I got -11. With attitudes like that, I think #10 is good for +75 merits and not having to put up with the kind of husband who would put any stock in this test.

Happy birthday to your grandmother!

Life is short, but the days are long...

His works will go on, even after we catch up to them. Rest in Peace.

There's a big difference between being a human and being human.

(#3)I need a definition of Human that leaves the door open to include sufficiently advanced AI but lets me exclude the kid screaming "No you have to be fingerprinted! Everybody has to be fingerprinted!" and the sheeple who obey without question.

The Human does not exist. It's just artifact of the language we use to describe a particular moment in time of the vast life form that inhabits this planet.

(#11)That's a very interesting way of looking at it. I'm adding that line to my quotes.

>H/=H

Anything I can legally (or even just conveniently) get that will make my brain work better, I'll be first in line.

I've already had to deal with a Promethean educational system that seems designed to slow down the fast kids and rush the slow ones to produce a uniform product. ("Do you want fries with that?") If something can improve my mental performance without excessive risks, or even just reduce the effects of ADD or keep my judgment from being impaired by sleep deprivation, I'm all for it. I think the people who are afraid are the ones who are already on the left side of the bell curve, and I'll be happy to leave them in the dust.

I read quite a bit on my (1993 vintage) HP200lx palmtop with Vertical Reader, which flips the screen so you can hold the palmtop like a paperback. It was the killer app that made me start carrying a palmtop. I also use MobiPocket on a Blackberry, but the screen is fairly small and it's frequently frustrating how long it takes to change the page. I still prefer paper, but it is convenient to be able to carry around an entire library worth of books on one flash card, especially if I'm travelling light.

#8, This is just like all the Mac Air pr0n I've been seeing lately. I don't think I'll buy the product but it is interesting to know that it exists.

#18/32, Would you feel comfortable reading a graphic article about waterboarding to a 3rd grade class? Why exactly is it that you want to raise 3rd graders to be uncomfortable with this?

#19, Why do people always underestimate the intellectual capacity of third graders. (I was reading OMNI in third grade.)

By the way, who was it who decided we need to protect third graders, rather than preschoolers. Maybe we should ban clashing colours and words longer than two syllables.

#25, Sometimes you don't really don't want to click that link, especially if it mentions rule 34.

#28, I think you may have hit the nail on the head. (Hehehe, they said "nail.")

#32, I think internally censoring the subjects that can be posted to defeat being censored by censorware would defeat the purpose. I also don't see the post itself as being objectionable, though following the link might be. Well designed censorware would block opening the link to the site that is being mentioned rather than the mere mention of the site.

I wonder if Fox News would be censored by the same censorware that blocks BoingBoing.

I don't think the net, or the rest of the world, should be made appropriate for the idealized vision of childlike innocence held by the sort of people who are likely to say "won't someone think of the children."

#36, SL makes it possible to explore all sorts of situations, but it's obviously a simulation and the kink factor is still only in your mind. I'm not exactly impressed by watching live, recorded or simulated meat rubbing against other meat.

My favourite of all time was "Beware of cookies bearing fortunes." Best. Metafortune. Ever.

The next best was "You will get a great deal on a cellphone at [the cellphone shop next to the Chinese restaurant]." Product placement in fortune cookies? Whodathunkit?

And who can forget "You will find true love on flag day."

#4 I once had a Che shirt that said "I don't even know who this is." I thought it was ironic, since it's almost a given that anyone wearing a fashionable Che shirt hasn't read his bio, although these days they might have seen The Motorcycle Diaries. It looks like I missed out on the Che Doctorow shirt, but that meme still has some life left in it.

If you're thinking of buying Chucks, but don't want to support the big corporations, check out Blackspot shoes. The Blackspot anticorporation's name and logos are open source. Some people have suggested that Adbusters is selling out by promoting their own brand, but the shoes are vegan friendly, fair trade, union made, last a long time, and definitely have an attention getting style. Though I expect HST would have just bought cheap plain Chucks and not even cared if they were ethical or vegan or had the double-thumbed fist logo on them, and spent the difference on drugs.

#11 - I like that idea, except that at most stores, the returns counter treats you even more like a criminal, and requires several pieces of ID and a page of signed paperwork to handle a return even if the receipt shows you paid cash.

It might be inconvenient, but a couple of big-ticket returns where the reason given is dissatisfaction with the store's attempted unlawful search, is more likely to make the people who actually make the decisions change their policies, than any amount of complaining about it to the "only following orders" ground level employees and rent-a-cops.

I don't mind the shameless self promotion, as long as it's interesting, relevant or fun. And since I happen to like Cory Doctorow's work, and I tend to like the ideas Cory expresses on Boing Boing enough to keep coming back, that's most if not all of the time. My only problem with this post is the lack of a translation. But since the doc is remixable, I hope there are some multlingual fans out there who can come up with a sub.

#36 I can has unicorn chaser now plz.

This thread is was over before it started. See Rule #4 (Godwin's Law).

Leatherman makes good tools, even if they discontinued my favourite. I've tried Micra, Juice, Knifeless Fuse (still no easier to get through security), Gerber, and a SOG with a built-in punch down tool, and I keep coming back to the Leatherman PST2. I do find that the flat phillips screwdriver in the newer models tends to work quite well.

It makes sense. I always thought stretching your gills, or for you ordinary humans out there, pulling back on your neck just behind the ears, helped to stop hiccups.

It is only by releasing the video of events like this that the general public has an opportunity to see "authority figures gone wild." There is simply no point in making an official complaint about an incident like this. If the kid had reported it, most people would think he was exaggerating or say he deserved it. In the video, you can see that the teenager was being compliant, and the cop was acting out his own authority issues. If someone were to say "...I'll smack you" to a cop, they would probably be charged with criminal threatening. Anyone other than a cop pushing someone to the ground would be considered assault. (IANAL)

DCMA may not directly affect indie music now, but just wait. I have talked with several independent artists who have had to circumvent copy protection that told them that they did not have the right to copy the recordings that they made of themselves playing live. (Using DAT and MiniDisc recorders, or more recently, Garageband.) I know it's easy to work around these almost trivial technical restrictions, but that's exactly the sort of thing that will be illegal if they manage to pass an anti-circumvention bill. The only people who benefit from those kind of protections are the parasites who run traditional media distribution channels. It's already too easy to shut down a web site that is sharing mp3s, even if none of them is infringing, just because of the perception that they might be.

Congratulations to all three of you!

She's already got matching hair, and I'm sure the cape and goggles will be along shortly.

That name is sure a mouthful, but I'm sure she'll grow into it. I can only imagine that if she ever does something that warrants you calling her by her full name you'll be out of breath by the time you finish.