Douglas Rushkoff on the RNC (41)
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Mark Frauenfelder (1286)
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Boing Boing (4800)
3 days, 6 hours
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Our pal Douglas Rushkoff posted an insightful essay about the RNC speeches. I felt a bit nauseous watching the Republican convention last night. I’m very much a give-the-benefit-of-the-doubt kind of guy, so I try to listen to the arguments people make even when they’re made in over-the-top or patronizing ways. Sometimes it’s good to distinguish between the rhetorical devices and the underlying substance. Even people who use manipulative language sometimes have an important point beneath ...
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Sam said:
I agree with Douglas. It was very hard to watch the RNC on Wednesday, I got very angry.
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Casey said:
THX, JB.
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Jason Matthews said:
"having a parent figure on whom to transfer authority allows people to regress to a more childlike state. This not only allows them to feel safe; if gives them the freedom to express their rage. Make no mistake - that's what we're witnessing.""In the black and white world of those committed to war as an international relations strategy, voting "present" makes no sense - especially when the Illinois legislative process is willfully misrepresented. (Voting present is a way to preserve the bill without passing it in its current state. Far from an easy out, it is the hard path - requiring further negotiation to remove earmarks and other problems.) They would prefer the simple relief of a "yes or no" world, where the evil are punished and the good rewarded. For in such a world, we get to know who the enemy is and just hate them."
Movie Plot Threats in The Guardian (17)
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Bruce Schneier (54)
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Schneier on Security (305)
3 days, 11 hours
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We spend far more effort defending our countries against specific movie-plot threats, rather than the real, broad threats. In the US during the months after the 9/11 attacks, we feared terrorists with scuba gear, terrorists with crop dusters and terrorists contaminating our milk supply. Both the UK and the US fear terrorists with small bottles of liquid. Our imaginations run wild with vivid specific threats. Before long, we're envisioning an entire movie plot, without Bruce ...
The Real Voice of Darth Vader (1)
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madmarv (4)
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Technorama (4)
4 days, 18 hours
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This snippet from a documentary will shatter your last remaining illusion of Darth Vader. David Prowse was the actor behind Darth Vader’s mask. And, he spoke every line of dialogue in the script although his voice was never used in the final version of the film. After listening to this, I don’t think I can watch the original trilogy again in quite the same way.
Diebold Finally Admits its Voting Machines Drop Votes (40)
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schneier (269)
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Schneier on Security (305)
1 week, 3 days
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Premier Election Solutions, formerly called Diebold Election Systems, has finally admitted that a ten-year-old error has caused votes to be dropped. It's unclear if this error is random or systemic. If it's random -- a small percentage of all votes are dropped -- then it is highly unlikely that this affected the outcome of any election. If it's systemic --...
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Eebs said:
*shudder* I don't even want to think about the implications here.
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Drewcipher said:
All your vote are belong to us. Ehhhhhh.
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Erik S said:
Diebold should receive a death sentence. Current and past execs should be criminally charged, some deserve life sentences. Their personal assets should be attacked with civil suits.The company should be stripped of all assets. Siezed personal and corporate assets should be auctioned and the proceeds used to refund the cost of voting equipment. Any remaining funds should be dispursed to the govt treasury.
The danger of laughing at your customers (32)
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Matt (605)
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Signal vs. Noise (915)
1 week, 4 days
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The other day I went to sell some books at The Strand bookstore. They have a separate desk in the back for selling books. I brought in a bag and two clerks started sorting through them. Then another guy lined up behind me. One of the clerks said to him, “You here to sell books?” He said, “Yes.” The clerk responded, “Wait in the line outside.” The guy went outside. Thirty seconds later he was ...
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Martin Gordon said:
Sadly, we do this *all* the time.
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jschultz said:
This is a valuable anecdote even if you don't work in traditional customer service. We all service customers in some form.
DIY: DIY Mason Jar Backyard Lights (30)
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Gina Trapani (2103)
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Lifehacker (8340)
1 week, 5 days
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Add mood lighting to this weekend's evening backyard soiree with some Mason jars, LED lights, and coin cell batteries. The Evil Mad Scientists DIY site describes how to make your own temporary outdoor lighting with cheap supplies and easy assembly. Tape the LED cell to the battery to light it up, then mount that inside the jar top and set it out. This setup is temporary (and will burn out eventually if you don't disassemble) ...
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Jade said:
now they just need to make a DIY to put a small solar panel on top of the jars to recharge during the day!
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Jonna said:
Now we'll know exactly who those canners are by their illuminated yards!
How To Make Baked Macaroni And Cheese (2)
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noreply@blogger.com (Drew Kime) (2)
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How To Cook Like Your Grandmother (2)
1 week, 5 days
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I'm a big fan of comfort food: meat loaf and mashed potatoes, chicken soup, chocolate-chip cookies. And of course, mac and cheese.Like most of you, I grew up on the neon orange stuff that comes in the blue box. And in my house that was made with margarine, because we had all been told it was better for us. We hadn't heard of trans fat. Oh well.So every now and then, when I just have ...
DIY Mason Jar Backyard Lights [DIY] (1)
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Gina Trapani (2103)
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Lifehacker (8340)
1 week, 5 days
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Add mood lighting to this weekend's evening backyard soiree with some Mason jars, LED lights, and coin cell batteries. The Evil Mad Scientists DIY site describes how to make your own temporary outdoor lighting with cheap supplies and easy assembly. Tape the LED cell to the battery to light it up, then mount that inside the jar top and set it out. This setup is temporary (and will burn out eventually if you don't disassemble) ...
Unix? With QuikBill?! (14)
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Alex Papadimoulis (171)
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The Daily WTF (265)
2 weeks, 3 days
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“I’ve got an interesting little project for you,” Simon’s boss said as he stopped by Simon’s cubicle. He dropped a several-page document on desk and continued, “take a look at this letter we just got from EBS. We’d better jump on this soon.” Dear Vendor, As I’m sure you’re aware, our primary focus at Enterprise Business Systems is to enable our clients to formulate key objectives through strategic initiatives to develop a comprehensive strategy that ...
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Lerch said:
Oh my goodness, one of the most amazing stories I've read from Daily WTF. The goodness just kept coming.
TSA Follies (23)
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schneier (269)
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Schneier on Security (305)
2 weeks, 3 days
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They break planes: Citing sources within the aviation industry, ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds. "The brilliant employees used an instrument located just below the cockpit window that is critical to the operation of the onboard computers," one pilot wrote on an American Eagle internet forum. ...
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Drewcipher said:
My hope is that Obama will win the election and then stomp the guts out of this idiotic group of losers.
TSA inspector breaks airplanes by climbing on them using instruments as handholds - Boing Boing (48)
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Cory Doctorow (2340)
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Boing Boing (4800)
2 weeks, 4 days
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A TSA inspector decided to get a closer look at some American Eagle jets at O'Hare, so he climbed up on them, using a fragile, vital instrument (the Total Air Temperature probes) as handholds. He damaged the craft so badly that the regular maintenance crew grounded them -- and if they hadn't noticed, the lives of everyone on-board could have been endangered. Remember, folks, the "S" in TSA stands for "Security." Citing sources within the ...
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Clay said:
This is unfortunately not shocking. Since people are forced to obey their arbitrary dicta, why shouldn't a complex, multi-million dollar achievement of a scientific sophistication that they will never be able to comprehend be capable of flying when they mangle its instrumentation b/c they are too ignorant to ask a ground crew for assistance?
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Derrick said:
"ABC News reports an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage... reportedly using the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds. "
