AirPillo

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• Commented on Understanding the psychology of authoritarianism
  Guys, you might want to read the book before you attempt to rebuff it? I'm seeing a lot of concerns leveled against the book's content in the comments here which are explicitly spoken to and acknowledged in the first 2...
• Commented on The Glenn Beck Party?
  Plenty of them do, in fact. The problem here, is that the strategy of cultivating ire against "the enemy within" has been successful with some people... and the result of this is that they don't care how selfish and corrupt...
• Commented on Viacom's top lawyer thinks lawsuits were "terrorism" - but he's learned nothing from the experience
  I'm sorry, but the heart-break story still fails to account for the dichotomy that people place their own, personal cash incomes as a higher priority than the civil rights of everyone in a nation, or several nations, rights which in...
• Commented on Toy truck craps out domino runs
  I remember a very similar toy from the late 90's that was an accessory for use with "Domino Rally" dominoes sets. I think it was called the "domino dealer"....
• Commented on Unemployment stats in the USA just got worse
  Certain tax breaks can create jobs, but "tax breaks make jobs" on the weight of that statement itself is a very, very false statement. Tax cuts which recirculate funds through the economy, I.E. for the middle and lower classes, driving...
• Commented on Demonstrating TSA futility by stabbing dead pigs with pens
  Has anyone ever proposed giving optional, government subsidized martial-arts and crisis-handling classes to flight attendants? They're already there on the planes, and many might quite willingly go through the training for their own sakes, let alone those of the passengers...
• Commented on Sound-copying technology and countermeasures, 1890-1978
  Well, I tried to be careful and say "illegal" rather than "immoral", but then I was wrong in that a lot of people don't want it discouraged, yes. It seems a minority opinion, but it isn't trivial. Also: yeah, "piracy"...
• Commented on Sound-copying technology and countermeasures, 1890-1978
  Well, few people disagree that piracy is illegal, and few disagree it should be discouraged. However, a lot of us pretty strongly disagree that governments, law enforcement, and even other industries to be forced to give the entertainment industry preferential...
• Commented on How to destroy the market for used gadgets
  I'd gladly pay $40 for an offline-only Xbox 360. I'd probably be willing to pay twice that. For an otherwise capable gaming console, that's still a damn good deal. For reference, used Sega Genesis consoles still regularly sell for $20....
• Commented on The Lung Flute: A Sort of Gross (But Important) Medical Innovation
  This is the sort of thing that really should not be limited to prescriptions. There is absolutely no risk to the patient even if they misuse it in the most deliberately stupid ways possible. Of course, if I were the...
• Commented on Viacom's top lawyer thinks lawsuits were "terrorism" - but he's learned nothing from the experience
  to believe that issuing the digital death penalty for entire families' information lives will somehow be less of a PR disaster than suing kids. Well, that may be marginally correct. It will certainly be a lot harder for the...
• Commented on 100-word fiction competition — win an HP MediaSmart EX495
  When man started his quest for life in space, he thought of little green men on mars, or bizarre creatures beneath the clouds of Venus. However, fiction was tamer than reality. It was discovered by a deep space telescope examining...
• Commented on Sound-copying technology and countermeasures, 1890-1978
  Being realistic, I think it's time that the entertainment industry just learned to cope with "theft" the same way the retail industry has. While reasonable efforts are (and deserve to be) made to prevent losses in retail due to theft,...
• Commented on To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread
  Frankly, you may just be projecting your prejudices. Here's something to think about: A person in this position may not be able to elegantly defend themselves against the oppressive will of their parents. They may, however, be able to find...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  Several people. Firstly this seems to be consistent between different teachers over the years, who actually seem to be decent, engaged teachers... which means someone at the school or district level has either encouraged the wrong approaches to homework or...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  Still, the method is useless if the vagueness and cryptic nature of the instructions are making the children believe they are stupid because they can't understand what to do. This is what is happening with my brother. Despite the fact...
• Commented on Eyeball removal tool
  I loved those things! They made the awkward effort to eat a grapefruit while groggy in the morning a lot less painful. That is, unless you used them to remove your eyeballs. Plenty of pain there....
• Commented on Eyeball removal tool
  They look like generic curettes with a brand name slapped on them. If so, brilliant idea. I'd love to charge a huge markup to put my name on everyday stuff....
• Commented on To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread
  I was going to write out a long explanation of how you may be misunderstanding, but I'll just be concise: You are conflating your own individual experiences with universal human nature. The two are not always synonymous. This may not...
• Commented on To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread
  The problem arises then, that if you don't view them as equals to you, you have no ground whatsoever from which to ask them to see others as equals. Equality has to be believed in and practiced similarly to a...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  Matt, trust me, I've had to work with these workbooks for years now. The problem isn't in finding the answer to the problem. The problem is in deciphering what the question is. You can't even begin to teach the child...
• Commented on To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread
  Also, Antinous, I'm confused as hell. Was that sarcasm? To my eyes the person commenting was saying the parents need to accept and nurture the child despite their disapproval, and others need to disagree with but respect the parents. Assuming...
• Commented on To the anonymous gay teen who asked for help in a Boing Boing comment thread
  I didn't realize my own orientation until I was 21. Sometimes people just don't realize these things at a young age. Hell, sometimes people grow into it, or sometimes they get stuck in denial and take a very long time...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  All credit for my use of that word goes to Shamus Young, for reminding me of how awesome it is....
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  I do appreciate the value of the actual concepts these lessons are communicating, but I am repeatedly outraged when I'm the third person my brother has to come to for help because nobody could decipher the abhorrent writing used to...
• Commented on Home made Russian water purifier
  It becomes blatantly obvious he's a crank when you get to: Fig.5 Audio reductant. Plastic canister attached to an old tape recorder. The sounds of classical music a positive impact on the water, restoring its structure. If you play bluegrass...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  Oh and Mark, could you please let us know the source of these assignments if you happen to come across it? I'd like to confront the local school district about its use, it's extremely unfair to kids for their homework...
• Commented on Do you understand my first-grade child's homework?
  This looks like the same lessons my 9-year-old brother is forced to do. Whatever workbook they're from, it's honestly chock full of ambiguous nonsense that's far worse than this, where the largest challenge is deciphering what the heck is being...
• Commented on Paintbrush mural and other new Guinness Records
  I thought it was Mick Jagger at first....
• Commented on Slo-mo dread flip: video celebrating spectacular hair
  Add a few people dying, and thirteen times too many overdone explosions, and you have a shampoo commercial produced by Michael Bay....