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[2013-05-14 11:01:50] - so I guess from what I'm hearing I should be glad I didn't bother with linked in? - mig
[2013-05-14 11:01:33] - a: I'm pretty sure that's just a result of a simple program trying to perform a more complex task than it can really handle. Simple version is: check e-mail address, if !exists in database, send invitation e-mail; return;. More complicated checks would include: has this person sent an email to this account or only received? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 10:48:56] - i'm pretty sure my mom even invited people not in her email list somehow. i guess it invited friends-of-friends somehow? one of my coworkers even "invited" a mailing list! wtf?! stupid linkedin: he obviously didn't intentionally invite the mailing list. later, linkedin sent to the mailing list: "This is a reminder that ... sent you an invitation..."! ~a
[2013-05-14 10:43:16] - thankfully, my gmail account has been insulated from most of this crap. - mig
[2013-05-14 10:42:58] - I've gotten random invitations on my vt account from time to time, but it's only sporadic. - mig
[2013-05-14 10:40:49] - a: Yikes! Those are pretty bad outcomes. Though I don't know why someone would not want to be connected via LinkedIn. It's not like FB. Unless they're overtly using it as a job hunt tool and don't want the boss to see? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 10:40:07] - a: Do you know how it happened? I know I almost accidentally told it to invite everybody in my gmail address book once, but I don't think it did. -Paul
[2013-05-14 10:39:38] - a: It tried, but I'm pretty sure I managed to avoid it. However, having gone through the process, I felt a little more sympathy to all the e-mails I got that I considered as spam from Linkedin people previously. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-14 10:38:05] - from here my mom has a similar story where she somehow accidentally invited a bunch of people. two of my coworkers have sent me invitations, then had to do the worst: admit that they didn't mean to invite me (and others) to be connected. ~a
[2013-05-14 10:37:00] - "There appears to be a fine print option that many people are not aware of, ...automatically triggers invitations to everyone...professional people have unknowingly sent invitations to felons, people they don't like, and others, and it can be extremely embarrassing" ~a
[2013-05-14 10:31:06] - yeah, linked in is horrible in that respect. did you happen to send tons of people you didn't mean to a linked in request? because i've heard that story from three different people. ~a
[2013-05-14 10:20:53] - If I pinged anyone multiple times as I'm setting up my Linkedin account, I apologize. The interface wasn't acting like I thought it was initially. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-13 16:51:39] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTfBH-XFdSc "Honest Trailer" for the Star Trek reboot. Basically pointing out some humorous issues with the movie. I thought it was pretty funny both as somebody who enjoyed the movie AND was bothered by some things that made no sense. -Paul
[2013-05-13 16:24:38] - Paul: The second baseman leaping over those two is my choice bit. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-13 15:56:57] - Xpovos: Haha! I think the best part is when the first baseman and the pitcher run into each other while trying to pick up the ball. -Paul
[2013-05-13 15:56:45] - Both of those plays are ridiculous. Go 'Stros! -Daniel
[2013-05-13 15:39:38] - mig: I still think this is worse. http://www.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=28033182&content_id=23685139&c_id=was . Dang... it was the Astros. Almost feel sorry for them. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-13 15:28:26] - mig: Too much sunscreen and rosin... -- Xpovos
[2013-05-13 15:25:17] - xpovos: i remember soemtime last year you hightling the play of the Houston Astros on FB and excaliming "This is professional baseball?". Looks like they might have on-uped that display from last year. - mig
[2013-05-13 15:15:17] - And it's not like I can really "short" the federal government or central bank.
-Paul[2013-05-13 15:14:59] - http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/11/college-debt-bubble-looks-like-housing-bubble/2151555/ I really wish I could find a way to profit from what I am sure if a growing college debt bubble. I'm worried there might not be, though, because "most of it is held not by financial institutions but by the federal government". -Paul
[2013-05-13 14:55:37] - mig: I don't even know if I think it's that noticeable. Like ~a said, I think part of it is an attempt to make her older (she seemed like she was supposed to be young in the movie) and like Xpovos said, I think another part if the transition from 3D to 2D. -Paul
[2013-05-13 13:59:57] - It's definitely a noticeable difference, not sure how drastic it is. However, I can definitely see what it might rile people up. - mig
[2013-05-13 13:41:00] - The face is off and she's more obviously "hippy"... or hippier(?) not sure how that gets worded. I think the biggest changes are the hue lightening and from 3D to 2D, both of which I dislike. I don't understand the flap, but I'm not a woman. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-13 13:21:18] - hasn't she just gotten older? ~a
[2013-05-13 13:08:51] - http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/12/fired-brave-director-slams-disney-over-merida-makeover I'm not entirely sure I see the big difference between the original Merida and the new one. Sure, she's a little skinnier and has a fancier dress, but she looks to be mostly the same character to me. -Paul
[2013-05-13 12:58:27] - a: It's a shame, too, because I actually liked the whole story line where Jim realized he was wasting his life at Dunder Mifflin and thought he could move onto bigger and better things. It was actually almost a little inspiring.
-Paul[2013-05-13 12:57:19] - a: I kinda agree that they'll probably let him have his cake and eat it too, but I'll be disappointed if they have some sort of cop out considering how they used the situation to cause all the drama this season. -Paul
[2013-05-13 12:52:28] - yeah, i guess i doubt everybody will get a happy ending. but for jim, the message won't be so negative (i'm hoping). ~a
[2013-05-13 12:50:41] - a: I suppose it's possible they'll give us a happy ending for Jim and Andy like they did with Dwight, but it goes against the whole tone of the season in general and last few episodes in specific. -Paul
[2013-05-13 12:41:32] - i've only seen 3 or 4 episodes this season -- i didn't realize the finale was this week, i'll have to make sure to catch it - aaron
[2013-05-13 12:32:37] - paul: about the message though: i disagree with your takeaway. i strongly believe that things will change in the last episode. my guess: we'll find out that jim decides to go back on his decision. (i'm trying to be vague to avoid spoilers, though i doubt that anybody will go back and watch the end of the office since it blows so much). ~a
[2013-05-13 12:32:28] - a: I could have a low bar, though, since I actually enjoy a lot of half hour comedies like How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, New Girl, etc. -Paul
[2013-05-13 12:31:33] - a: I'll agree there have been some episodes (and plotlines) that have really been mediocre, and even their high points aren't nearly as high as before, but I still enjoy it. -Paul
[2013-05-13 12:29:40] - when they lost all of their writers, the story arcs and plots all fell apart into a jumbled mess of suck. ~a
[2013-05-13 12:28:55] - i wish i wasn't still watching the office. when they (last episode) had a bunch of flashbacks to older episodes, i was reminding myself: this show used to not suck. ~a
[2013-05-13 11:24:50] - Daniel: Well, the next episode is the last episode (ever), but it's supposed to be 6 months down the line, so I suppose anything could happen. -Paul
[2013-05-13 11:23:33] - Paul: I don't watch the Office but that does seem like a sad takeaway. Maybe you are just in the Empire Strikes Back part of the story arc but it will get to the Return of the Jedi part soon? Or is it already over? In that case its a bummer. -Daniel
[2013-05-13 11:18:18] - Not sure if anybody here is still watching the Office, but I find it a little interesting that in it's last season, the overwhelming message seems to be that taking a leap at advancing your career beyond a sub-par job working at a crappy paper company is a mistake. -Paul
[2013-05-13 10:04:55] - a: well yeah, but that would be an example, of a hollywood director trying to remedy the problem you cited, wouldn't it? - mig
[2013-05-10 15:00:55] - mig: "didn't Peter Jackson risk fan ire by making the female characters of LotR more prominent and important (because it wasn't true to the source material)?" the ire of the predominantly male fan-base? ~a
[2013-05-10 14:59:09] - g: The problem with LotR is that the fellowship is such a sausage fest, and most of the movie revolves around them. -Paul
[2013-05-10 14:17:02] - Also, I was surprised by LotR and dissappointed in Star Wars. It is shocking to me that the original trilogy only had 3 named female characters. Considering Aunt Beru died off pretty quckly and Mon Mothma was barely in them.... ~g
[2013-05-10 14:16:06] - As a female I find it interesting that Hollywood apparently just thinks we talk about men, shoes, and shopping
~g[2013-05-10 11:24:54] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/filomena-tobias-angry-heat-fan-gave-joakim-noah-183142849.html at the bulls/heat gave some lady gave Joakim Noah the finger as he left he building after being ejected. Apparently, she is a very crazy lady. - mig
[2013-05-09 13:22:57] - I'm reminded of the kerfuffle when Obama commented on Kamala Harris' looks. I didn't think there was anything really wrong with that, although I fully admit it would be a little weird if she had mentioned that Obama was the best looking president in the world or something. -Paul
[2013-05-09 13:20:46] - Is it wrong to think to yourself that a female tech writer is cute? A male tech writer? How about note it in the comment section? Is it ironic that the writer "blogs intermittently at Sexy Videogameland"? -Paul
[2013-05-09 13:19:09] - aaron: Honestly, I think things like objectify a male tech writer day do more to bring up interesting discussions of gender bias than this, though. -Paul
[2013-05-09 13:09:34] - aaron: Yeah, I think I would agree with that. The LotR movies were the surprise to me. -Paul
[2013-05-09 13:05:28] - paul: to me, it's just something funny which i wouldn't have thought about otherwise. like how people never say "goodbye" during phone calls. it's just funny to think back to movies i've seen which i thought had a good female presence (the matrix, avatar) and to realize that the women don't interact with eachother very often - aaron
[2013-05-09 13:00:09] - I guess I'm kind of with Miguel on this one. It's a little interesting to talk about, but I'm not sure how meaningful it is beyond telling us which movies have two named female charcters who have a conversation about something other than a man. -Paul
[2013-05-09 12:49:46] - BMI is so beyond unscientific and flawed that the fact anyone still uses it for any meaningful purpose makes me sad. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:44:26] - How about number of females on the movie poster relative to the number of males?
-Paul[2013-05-09 12:44:21] - daniel: don't get me started on BMI. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:42:07] - Its like BMI, you don't use it to judge if one person is healthy or not but if an entire countries BMI is rising or falling it can indicate a change in overall health. -Daniel
[2013-05-09 12:38:25] - a: I think the issue is too complex to just take one criteria and try to make general judgements based on it. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:28:46] - And didn't Peter Jackson risk fan ire by making the female characters of LotR more prominent and important (because it wasn't true to the source material)? - mig
[2013-05-09 12:27:06] - a: That specific problem you are talking about goes deeper than movies, considering the vast majority of which draw from some sort of source material. I mean there's some liberities taken with translating a story into a movie, but is the solution to do something like change Batman's gender, for example? - mig
[2013-05-09 12:18:11] - a: it doesn't at all. Lola is very obviously the main character in Run Lola Run, yet it fails the test. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:16:07] - mig: i think having women as the side-characters in a movie is too commonplace. this criteria attempts to quantify that. what better criteria would we use? ~a
[2013-05-09 12:14:31] - Aaron: Does it have two Asian characters who do something other than martial arts? -Paul
[2013-05-09 12:14:20] - I think i would rather be concerned about the overall potrayal (presence is a factor, but there's more to it than that) of women in movies, rather than an arbitrary criteria that really doesn't tell me anything meanigful about a given movie. Though if it really just was meant to be a conversation starter, I suppose it's succeeded at that at least. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:13:56] - aaron: I had never heard of it before, but it sounds like something that can be expanded. Reminds me of the discussion on the message board before about Asians as main characters in movies. -Paul
[2013-05-09 12:07:03] - daniel: maybe, but again, I think that rationale is still being too simplisitc. - mig
[2013-05-09 12:02:54] - mig: Right which is why people I've seen talk about it say its not a good way to evaluate any given movie but applied over all it shows a lack of women's presence is movies vs men. That seems reasonable to me. -Daniel
[2013-05-09 12:02:42] - I just have never heard the rationale for why the criteria they chose actually is meaningful, aside from the fact that they can apply it to a lot of movies. - mig
[2013-05-09 11:56:16] - I mean, it's just a lazy substitute for actual meaningful analysis. I mean, so if they spend 30 seconds about shopping the movie passes, and that's somehow ... positive? - mig
[2013-05-09 11:50:14] - and his daughter was actually a fairly major part of the movie, and I thought it was a pretty positive portrayal of a female character, but that received absolutely no mention from the reviewer. - mig
[2013-05-09 11:49:28] - I think it lost any sort of credibility for me when I saw a video of someone trying to apply it to a group of movies. One of those movies that stuck out to me was Moneyball. Leaving aside that it was about the business of baseball, and a random scene of two women talking about anything would be just weird and out of place, but the relationship between Billy Beane
[2013-05-09 11:47:24] - daniel: I don't really buy that theory either. - mig
[2013-05-09 11:44:58] - I'm familiar with it, not sure where I first heard about it. I've seen people say its not a very good measure for a single movie but that its telling to look across all movies and see how many pass v fail. -Daniel
[2013-05-09 11:40:18] - aaron: I've heard of it, but I don't put much stock in that whether a movie passes or fails it means anything. - mig
[2013-05-09 11:35:15] - http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-famous-films-that-surprisingly-fail-the-bechdel-test.php did you guys ever heard of the bechdel test? for a film to pass the bechdel test, it has to have two named female charcters who have a conversation about something other than a man... - aaron
[2013-05-09 11:19:32] - I think Shaq is entertaining in a more comedy / wacky kind of way which doesn't fit as well for me in a half time / pre game / post game show. Maybe if he had random clips they played during sports center or something it would work better for me. -Daniel
[2013-05-09 11:18:15] - daniel: It's kind of strange, because I'm normally of a fan of Shaq being Shaq, but it just doesn't work in conjunction with Barkley. - mig
[2013-05-09 11:18:14] - TNT crew w/o Shaq is good, Webber has been growing on me. I like Kerr. JVG sometimes but sometimes he goes on rants and I'm disinterested. Hubie isn't my favorite. I like Fratello. Miller is alright. Hmm what other big announcers are there? -Daniel
[2013-05-09 11:12:47] - Race issues aside I'm not a big fan of Shaq on tv. Hopefully whenever his contract ends (or sooner) they don't bring him back. -Daniel
[2013-05-09 10:55:28] - a: Am I missing something, then? Is there some kind of correlation between saying you are bringing a "white man's perspective" and joking about oppressing other people? -Paul
[2013-05-09 10:49:33] - paul: from what I'm reading (haven't seen a clip or anything), yeah, that was pretty much it. - mig
[2013-05-09 10:45:46] - mig: So, I hadn't heard anything about his remarks until now. Is the only thing he did was mention that he was on the panel to bring a "white man's perspective"? -Paul
[2013-05-09 10:25:36] - a: Gottlieb's quip wasn't really about anything really to do with slavery or oppression, really, just a quip about how there's not many whites in the NBA, hence the "white man's perspecitve" jab. - mig
[2013-05-09 10:19:28] - lol: microsoft's most profitable mobile operating system: android. ~a
[2013-05-09 10:10:05] - this isn't a double standard. you want to joke about being oppressed and being treated as property or being bought and sold: that's ok. you want to joke about being an oppressor and treating humans as property and buying and selling them: that's in poor taste. ~a
[2013-05-09 10:08:33] - Also it seems that Shaq has sucked all the funny out of Charles Barkley, for which I am sad. - mig
[2013-05-09 10:08:29] - that's not weird at all. ~a
[2013-05-09 10:07:41] - It's just weird, that slavery jokes are ok, but someone talking about "The White Man's perspective" is somehow out of bounds. - mig
[2013-05-09 10:06:26] - you'd be doing this to us all day" (paraphrasing a bit there). I was a little perplexed, because I remember the whole outrage that went on with Doug Gottlieb giving his "White Man's perspective". Not that I'm offended, but just surprised that not only it didn't raise any eyebrows, but the cracking whip thing is actually a recurring thing. - mig
[2013-05-09 10:04:55] - so I haven't been paying too much attention to the nba playoffs until recently. So I was watching the half time of the Bulls/Heat game, Shaq was getting unbelievably obnoxious while Ernie Johnson was talking, and he finally told him to shut up, and right afterwords there was a loud cracking whip sound. To which Barkley replied "Thank god for Abe Lincoln, otherwise
[2013-05-08 23:11:14] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ighs0QHK4Tg is seinfeld really a show about nothing? - mig
[2013-05-08 12:47:08] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lVIGhYMwRgs Not sure how I never noticed how ridiculously Riker sits down (and sometimes stands up!). -Paul
[2013-05-08 11:02:36] - paul: with all the "alternative medicines" that people have come up with I wouldn't be shocked by it. - mig
[2013-05-08 10:39:16] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mike-trout-fish-hats-los-angeles-angels-giving-173758749.html i kind of get it, but wouldn't this get confused with a Marlins hat? - mig
[2013-05-08 09:52:17] - It's called Radiation Hormesis -Paul
[2013-05-08 09:48:38] - http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller12.html I had no idea that there is a theory (with some evidence to back it up) that low levels of radiation exposure might actually improve health. -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:19:23] - a: Hmmm, ok. Then I guess I'm not sure what period of time you're thinking of where they really had a spine because I felt like their high-water mark for spine possessing in recent history was the debt ceiling stand-off, where they still eventually caved. -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:14:12] - though i'm not sure if sequester counts for a dem victory. ~a
[2013-05-07 10:13:52] - sure. maybe get rid of the word "very"? ~a
[2013-05-07 10:10:44] - a: Does stuff like the debt ceiling and sequester count as very recently? -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:09:28] - a: And that's honestly only counting things like the sequester and defeating gun control bills as victories, when they're really just avoiding defeat. -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:09:08] - that's why i said "until very recently" ~a
[2013-05-07 10:05:46] - I know liberals are pretty annoyed that the Republicans haven't rolled over more, but if there was a scorecard, I think Obama would be winning by a ratio of like 3-1 if not higher. -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:04:45] - with the sequester, even with those decreases in future spending, it wasn't something the Republicans actually wanted to happen. -Paul
[2013-05-07 10:04:06] - a: I'll admit they were fairly impressive strong willed for the past 4 years or so. They still mostly cracked at the end on pretty much all the major issues, though. Debt ceiling was raised (multiple times), Obama got his tax increases on the wealthy. No spending cuts went through, only the tiniest of decreases in future spending that happened by default... -Paul
[2013-05-07 09:56:11] - being the "party of no" seems to go against the whole spineless thing. until very recently, i thought they were going to stick to the norquist thing even if it killed them. ~a
[2013-05-07 09:43:52] - a: Politicians are generally spineless, on both sides.
-Paul[2013-05-07 09:32:45] - republicans are spineless? i thought it was democrats that were spineless? does everybody lack a spine? ~a
[2013-05-07 09:31:31] - I guess I'm not too surprised these promises are being broken (Obama's had already been broken and Republicans are often spineless), but I'm just a little surprised by how little either has been mentioned. -Paul
[2013-05-07 09:30:53] - So, I don't get how the internet sales tax bill is getting passed so easily. Wasn't there a big story about how so many Republicans had signed Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge? Didn't Obama promise not to raise taxes even a single penny on people making less than $250k a year? -Paul
[2013-05-07 09:07:49] - or that it looks too dorky (another common complaint). -Paul
[2013-05-07 09:07:45] - http://www.cnbc.com/id/100713184 While most (if not all) of the examples laid out in this article make sense to me, this whole sense of backlash against Google Glass makes me sad. It seems like such a potentially cool piece of technology that I would hate to see it die just because some vocal minority insists that it threatens their privacy... -Paul
[2013-05-07 08:58:39] - mig: Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. Although we ARE talking about a rumored email addressing rumored functionality so I'm taking everything with a grain of salt right now.
-Paul[2013-05-06 14:37:32] - paul: as some of the comments have alluded to, it seems like this might be an actual change of policy for the system, given the uproar over the initial rumours. - mig
[2013-05-06 14:30:33] - http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/05/microsoft-next-xbox-will-work-even-when-your-internet-doesnt/ Always online for the nextBox won't be the worst case scenario, according to new rumor.
-Paul[2013-05-06 13:19:38] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx_vWkv50uk ghostbusters theme performed by eight noisy floppy drives (audio needed) - aaron
[2013-05-06 12:16:10] - Although I suppose it depends on how you technically define "singlepayer" - mig
[2013-05-06 12:14:52] - g: An article on reason today talks about some of those "cash only" providers in the USA. Also, in a TIL, Canada's healthcare system is not truly singlepayer (anymore). - mig
[2013-05-06 12:08:57] - There was something on stossel recently about a hospital in the US that publishes the all in cost for a procedure and are much cheaper than your local hospital. They are trying to generate medical tourism within the USA. And some hospitals are price matching them. I dont remember the details, paul might... ~g
[2013-05-03 15:31:55] - Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 15:11:43] - Xpovos: I think I get what you're saying, but my first thought was that health insurance would buy me a new body.
-Paul[2013-05-03 15:00:44] - Paul: And it would buy you a new car if you got in an accident (regardless of fault) with a maximum out of pocket of $4K in a year. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 14:02:47] - a: If car insurance worked like health insurance, then it would cover oil changes and tire rotations and other routine stuff. -Paul
[2013-05-03 14:02:15] - a: it's less of an argument against insurance and more of an argument against trying to make health care 'affordable" by tying everything under the sun to insurance. The distortions that are present currently are because the concept of insurance is turned on its head when it comes to the healthcare market. - mig
[2013-05-03 14:01:35] - a: The way insurance usually works is to protect people from relatively unlikely events which could cost a lot of money. Health insurance has expanded way beyond that so that it covers virtually everything. -Paul
[2013-05-03 14:00:17] - a: In this instance, I'm not arguing against insurance in general, just how it works in health care. -Paul
[2013-05-03 13:50:45] - then aren't you arguing against insurance in general? i feel like we had this conversation before, because i remember aaron making some sort of car-insurance "analogy". (if it is even an analogy since you're really arguing against insurance). maybe we need a higher deductible for health-care? ~a
[2013-05-03 12:36:23] - a: Few would care what the grocery stores charged, and would go to whichever was most convenient. Likewise, most people would probably "buy" stuff like filet mignon and lobster all the time. -Paul
[2013-05-03 12:34:51] - a: The analogy that I remember hearing that I liked was if most people had "food insurance" where they basically didn't pay for food that they bought at grocery stores and instead their insurance paid for it. -Paul
[2013-05-03 12:32:48] - a: There can be competition, but when the consumer is so insulated from the costs, then competition doesn't affect price so much. I don't remember ever considering price as a factor when deciding on a doctor or hospital. -Paul
[2013-05-03 12:24:25] - a: Plus the non-market factor of healthcare in general, which includes the inability to shop around during crucial care, no price transparency, and inelastic demand due to the in-elasticity of the benefit (life) of certain care. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 12:22:42] - a: Yes, but the profit centers are in non-competitive arenas. Classic iron triangles for the device makers, oligopolies for the hospitals and government sponsored monopoly (patents) in big pharma. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 12:06:04] - can't there be competition in medical device makers, in big pharma, and in hospitals? ~a
[2013-05-03 11:22:25] - Xpovos: That's true, I remember reading something about how non-profit hospitals make a lot of money. -Paul
[2013-05-03 11:16:04] - a: According to the article I mentioned, it's a combination of the medical device makers, particularly implantable ones, big pharma, and the hospitals, with egregious results at the non-profit hospitals in particular. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 10:58:50] - paul: I'm not sure health insurance companies are as proiftable as people think they are. Their overhead is pretty ginourmous. They do well, to be sure, but i'm not sure it's at the oil company type windfall level of profits. - mig
[2013-05-03 10:56:18] - a: I don't know for sure, but I would guess insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:56:06] - a: people who provide malpractice insurance and big pharma? - mig
[2013-05-03 10:55:44] - Xpovos: Don't think it was that specific article, but it looks like it was similar to that. I actually tried to find it and apparently there are a few articles talking about the problem. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:49:16] - "the cost of medical procedures are so meaningless/out-of-whack since so few people actually look at them" if they're out of wack, who's making the huge profits? ~a
[2013-05-03 10:48:36] - Paul: Time's Bitter Pill? -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 10:47:41] - Xpovos: And it's because so many people have health insurance which covers the majority of things so people just don't even check. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:46:48] - Xpovos: There was a really long article that I found pretty interesting (although I didn't read all of it) that I wish I could find. It basically talks about how the cost of medical procedures are so meaningless/out-of-whack since so few people actually look at them. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:42:52] - Paul: The sad thing is, the more I read about this, the more I see it is commonplace. It's even worse for people who don't have the insurance companies fighting for the negotiated rates. I'm not a fan of Obamacare yet, but I'm definitely convinced something in the "market" is broken and stinks of sepsis setting in. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 10:38:59] - Xpovos: I'm relieved that our medical bills for the pregnancy seemed to work out "ok". We got a lot of bills, and it wasn't cheap, but we didn't get any that were big enough to cause us to think that something was wrong. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:36:44] - xpovos: confirm the #s with insurance, confront the biller afterwords, maybe with legal counsel if applicable? I'll be honest i'm not sure what would be the appropriate response to something like that. - mig
[2013-05-03 10:30:56] - paul: basically, yes that's the point. Part time hours reduction is happening in a lot of the retail industry and is even happening in Virginia's public sector. - mig
[2013-05-03 10:30:32] - Physician's billing representative sends us an invoice claiming we owe a balance, which seems to be an accurate statement, but they are charging 20x $Z and demanding payment. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 10:29:30] - We have procedure X done. The performing physician, or physician's billing representative, it's not clear, submits the claim to insurance. Insurance says, as one of our preferred providers, we have a negotiated rate for procedure X. We'll pay $Y, and the patient will cover $Z. Insurance then provides us a statement to that effect...
[2013-05-03 10:28:14] - Speaking of benefits. There's nothing like experiencing brutally expensive medical procedures and receiving the flood of bills that come with that to make one ponder the healthcare system. I have an odd situation that seems to have arisen from that and I'm at a complete loss as to how to properly address what appears to me as blatant fraud. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-03 10:22:51] - a: I'll admit I only skimmed the article, but I don't think the main point of it had much to do with jobless rates or the stock market. It had more to do with benefits and hours for people who do have jobs. -Paul
[2013-05-03 10:11:21] - i'm guessing the article was written before 8:30 ET this morning: "U.S. adds 165,000 to payrolls; jobless rate falls to 7.5%" . . . stock market futures rise on the news. ~a
[2013-05-03 10:06:24] - mig: using which logic? "a growing number" isn't a percentage. "hundreds of thousands" is less than 1%. in fact it's less than .1%. also "at risk" isn't a probability. ~a
[2013-05-03 09:53:47] - And Futurama just got canceled again. -Paul
[2013-05-03 09:52:47] - you also have been doing a good job making poor workers poorer. - mig
[2013-05-03 09:22:19] - paul: hey, i brought back futurama and arrested development!! overall, pretty good president
[2013-05-03 09:08:44] - a: Yeah, I think it's starting to get hard to ignore, especially since Obama essentially addressed it when he said, "Whoops, I promised to close that place 4 years ago, didn't I?" -Paul
[2013-05-02 21:07:09] - paul: main stream media: last night jon stewart discussed the hunger strike. ~a
[2013-05-02 16:40:58] - a: Not the third one. The third one they just did for the money. -Paul
[2013-05-02 16:32:44] - "Rockstar claims its goal was to create the ultimate open world" haha. can't this exact statement be made about (almost) every single GTA? ~a
[2013-05-02 16:07:19] - http://www.computerandvideogames.com/404351/gta-5-new-details-character-switching-skill-systems-and-more/ some details about the upcoming GTA5 release -- can't wait! - aaron
[2013-05-02 14:36:14] - totally not hacking, I am just not sure I feel like they even did anything illegal. Although the ATM analogy makes me say okay well yea illegal then... ~g
[2013-05-02 13:11:22] - So the discussion is not really "did he do anything illegal", but does the hacking law apply in the case, which the judges are saying emphatically, "no". - mig
[2013-05-02 13:10:29] - Also it should be noted that this guy in the slot machine case isn't going to be free in the clear. Even with the hacking charges dropped, he's still facing criminal charges on other grounds. - mig
[2013-05-02 13:07:13] - aaron: i'm also sure banking laws don't care how you get funds that don't belong to you. If you knowingly "trick" a machine to give you money that doens't belong to you, it'd be the equivalent of tricking a teller into giving you money, and both will get you in trouble. - mig
[2013-05-02 13:01:58] - i'm sure vegas has insurance that covers software failure. yah? ~a
[2013-05-02 12:40:51] - that video poker exploit is kind of a gray area for me. if it was found on an ATM -- i'd have a totally different opinion, i'd think it was hacking. but because it was found on an entertainment machine, i'm kind of on the fence, leaning towards the side that it's fair use of the machine, and the fault lies with the guys who wrote the software - aaron
[2013-05-02 12:25:34] - g: There were lots of people in the comments section that agree with you. -Paul
[2013-05-02 11:38:56] - However, they both say tons of "wow, I can't believe you said that" kind of shit. That's just kids being kids.. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-02 11:35:36] - g: Not on that level. The only creepy stuff is Theresa's recurrent nightmares about astronauts. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-02 11:25:48] - but they were HACKING. omg. ~a
[2013-05-02 11:13:37] - it was their mistake which put that there and the guys found it without insider information, but as a fluke.... ~g
[2013-05-02 11:13:08] - paul: hmm I am not sure I think what those guys were doing was illegal. I think the casinos should go after the game maker for compensation. ~g
[2013-05-02 11:12:24] - xpovos: have your daughters said anything creepy like that to you? ~g
[2013-05-01 16:19:36] - I *think*, but don't for sure, if you get caught in the act immediately, they probably just kick you out and maybe blacklist you, but if you get away with it, but they find out later, especially if it's a big sum of money, then they may try to go after you with criminal charges. - mig
[2013-05-01 16:15:51] - Huh, I stand corrected. -Paul
[2013-05-01 16:15:44] - paul: the disclosure at the end was also interesting. - mig
[2013-05-01 16:13:13] - a: in some cases, yes. - mig
[2013-05-01 16:11:04] - a: Not sure how much you read, but the TLDR is basically: Is exploiting a software bug (that only requires pressing the buttons in a certain combination, and nothing more than that) in a video poker machine considered hacking? -Paul
[2013-05-01 16:09:42] - a: Unless another law is broken, I think the answer is usually "no". For instance, I believe counting cards is completely legal (but the casino is within their rights to kick you out). -Paul
[2013-05-01 16:02:54] - without having read the whole thing . . . is cheating in a casino illegal? ~a
[2013-05-01 16:00:50] - paul: I'd be surprised if there wasn't anything that could be considered illegal, but probably agree the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act definitely doesn't apply. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:54:13] - a: i typically right click the link and select copy url, becuase that usually does the job, except on google's search page. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:50:58] - bah, google search strikes again with messing up my links. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:44:56] - (1) Is what they did illegal? (2) The disclosure at the end. -Paul
[2013-05-01 15:44:42] - http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/game-king/?cid=co7613134 A little long, but I thought it was an interesting story of some people who exploited a software bug on video poker machines to win lots of money. I thought it was interesting for two reasons... -Paul
[2013-05-01 15:43:08] - in which context? I can copy-paste URLs from a google search result page by selecting and typing control-c: example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine ~a
[2013-05-01 15:40:45] - speaking of which, why the hell does google search keep insisting on mangling the URL of links I try to copy/paste from a search list. Argh, it's so annoying. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:37:10] - oops. correct link for the midget speech. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:31:34] - and now warning us to "imagine a world without balloons". I'm not sure whether to be amused or terrified that this guy is in congress and keeps getting re-elected. - mig
[2013-05-01 15:29:49] - so TIL about congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia. Apparently he was worried at one point about the island of Guam capsizing, fretting about the use of the word "midget" ...
[2013-05-01 12:51:41] - g: I spent a good twenty minutes reading about Mr. Rand. "RachelSays-" wins for the creepiest story, IMO. -- Xpovos
[2013-05-01 10:55:52] - its like a train wreck, I dont want to read it but I have to http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1d2v7i/parents_of_reddit_what_is_the_creepiest_thing/ ~g
[2013-05-01 09:55:10] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/wave-battle-washington-reaches-heights-fans-fight-bryce-222412184.html something to amuse to distract from the current misery of the season. - mig
[2013-04-30 16:44:07] - http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/the-creepiest-things-a-child-has-ever-said-to-a-parent wish I hadnt read it... g
[2013-04-30 15:55:40] - https://securecdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/483/504/original.jpg The code has been cracked on how Microsoft has been naming their consoles. -Paul
[2013-04-30 13:11:12] - a: It's not a big deal, and I don't know if there is an easy solution, I just wish that I could feel confident that if I click on a wikipedia link that shouldn't have nsfw content... that it doesn't have nsfw content. -Paul
[2013-04-30 13:10:13] - a: I have not been back, and I couldn't go back if I wanted to (I've long forgotten the article in question). I totally agree that it could've been a necessary "evil" (although I hesitate to call it evil) if it was their only option or maybe it was some vandal doing something that quickly got reverted... -Paul
[2013-04-30 13:00:24] - alternatively, maybe the problem has been rectified. have you been back to the page? ~a
[2013-04-30 12:59:37] - yeah, i think i know what you mean and to a certain extent, i agree. in your case though, maybe they just didn't have a free-use image that fit the bill except the one they included. ~a
[2013-04-30 12:59:00] - a: I don't think the wikipedia article on the Venus de Milo should be censored or anything like that. -Paul
[2013-04-30 12:58:29] - title: you're nsfw. ~a
[2013-04-30 12:56:49] - a: It was relevant, because I think I was looking up some disease and they were showing an example of some skin condition related to the disease, but I just wondered why they couldn't find a sfw example instead. -Paul
[2013-04-30 12:55:58] - a: I never said it's necessary that it be sfw. I just wish they weren't so eager to put nudity front and center. I remember going to some wikipedia page that I wouldn't have imagined would be nsfw and the first thing I saw was some picture of a topless woman. -Paul
[2013-04-30 12:47:43] - wikipedia is not censored is a really important guideline imo. ~a
[2013-04-30 12:47:38] - paul: why is it necessary that wikipedia is sfw? don't you think it's "more important" that minors are protected from hurting their brains when seeing violence or nudity? don't you think it's "more important" that muslims are protected from hurting their brains when seeing images of muhammad? ~a
[2013-04-30 12:46:02] - I think the local diocese's request for a response is probably a little overblown, but they have a right to be offended and make some noise about the inappropriateness of it. Expecting CMU to do anything is a wasted effort, though. -- Xpovos
[2013-04-30 12:15:16] - Well, I don't thik wikipedia considers itself to have any obligation that all of it's content be considered SFW, as long as it is relevant and has some informative value. Though, having a sfw mode or labeling like reddit and google do would certainly be helpful. - mig
[2013-04-30 12:10:28] - a: I blame wikipedia some. Regardless of whether or not it SHOULD be considered nsfw, it IS nsfw. They should understand that. -Paul
[2013-04-30 12:03:31] - i guess i could turn off image loading. ~a
[2013-04-30 12:02:56] - well i don't blame wp. what makes me sad is our society and what counts as nsfw. ~a
[2013-04-30 12:00:10] - a: Yeah, wikipedia sometimes seems disappointingly eager to put nsfw images front and center. -Paul
[2013-04-30 11:58:26] - thats what the church is saying, I would imagine it would be considered public lewdness at the very least. ~g
[2013-04-30 11:58:18] - ok, maybe i shouldn't look through the wikipedia article on nudity to determine what's legal in each state (nsfw sadly). ~a
[2013-04-30 11:56:16] - Isn't being naked from the waist down illegal anyway? -Paul
[2013-04-30 11:55:53] - g: I had to click on the link to find out how somebody could be both naked and dressed as the pope... -Paul
[2013-04-30 11:53:53] - inappropriate and disrespectful! ~a
[2013-04-30 11:44:54] - http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/04/29/cmu-parade-controversy-over-woman-naked-and-dressed-as-pope/ ~g
[2013-04-30 11:05:43] - mig: I'm sure they didn't expect to change many minds. I dunno, I guess it's kind of like the moderator at the Sanford/Colbert debate last night pointing out that Sanford voted to impeach Clinton for his affair. What's the value of that? Pointing out hypocrisy and maybe changing a few minds. -Paul
[2013-04-30 10:59:35] - I can see the comedic value of "shaming" pirates, but if that was really all it took to get people to buy legitamately, then this little ditty would have solved the problem long ago. - mig
[2013-04-30 10:59:07] - mig: Not sure how effective it is, but I think the intended value was to change some minds about software piracy. -Paul
[2013-04-30 10:53:46] - paul: ah, ok, i missed that part of it being an intentional leak. maybe it's clever, but I don't see the value honestly. - mig
[2013-04-30 10:48:45] - mig: Even ignoring the kinda funny hypocrisy of pirates complaining about pirates in the game, you also get some information about who pirated it without them knowing it. -Paul
[2013-04-30 10:47:27] - mig: Assuming that altered version would be pirated. If it just flat out didn't work, then nobody would pirate it and the whole thing wouldn't have worked. I actually thought this was kinda clever, in that all these pirates basically waste a bunch of time playing an inferior version of the game without knowing it. -Paul
[2013-04-30 10:46:10] - mig: I can answer your question about "why even let the game work at all". They weren't really able to tell which games were pirated. What they did was intentionally leak a slightly modified version (where people pirate inside the game after a few hours) at the same time the real version was released. -Paul
[2013-04-30 10:42:30] - i agree with you in principle, but it's hard to argue "doesn't ultimately help them sell more legitamate copies" without actual data. ~a
[2013-04-30 10:38:42] - It seems like a misguided attempt to "get back" at pirates, that doesn't ultimately help them sell more legitamate copies. - mig
[2013-04-30 10:37:51] - In fact, if they can tell which copies of the game are pirated and can alter functionality, why even let the game work at all? - mig
[2013-04-30 10:37:13] - a: let me clarify. I think applications of positive reinforcement (like back in the day SC multiplayer on b.net was a big incentive to buy the game legitamately) garner more success in combatting piracy than negative reinforcement (dev tycoon's method). - mig
[2013-04-30 10:24:12] - i assume you wouldn't think that being able to actually play the game would be a very good "perk"? ~a
[2013-04-30 09:59:34] - I have always felt that trying to "shame" pirates is never good idea. Obviously it's not possible in all instances, but the only method I think that really works is by offering some sorts of perks to people who actually buy as opposed to trying to "punish" those who don't. - mig
[2013-04-30 09:28:16] - a: i don't know, there's a lot of kids/foreign/poor people with no access to a credit card. i'm not surprised stuff gets pirated all the time, even if it was only $0.05 it would get pirated - aaron
[2013-04-29 17:43:17] - it's a broken part of our culture i guess. and not a part that's super easy to fix. ~a
[2013-04-29 17:41:41] - i also read the linked article about the humble-bundle getting pirated too. both articles . . . so weird. ~a
[2013-04-29 17:18:08] - http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/04/game-dev-tycoon-developers-give-pirates-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine/#p3 Developer comes up with clever approach to dealing with pirates. -Paul
[2013-04-29 16:59:16] - a: Very similar function in Chrome. -- Xpovos
[2013-04-29 15:15:09] - gurkie: probably depends on the browser. in ff, ctrl+l brings my focus to the address bar. ctrl+k brings my focus to the search bar (or if none exists, takes me to a page for searching). ~a
[2013-04-29 15:12:39] - That's Burnett's "fault", lack of situational awareness, probably more upset with himself for putting the pitch in the dirt and not reading the catcher's body language at all. Funny play, though. -- Xpovos
[2013-04-29 14:55:46] - what does ctrl k and ctrl L do? ~gurkie
[2013-04-29 13:45:59] - http://wtop.com/120/3303408/NORAD-conducting-training-exercise-in-DC-area i heard some aircraft buzzing around in the middle of the night a few months ago -- i guess this is what it was?? well they're running more exercises tonight, might want to put in some earplugs or something - aaron
[2013-04-29 12:16:21] - a: Glad it's getting run on NPR, though. It seems like a story people should be aware of and talking about. -Paul
[2013-04-29 12:15:55] - a: Not sure. I wasn't really thinking of NPR, though. I was thinking of ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox/CNN type news outlets. -Paul
[2013-04-29 12:04:07] - paul: i hear about it at least once per day. does npr count as mainstream media? ~a
[2013-04-29 11:37:54] - mig: I guess Burnett, although I could see how he might not realize 2nd base was being stolen... -Paul
[2013-04-29 11:30:59] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/j-burnett-inexplicably-intercepts-throw-intended-catch-stealer-175908485.html so who's fault is this play? Russell Martin for throwing it too low, or AJ Burnett for intercepting it? - mig
[2013-04-29 10:55:40] - mig: I dunno, seems like there should actually be a pretty easy way to blame this one on Bush, right?
-Paul[2013-04-29 10:54:18] - paul: well it should be obvious. there's no "how can we blame the GOP" angle, so down the memory hole it goes! - mig
[2013-04-29 10:50:59] - http://bigstory.ap.org/article/100-prisoners-now-hunger-strike-guantanamo I feel like this should probably be a bigger news story. I haven't heard much at all about it from the mainstream media. -Paul
[2013-04-29 09:39:26] - a/aaron: new keyboard shortcuts added to my memory banks, thanks. -- Xpovos
[2013-04-28 14:17:59] - yeah i mostly use ctrl+l. ~a
[2013-04-27 17:30:19] - xpovos: i've been using ctrl+k and ctrl+l this year, it works okay - aaron
[2013-04-27 10:46:22] - a: Huh. That's really offensive. I guess I have to turn javascript off now. -- Xpovos
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