is what is in those returns, like important or something? - mig
[2012-09-20 15:10:58] - a: But I'm entitled to whine!
-- Xpovos[2012-09-20 15:01:14] - i was able to get steam to work in wine, so quit your damn complaining
~a[2012-09-20 13:23:44] - But I know I'm a curmudgeonly old man who has always complained about the darned MyFace.
-Paul[2012-09-20 13:23:13] - It actually reminds me a lot like Facebook: I don't know why I need it for certain things. Lots of seemingly unrelated things want to interface with it. It knows stuff about me that I don't recall telling it. It's always asking me to sign-in/grant permissions/etc. I'm never entirely clear of the ramifications of my actions. -Paul
[2012-09-20 13:21:16] - mig: Hell, I'm playing a bit with steam now, and it's telling me I have friends online and I can view my friends list, but when I try, it asks me to create some sort of Steam ID with no option to skip it. It already knows who I am, I have an account, why do I need to setup another one? How does it even know who my "friends" are? -Paul
[2012-09-20 13:18:56] - mig: And it seems like every time I sign on, steam is downloading something new which isn't terribly obvious what it is. I think recently it downloaded some Half Life 2 Source thing (I haven't played Half Life 2 on PC for years, and never had on this particular PC). I don't recall it asking for permission, it just did it. -Paul
[2012-09-20 13:17:16] - mig: And for a while, whenever I would start up steam, it would tell me it had finished downloading Civ5 (a game which I hadn't bought through steam, I had a physical copy which I just needed to "activate" or whatever through steam). I had no idea if it was really downloading something or not. -Paul
[2012-09-20 13:16:04] - mig: Honestly, a large part of why I consider it to be unintuitive could be related to the problems I had playing games. When Civ5 kept crashing, steam kept insisting that I couldn't start it up again because it was currently running. Sometimes I had to restart steam itself. -Paul
[2012-09-20 12:59:36] - Impulse had the same problem and even the same core design: http://onelproductions.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AlganonImpulse.png but at least I found my games there. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:39:45] - Demos and videos are ads. Genres is a way of grouping other games I might want in with the games I own. Etc. I'm OK with that in principle. Go them for making a marketing tool. But I resent having to use a marketing tool to play games I purchase. Of course, I haven't really purchased them... I've purchased an open-ended license to play the game. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:38:27] - Of course what I mean to say, of course, is that my eyes first see the ads for other games and promotions they want me to buy or take part in. Then as I remember why I loaded the program in the first place, my eyes hunt upwards for the menu, and find... something that looks like a menu, but only serves to give me access to more ads. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:36:04] - Paul: I have not had the same experience I guess. -Daniel
[2012-09-20 12:35:58] - Occassionally I'll end up with a game that has an activation process outside of steam, and that's annoying to work through, of course, but I think for my most recent purchases once a game has been downloaded I just 2x-click and it goes. - mig
[2012-09-20 12:35:45] - Xpovos: Yeah its much more like a browser / web page than a traditional client based application, I can see that. -Daniel
[2012-09-20 12:34:57] - paul: /shrug. I'm not so sure what's confusing about that. Buying a game off steam doesn't seem any different to me than buying something off amazon. - mig
[2012-09-20 12:30:44] - Apparently Steam is skinnable. I may just need to find a functional skin. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:29:53] - Daniel: Sure, playing a game you already have installed through steam only adds one more step and isn't too unintuitive, but the actual installation/activation/purchase/downloading/whatever process is confusing, unintuitive and frankly, just plain annoying in my opinion. -Paul
[2012-09-20 12:29:16] - Sample image: http://www.michalwurm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Steam.jpg I see this and I see the 'sub menu' first. That's where the eye is drawn. So I'm looking for games in "Featured Items", "Genres", "Demos", "Videos", etc. "Library" is in a completely non-obvious location. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:27:37] - mig: I'd feel a lot better if there were genuine, you know, menus. IIRC part of my confusion was that the application was designed like a webpage, without any obvious menus, taking a page from modern MS minimalist design. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 12:23:53] - for example, the witcher 2's soundtrack is a bonus you get for buying the witcher 2, but if you want to access it, it's not available by right-clicking the game and seeing an "additional content" or whatever menu option, it's some weird obscure menu option on the main steam menus. - mig
[2012-09-20 12:22:44] - daniel: I wouldn't go as far as saying it's completely unintuitive, but there are a few minor annoyances, sometimes it flips between your library and the store a lot. Also getting some in-game bonuses that come with certain games is unbelievably obtuse. - mig
[2012-09-20 12:16:52] - I'm confused about the unituitive part? You click "Library" then double click the game. Is it the clicking "Library" part? -Daniel
[2012-09-20 12:15:55] - Also summer and winter steam sales are AWESOME. -Daniel
[2012-09-20 12:15:35] - I use Steam a lot. I have a bunch of games on there. I have a pretty high success rate and don't generally have issues using it. Sometimes if the game is old you have to get a user made patch or something but for the most part its solid. Sad when it goes down and you cant play things though. -Daniel
[2012-09-20 12:14:31] - Xpovos: I doubt it's related, but I've also bought a bunch of games either through steam or that required steam which I've been disappointed by (bought Witcher 2, played for about half an hour but got too bored with it and haven't gone back). -Paul
[2012-09-20 12:13:13] - Xpovos: I've had a ton of trouble with Steam. I agree that it's completely unintuitive to use, but I also had a lot of issues playing Civ5 (it kept crashing, among other things). I also had some issues with other games where it always seemed to have to download something and with games I had bought and downloaded on steam. -Paul
[2012-09-20 11:47:29] - aaron: It was a while back so I can't remember specifically what the problem was, but I remember thinking that a 'free' game was not worth this hassle. I'm not opposed to digital distribution and control models, Steam seems fine for that. I was a big proponent of Impulse; until Gamestop bought it and rebranded it. Instant uninstall. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 11:47:00] - aaron: some of those games aren't necessarily because of steam. I know more than a few people who had issues with ME1 on newer computers. I had issues with the first fallout game but I'm pretty sure it's because the game is just ass old and didn't like my newer video card. And Bethesda (Skyrim, Fallout 3) games crash a lot because ... it's Bethesda. - mig
[2012-09-20 11:42:14] - xpovos: the bigger the company and the newer the game, the more likely it should work though. i'm pretty surprised portal wouldn't work. - aaron
[2012-09-20 11:39:54] - xpovos: i would say i have about a 70% success rate with steam. mass effect 2 worked, mass effect 1 didn't. "world of goo" and "civ 5" worked mostly (although civ 5 crashed a lot) but "gish" didn't. it's kind of like PC gaming used to be back in the 1990s honestly, where sometimes you'll just buy a game that won't launch or will have weird compatibility issues - aaron
[2012-09-20 11:35:50] - xpovos: I believe I had issues at first, mostly with games I purchased in box-form that required steam. Games that I purchase directly with steam aren't much of a hassel to get running. - mig
[2012-09-20 11:32:40] - mig: No, I just couldn't figure out how to work the program. It seemed extremely obtuse for something that's just an interface between me and my games. I'm also wondering how much of the problem was trying to run it on an older machine. I haven't installed Steam on my new computer, and I was way past end of lifecycle on my last. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 11:30:17] - what exactly didn't work about steam? Like the actual steam application wouldn't install? - mig
[2012-09-20 11:29:45] - for EA games, anyways. - mig
[2012-09-20 11:29:34] - xpovos: well if not steam, you might be required to have origin soon enough. - mig
[2012-09-20 11:28:16] - xpovos: yes. - mig
[2012-09-20 11:28:13] - So I've given up and just avoided anything that requires it ever since, but we're coming to a point where that may no longer be a viable option (while still gaming). -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 11:27:44] - aaron: Interesting choice of words; 'cause that was actually my point--or at least a part of it. I avoided Civ5 because of the mandatory Steam bit. But mandatory Steam is gaining in popularity. I tried Steam. It sounded interesting. I couldn't get it to work. Then I tried again: they were going to give me Portal for free for installing. I couldn't get it to work.
[2012-09-20 11:23:39] - xpovos: yes, i was forced to use steam in order to play Civ 5. other than that and mass effect 2, i don't use it very much - aaron
[2012-09-20 11:04:37] - Do you people use Steam? -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 10:47:40] - xpovos: i still have S.E.S's last major album! "choose my life U". not bad! - aaron
[2012-09-20 10:46:57] - i like how if you want to get into the main part of the house - you have to go through the door that barely opens, crawl through a window, and climb over the bed in bedroom #1... - aaron
[2012-09-20 10:44:56] - http://i.imgur.com/sN8dj.jpg?1 "for school, i was asked to make the worst floor plan for a house possible. i got an A" - aaron
[2012-09-20 10:01:13] - vinnie: I forgot the parentheses I guess. Oh, well. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 09:47:06] - xpovos: sorry, didn't work. nice try though. S.E.S is cool - vinnie
[2012-09-20 09:32:32] - aaron: I'm highly amused as I visualize that scene. The last K-Pop I really paid any attention to was ... well let's see if I can do this... S.E.S._band. Definitely bubble-gum. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-20 09:27:30] - xpovos: there's a korean sub joint near me that plays gangnam style every other song... very weird... like gangnam style, then "boom boom pow", then gangnam style, then "tik tok", then gangnam style again.... i don't understand like, if they have a radio station that does this for them??? it's very random... - aaron
[2012-09-20 08:57:18] - I'm behind the curve again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 I found out about that from this http://soundcloud.com/xaeroseven/gangam-maybe -- Xpovos
[2012-09-19 16:25:23] - mig: hmm, people are still complaining aobut the resurrection timers? but yeah i'm still checking the d3 board - aaron
[2012-09-19 16:24:23] - this villain - aaron
[2012-09-19 16:24:08] - gosh i hope <a href="http://tvrefill.com/tag/spiderman/>this villain</a> makes it into the next spiderman movie... boing! - aaron
[2012-09-19 15:40:35] - mig: Amusing, but kind of the opposite of a genuine solution. That said, I love me some hardcore. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-19 14:53:04] - I'm not sure if anyone is paying attention to the diablo thread, so I'll post here. An amusing response to someone complaining about the current resurrection timers - "If you don't want to play with res timer, then play hardcore." - mig
[2012-09-19 14:22:41] - aaron: yeah i like how he breaks down the physics into something anybody can understand. ...while still explaining the assumptions and simplifications he uses. some of them are dumb, but at least half of them are super interesting. the gas mileage (bird poop) one is relevant to a conversation we were having last week. ~a
[2012-09-19 14:20:03] - one week left! woo ~a
[2012-09-19 11:37:41] - what would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? - aaron
[2012-09-19 11:35:02] - a: those what-if posts are great, i love the one about trying to hit a baseball thrown at 90% the speed of light - aaron
[2012-09-19 11:09:11] - Hee. "We're so high up that if we dropped a penny it's value would reduce to $0.009999975 by the time it landed." -- Xpovos
[2012-09-19 09:59:27] - for more on click and drag, here is a full page one. i also found a shrunken version, but i feel like that's a spoiler! ~a
[2012-09-19 09:52:30] - omfg, xkcd keeps getting cooler and cooler. click and drag . . . also what-if is up to 12 posts (i've only read the first three or four). ~a
[2012-09-18 17:57:02] - a/gurkie: I don't remember ever meeting Uyen. But I'm not surprised there was one or two representatives of the Catholic private school system at TJ. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-18 15:25:19] - http://imgur.com/a/v2sd1 there is a website (childsown.com) where you can send in a picture that your kid drew and they'll make a stuffed toy. fart! - aaron
[2012-09-18 14:48:38] - uyen went to virginia tech. ~a
[2012-09-18 14:28:45] - Daniel: I thought they were fun to read, I liked the story. I didnt find them particularly uplifting or moving... But I find the story captivating. ~g
[2012-09-18 14:28:05] - xpovos: I dont know if you ever met Uyen but I think that is where she went to school before TJ... They have a school there right? ~g
[2012-09-18 12:47:21] - g: she has a name, you know. ~a
[2012-09-18 12:35:24] - g: To finish answering your question, it'll be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-18 12:33:38] - g: Yes, it's a religious program, but honestly I get a lot of complaints about how tangential the religion is to the program from the religious types. It's more focused on preventing abuse at an organizational level, though, so that's the biggest drawback for training parents/individuals. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-18 12:02:07] - g: What did you like about them? I read them over the last week and can't think of to much positive to say about them. I think they had some powerful moments but overall seemed very negative and kind of a downer to read -Daniel
[2012-09-18 11:45:59] - a: all you need to do is get a job working with kids... according to someone we know. ~g
[2012-09-18 11:45:16] - xpovos: where in Herndon? is there a religious focus? ~g
[2012-09-18 11:44:38] - a: you made me laugh aloud... while in a meeting... GREAT. ~g
[2012-09-18 11:44:23] - Daniel: I really enjoyed them, and I know a lot of people who also did. ~g
[2012-09-18 11:18:44] - "I've trained enough people now that I'm pretty much statistically guaranteed to have trained a handful of abusers" wow, i hadn't considered that. ~a
[2012-09-18 10:35:02] - Daniel: I think Gurkie has read them all and liked them. -Paul
[2012-09-18 10:28:58] - Anyone here read the Hunger Games trilogy and liked them or have positive things to say about them? -Daniel
[2012-09-18 10:24:00] - The 99% vs 1%, now it's the 47% vs the 53%! Maybe Romney should have instituted the Obama cell phone policy for his fundraisers. - mig
[2012-09-18 09:44:16] - I've trained enough people now that I'm pretty much statistically guaranteed to have trained a handful of abusers. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-18 09:43:46] - a: It would tell you what not to do to avoid getting caught, sure, but at the same time the program is designed to stop what abusers do before they abuse; so ultimately no, it wouldn't help you. Because if you tried to stop doing what we teach about, you'd end up stopping your own (hypothetical) abuse patterns. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-18 09:42:48] - xpovos: should fate decide to stop fucking me over in terms of relationship prospects, I'll definitely keep it in mind. - mig
[2012-09-18 09:03:28] - a: well, it'll help you avoid the standard prevention techniques (I should stop, this is kind of not funny) - vinnie
[2012-09-18 02:39:05] - what if i want to become a child abuser. will your course help me with that? ~a
[2012-09-17 18:10:47] - Paul: The sessions are free, they take 4 hours and my next one is Saturday in Herndon at 1PM. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 17:38:24] - http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/09/a-letter-from-scared-actress.html?m=1 -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 17:14:25] - Xpovos: Where are your training sessions held and how long are they and how much do they cost? -Paul
[2012-09-17 16:05:21] - Paul: The prevention of child sexual abuse. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 16:00:18] - Xpovos: Training for what? -Paul
[2012-09-17 15:37:55] - mig: You should come to one of my training sessions someday. Actually, the probably applies to everyone, particularly the new and soon to be parents. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 15:31:55] - xpovos: very detailed. and most disturbing. - mig
[2012-09-17 13:53:49] - Just another day at the office: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/09/24/120924crat_atlarge_gladwell?currentPage=all -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 12:47:52] - mig: although i think it would be pretty funny if ABC had to stop airing modern family within 60 days of a presidential elections or whatever though
- aaron[2012-09-17 12:45:48] - mig: i don't think anybody on this message board believes either of those things - aaron
[2012-09-17 12:45:39] - "Right-leaning corporations funding advocacy ads is the end of democracy, but left-leaning organizations weaving government propaganda into their programming is A-OK
[2012-09-17 11:36:30] - Regardless of what caused those attacks (terrorism or bad film-making) , many people are dead now. There needs to be a just response. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 11:34:40] - a: Wow. That was more than I expected. To the point, I watched (some of) the film in question. It was horrible. More for production than the rest, and the rest was obviously bad too. I'm not convinced the film, as awful as it was, sparked the attacks. There's significant evidence this was pre-planned. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-17 11:27:51] - no one murdered because of this image. the onion. very nsfw. i was at camp bastion a few weeks ago. that's one of the many places there were attacks because of that horrible film. a bunch of people were killed. ~a
[2012-09-17 11:09:00] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-tangled-web-of-conflicting-rights/2012/09/14/95b787c2-fddc-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html New Mexico, which doesn't recognize same-sex marriage, is fining a wedding photographer for not photographing same sex "commitment ceremonies". -Paul
[2012-09-17 11:02:31] - Family,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and Univision telenovelas, weave the health care law into their plots." So, let me get this straight? Right-leaning corporations funding advocacy ads is the end of democracy, but left-leaning organizations weaving government propaganda into their programming is A-OK? - mig
[2012-09-17 11:01:05] - And Hollywood, an industry whose major players have been supportive of President Obama and his agenda, will be tapped. Plans are being discussed to pitch a reality television show about “the trials and tribulations of families living without medical coverage,” according to the Ogilvy plan. The exchange will also seek to have prime-time television shows, like “Modern..
[2012-09-17 11:00:01] - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/health/policy/california-tries-to-lead-way-on-health-law.html?_r=2pagewanted=all& a rather uninteresting article about PPACA and California, but this little bit raised my eyebrows ...
[2012-09-17 09:50:16] - Vinnie: Haha, I think you're right. Ever since Ireland, it's all been Carly Rae. Did I even say a word to you at Frisbee yesterday? I'll check out her album. Maybe Amazon will have one of those crazy MP3 deals on it.
-Paul[2012-09-17 09:34:43] - paul: I feel like all I talk to you about lately is carly rae jepsen but I heard her album and it was a lot better than I was expecting. might end up buying it. that song with owl city is actually one of the weaker tracks on it. the song they're going to release as her next single ("this kiss") is awesome and I've been listening to it a ton - vinnie
[2012-09-17 09:31:38] - a: yes thank you! - aaron
[2012-09-16 06:11:13] - "Left 4 Dead 2 is running at 315 FPS on Linux. That the Linux version runs faster than the Windows version (270.6) seems a little counter-intuitive, given the greater amount of time we have spent on the Windows version." valve ~a
[2012-09-14 15:46:15] - aaron: this one? ~a
[2012-09-14 14:26:22] - mig: I don't think judicial activism is ever "good". I think it was used for a good purpose a few times, but it's kind of like saying the ends justify the means. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 14:17:38] - Xpovos: Ah, ok. Gotcha. I wasn't entirely sure what you were saying, hence the "If you're saying..."
-Paul[2012-09-14 14:15:36] - xpovos: do you mean positive in the context of something like positive and negative rights, or positive in the sense that it's "good' judicial activism. - mig
[2012-09-14 14:10:36] - a: did you take down the photo with you guys solving rubiks cubes? i can't find it! - aaron
[2012-09-14 14:05:08] - Paul: I didn't say that. I agree with that, but it's a seperate issue. I was trying to clarify judicial activism, both positive and negative. If the Supreme Court were to issue a ruling insisting on a constitutional right to allow homosexuals to marry, that would be positive judicial activism. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 13:49:53] - Xpovos: If you're saying you don't necessarily see abortion as a constitutional right, I think I would agree with you. -Paul
[2012-09-14 13:26:55] - Motherfucker, did I really just throw three major typos into one post? Wow.
[2012-09-14 13:26:29] - mig: So are state laws prohibting abortion and interracial marraige. Oh. You meant "explicitly". Well, I marginally agree. Abolishing slaverly clearly required a constitutional amendment. There is less clearly a need for the other issues; and I'm on the losing side of that argument, historically. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 13:23:55] - xpovos: it isn't always necessary to have an amendment to have a judicial reinterpertation of an issue. The amendment to abolish slavery was required because slavery was sort of permitted in the original constitution. - mig
[2012-09-14 13:06:13] - a: It was, now it isn't. Just like before it was constitutional for a state to prohibit (all) abortions and now it isn't. At least when the opinion changed on slavery we got constitutional amendments. Three of them! (One direct, two indirect). -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 12:56:12] - xpovos: hmmm. ok. i'm pretty sure it's not constitutional for a state to make interracial marriage illegal though, right? ~a
[2012-09-14 11:59:02] - a: Yeah, I was confused because I thought he was pretty clearly strongly pro-gay marriage, but some of the quotes I read made it sound otherwise. -Paul
[2012-09-14 11:58:11] - a: The better analogy is the right of individuals to enter into free and mutually acceptable contracts; but that's not in the Constitution either. It too falls under the 10th Amendment, meaning the states can (and do) impose restrictions on those potential contracts. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 11:52:26] - how's it any different from civil rights? interracial marriage? how is it not an "obvious" analogy for civil rights or women's suffrage? i guess it all depends on if you consider it immoral? ~a
[2012-09-14 11:44:07] - a: Well, I'll admit to being surprised by his answer; not that he approves of it, but that he believes it's an obvious result of his basic premises. That doesn't mean I wouldn't vote for him though. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 11:27:10] - http://notalwaysright.com/canada-americas-hat-part-6-2/23389 ~g
[2012-09-14 11:25:36] - But all that said, there is reason to be annoyed at blizzard for not being upfront about this. But people crying about this like the ownedcore people erronously claiming that this hackers can somehow exploit this info is just downright idiotic. - mig
[2012-09-14 11:13:19] - xpovos: Well it'd be nice to know, sure. But I don't think it's anything worth bent out of shape, and it's certainly not as nefarious as the ownedcore attention whores are claiming it to be. - mig
[2012-09-14 11:12:23] - "So it sounds like we misconstrued some of his earlier statements about gay marriage" that was exactly what i was arguing. he was pretty clearly pro-gay-marriage everywhere in the US. ~a
[2012-09-14 11:06:17] - I'm now interested in trying to decode my own screenshot watermarks myself to find out for sure. - mig
[2012-09-14 11:05:02] - replacing the username. So if it's that old username (accounts created now apparently have a "username" that is unknown to them), it appears the account Id ownedcore mentions is the third type i mentioned: something that blizzard can x-ref with their own data to identify the account of the screenshot taker. So, in otherword, something useless to any hacker. - mig
[2012-09-14 11:02:55] - ah, looking at the /. comments, some insight! So, if the comments are to be believed, this "username" is not your email. A long time ago, WoW had usernames rather than using the email as a login. Around the time of Starcraft 2's release, they started the whole RealID thing and require all older wow accounts to turn into battle.net accounts (with your email ....
[2012-09-14 11:00:22] - mig: It's one reason I run multiple e-mail addresses. One for friends, one for companies, etc. But it's definitely different for other people. I think it's underhanded. If there's nothing to be concerned about, it should be public knowledge. If obfuscation is necessary for security, it's not very secure. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 10:53:46] - I will admit though, I'm not too concerned about unsavory individuals knowing my email through this mostly because I'm fairly certain that they already know my email to begin with anyways. If you are super protective of your email address I can see reason to possibly be annoyed. - mig
[2012-09-14 10:47:14] - They talked about this on a gaming webshow I was watching yesterday and someone who's been in a few WoW closed betas mentioned that isn't even news and thought it was common knowledge that this was how Blizzard is able to find out if people break NDAs in their alpha/early beta releeases. - mig
[2012-09-14 10:42:26] - xpovos: even if it was the actual login id (and it's still not clear exactly from the ownedcore writeup what exactly is there; your email? battletag? some id that can be easily x-ref'd by blizz? they don't say), I still find no reason to care about this in the slightest. - mig
[2012-09-14 10:32:22] - mig: Username seems like the big one. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 10:32:10] - "we have all been publicly sharing our account and realm information for hackers to decode and exploit." That is an absolutely laughable statement to make, but that's to be expected when you combine anti-blizzard zealotry with slashdot's editorializing. - mig
[2012-09-14 10:30:44] - xpovos: i heard about this a few days ago, and read what information could be obtained from the watermark, and am trying to figure out exactly why I'm supposed to care about this. - mig
[2012-09-14 10:22:42] - http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/09/11/149228/activision-blizzard-secretly-watermarking-world-of-warcraft-users -- Xpovos
[2012-09-14 10:16:20] - So it sounds like we misconstrued some of his earlier statements about gay marriage. -Paul
[2012-09-14 10:16:00] - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/14/gary-johnson-thinks-mitt-romney-is-out-to-get-him.html "On marriage equality, Johnson is progressive, saying it’s 'a constitutionally guaranteed right.'... 'In my estimation, marriage equality is on par with civil rights in the 1960s.'" -Paul
[2012-09-14 09:41:04] - mig: I was not in love with the Kindle Fire, I felt like their are too many limitations on it. I know the new one should be better... I didnt like that I couldnt install things from google play only from the amazon app store, and I didnt see an easy way to transfer media to it. Then again I really didnt give it much of a chance. ~g
[2012-09-14 09:02:50] - http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/everything-you-need-know-about-the-wii-u/ info on the wii-u. I was completely unaware it's coming out in a few months, but I think i'll pass on a nintendo system for this gen probably. - mig
[2012-09-13 23:10:55] - mig: This link came up randomly in a Facebook conversation tonight. Might be useful for you. http://kindleebooks.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/kindle-user-statistics/ -- Xpovos
[2012-09-13 16:29:21] - I'm also assuming she's choosing between a Fire 2 HD (9 inch) and the "new" iPad (3). That's probably the best comparison. Adding in more options really clouds the discussion fast. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-13 16:28:23] - The Fire 2 will be cheaper than an iPad 2 probably, unless she goes for the 4G version. Netflix is available on both devices; Amazon only on the Kindle, but I might be wrong there, and it could easily change in the future. The iPad has a bigger/better display. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-13 16:26:07] - mig: I don't have much input on Kindle Fire vs iPad, but I do use a tablet to sometimes watch Netflix. It's a fire-sale HP Touchpad that I installed Android on. It works well enough and I believe the Touchpad has similar specs to the iPad 2. If all she is interested in is Netflix, maybe she could find an old iPad2 for cheap which should do the job fine. -Paul
[2012-09-13 16:02:12] - has no preference between the 2. I don't really have a tablet device nor am I particularly knowledgable about them, so i figure i'd throw it out here, given that some of you do actually use those type of devices. - mig
[2012-09-13 16:01:00] - My sister asked me a question I could not help her answer this week, but I think some people on this board may be better equipped to answer. She's debating between the iPad and the new model of the Kindle Fire when it comes out. She reads occasionally, but is more interested in tv/show movie streaming. She has both Netflix and Amazon Prime as streaming services but
[2012-09-13 15:49:59] - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57512267-71/kimmel-fools-people-into-believing-iphone-4s-is-iphone-5/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=readMore Reality distortion effect still in place despite Steve Jobs' death? -Paul
[2012-09-13 15:14:08] - aaron: Between "toast is crunchy" and "this laundry is cranked to 11" I'm sure that means something.
[2012-09-13 14:58:21] - "i vote for toast"? - aaron
[2012-09-13 14:45:19] - it's not a stash. i hold bitcoin for the spending. ~a
[2012-09-13 14:11:28] - Xpovos: I guess that's good for Adrian's stash of bitcoins.
-Paul[2012-09-13 12:52:41] - More stimulus and quantitative easing on the horizon. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 17:00:44] - http://www.examiner.com/article/new-cnn-poll-includes-johnson-stein-still-no-goode Not sure how accurate this is (I couldn't find any confirmation with some brief google searching), but it sounds like CNN might be including some third parties in their presidential polling and apparently Gary Johnson is polling at 4%. -Paul
[2012-09-12 14:29:04] - aaron: I don't browse with addons, save FlashControl these days to stop autoplaying video or sound when I load a page in the background. I'm not surprised noscript solves the issue. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 14:24:56] - Do not feed the pandas. They will become irritable if you don't come back with food the next time
[2012-09-12 14:22:44] - xpovos: i don't understand, is this the chicagotribune article? it's working fine for me with firefox/adblock/noscript - aaron
[2012-09-12 13:04:54] - Hmm. If you click through from the RCP website it works. But I don't see anything in the source that would allow it, which means it's probably a referral thing, so no-script fails? The article is 'Teacher's Union Monopoly Fails Kids'. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 12:54:21] - xpovos: yeah, i'm completely locked out of the article. - mig
[2012-09-12 12:35:16] - Hmm, that may be bad, I clicked on my own link and got the paywall all over again, even for page 1. That's less good, technologically. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 12:34:15] - mig: I agree, but was actually somewhat impressed on a technological side at least. I'm sure bugmenot has some account for it, though. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 12:30:15] - xpovos: that is one really annoying paywall. - mig
[2012-09-12 12:26:57] - Only page one appears to be viewable online without a subscription: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0912-20120912,0,7953919.column "Real" school isn't in session in Chicago. "Unreal" school goes right on learning. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 12:02:48] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/notre-dame-acc-football-not-included-football-acc-141820042--ncaaf.html Notre Dame joins the ACC, sort of. All sports except football will be in, has an arrangement to play at least 5 ACC schools in football every year. Expect a VT-ND matchup in a few years. - mig
[2012-09-12 11:43:55] - that a future congress won't just bring it back. I guess my worry would be that while consumption tax advocates want their tax to replace the income tax, that if they push hard enough, congress may just use a consumption tax as a supplement to the income tax, not a replacement, promising to either roll back or abolish the income tax later, but never doing so. - mig
[2012-09-12 11:41:17] - The other thing that makes me wary of consumption taxes is that I'm not sure the income tax would actually go away. In order to make sure that it completely goes away you'd have to add a new constitutional amendment to make sure the 16th is repealed with language stating the government can no longer tax income on a federal level. Otherwise you have no guarentee...
[2012-09-12 11:35:49] - but since you asked about big ticket items, the answers are pretty obvious for me. Make national defense actually a national defense instead of an natinoal offense. And reform SS and medicare to actually be safety-net programs for the unfortunate and not so well off rather than free handouts to everybody over the retirement age. - mig
[2012-09-12 11:31:36] - a: while from an idealistic perspective, I'd prefer to abolish all taxes, from a pragmatic stance I'd much prefer to simplify the current tax code (remove all special intereset loopholes, social engineering deductions, etc) and lower rates across the board than to instituting a new and overly complicated consumption tax. - mig
[2012-09-12 11:21:41] - "I'm wary of really any sort of consumption tax." how do we pay for the big-ticket federal things we've got going like national defense, and social security, and medicare, etc? ~a
[2012-09-12 10:29:39] - a: maybe. he's Pro-EPA in the sense that he believes the agency should still exist (probably a point of contention amongst libertarians). But I wouldn't take that to mean he approves of everything its currently doing right now. - mig
[2012-09-12 10:18:19] - At first I thought one advantage would have been it would politically difficult to arbitrarily raise taxes once they were set, but I'm not even sure of that anymore. - mig
[2012-09-12 10:17:07] - I'm wary of really any sort of consumption tax. I just don't see how it won't turn into the same clusterfuck that our current income tax system is now. - mig
[2012-09-12 09:47:13] - http://www.navytimes.com/mobile/news/2012/09/navy-russian-warships-displayed-dnc-veterans-tribute-091112 AWESOME! -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 09:34:40] - aaron: Marriage does mean different things to us. Genetics absolutely factors in. But that's why it's so important to fix the real problems without trying to change the definition of a long-established word. Even though changing the definition seems like the 'simpler' option. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 09:28:29] - xpovos: it seems like you're saying lifestyle or genetics should factor into someone's right to marry, and that the government should encourage that, and that's really really weird to me, but i guess marriage means different things to us - aaron
[2012-09-12 09:20:39] - aaron: And I also share your concerns about the Fair Tax. I think it does have it's advantages (and is probably better than what we have now), but it also has a lot of issues too. -Paul
[2012-09-12 09:18:39] - aaron: Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of a few of those quotes. From everything I've read, he supports gay marriage fairly strongly and I haven't read anything from him indicating he sees it primarily as a constitutional or states rights thing. -Paul
[2012-09-12 09:05:54] - It's not an argument worth having, really, but saying homosexuals can't marry doesn't imply they're not equal. Just that their lifestyle and/or genetics limits them, as it does all of us. The equality and fairness issues surrounding it (medical care, spousal benefits, end of life issues, adoption, etc.) are complicated but can be solved. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 09:03:54] - a: Right, that's the Declaration of Independence. I'd accept that as a source, though. I think the definition issue is with equality. Michael Jordan and I are equals, because we are both men (Hilary Clinton and I are equals too, men species, not sex). But I can't dunk, I am limited by my lifestyle and genetics. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 08:27:05] - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9y1qr0qVp1r8x6rbo1_1280.jpg best headline? or bestest headline - aaron
[2012-09-12 07:55:16] - "all men are created equal" is pretty general. though, i guess that's not in the constitution. ~a
[2012-09-12 07:52:14] - which sources? the constitution? ~a
[2012-09-12 07:30:35] - a: I don't think you're misinterpreting, but I don't know how Johnson came to that conclusion from the sources he's claiming. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-12 05:46:22] - he's also pro-epa? this guy speaks to me. ~a
[2012-09-12 05:45:34] - "I believe marriage equality is a constitutionally guaranteed right. Leave it to the states and nothing changes." it's pretty clear he's against leaving it to the states here. he wants equity legislated at the federal level. am i misinterpreting? ~a
[2012-09-12 03:14:01] - xpovos: "constitutionally guaranteed right" and it's a "state issue" seem contradictory. "carefully crafted" seems a little loose. ~a
[2012-09-11 19:14:01] - Reading the quote though, he said, "leave it to the states [and] nothing happens". That's pretty clearly indicating that it's not a 10th Amendment Issue, then. I dunno where he's coming from. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-11 19:06:54] - aaron: I'm guessing he's implying it's a 10th Amendment Issue, which would still make it both constitutionally guaranteed and a state issue. Might be carefully crafted for the audience. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-11 18:04:24] - paul: but i really liked his other answers -- except for his answers regarding the fair tax, which i'm still unconvinced on - aaron
[2012-09-11 17:56:05] - paul: some great answers, i was confused by his answer that "marriage equality is a constitutionally guaranteed right" which seems to contradict my impression that he thought it was a state issue... but maybe i was just wrong about this - aaron
[2012-09-11 17:49:38] - http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/zq0ow/i_am_gov_gary_johnson_the_libertarian_candidate/ For those that forgot, here is Gary Johnson's AMA on reddit from today. -Paul
[2012-09-11 16:06:27] - a: very good! solving 4x4 require some very lengthy and unintuitive parity algorithms ([(Uu)']2 [(Ll)']2 (U')2 ([(Ll)']2 L2) (U')2 [(Ll)']2 [(Uu)']2 (R U') (L U2) (R' U R) (L' U' L) U2 (R' U L') (U)?! no thanks) the girl i know who solves 4x4s doesn't even memorize them, just keeps them written down - aa
[2012-09-11 15:53:55] - aaron: haha, yeah i haven't gotten much slower. most of my times are 60-69 seconds. most of the people here are 2+ minute and they use the layer. here's the interesting part though: a few of them have 4x and 5x cubes. and some of them can solve them. ~a
[2012-09-11 15:38:07] - Man... that was 6+ years ago? Amazing. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-11 15:37:29] - Paul: He definitely was a diagonal mover. He was there to help with confirmations, since I left that bit of the story out the previous time. He saw the cube, and in his thick accent asked "can you solve this?" (it was solved) "Yes". "How long?" "3-5 minutes". He shuffles it, then looks at me and said, "Go." Heh. -- Xpovos
[2012-09-11 15:25:39] - Xpovos: Did he only move diagonally or was he a poser? -Paul
[2012-09-11 14:46:01] - Still my favorite cube story: http://aporter.org/msg/?action=prev&prev=75250#75446 -- Xpovos
prev <-> next