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About me

My posting summary

1 to 10 of 27

My comments

• What's all this about an iPhone? It was a Cricket: http://www.mycricket.com/cricketphones/ I see several bar phones there that, if placed in the pocket unlocked, could potentially dial a number. I have always had Motorola or Nokia clamshells that often take pictures of my pocket or purse, and currently have a Samsung blast that, even though the phone is locked, will easily get the unlock sequence of push buttons pressed in my purse and kill my battery from just the backlight on and that easy tZones button getting pressed. It's not a touch-screen or clamshell phone that made this call, despite the picture shown. Stop being paranoid and realize that if this kid was dumb and poor enough to steal a car stereo and has Cricket as the wireless carrier (i.e. no credit check and prepaid), he's probably not smart enough to lock the phone - and even if he is, a push-button unlock sequence can potentially be pressed by something else in the pocket (keys, for example) and the 9 key can be held down, which usually calls 911. In reply to: "Kid's cell calls police while he allegedly boasts of burglaries"

  April 7, 2009

  0 replies

• I work for the Dept. of Defense and my PC won't shut down OR restart. The IT section often has to call me after installing updates and needing to manually push and hold the power button to turn it off and then again to turn it back on. When I'm not here, sometimes they'll just leave it in limbo until I get back and it will have spent several days in "Windows is preparing to shut down..." mode, because they don't want to walk all the way over here and physically push the power button. So, not even the govt. knows how to fix this. In reply to: "Why can't Windows shut down promptly?"

  April 2, 2009

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• I know I've wished I could retract something after sending, but I don't know if 5 seconds is enough. It might be. If you don't have "attached" in the text of the message, it doesn't catch missing attachments. Then you have to follow-up with a "whoops" message with the attachment. I did that once with sending out my resume. -.- Still got the job, but man that was embarassing. In reply to: "Take it back: Gmail gets 'Undo Send' Labs feature"

  March 20, 2009

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• Every time I clean out my cookies, I keep the Yahoo one so I don't have to go searching for the Yahoo! Answers question where someone posts the link to get to the old home page. I keep that page as my home page. I really hate the new one. They did what Facebook recently did - put everything on the opposite side of where it was and squished the middle column so I feel like I need to yell at 3PO to shut down all the trash compactors on the detention level. In reply to: "Yahoo to streamline redesigned home page"

  March 17, 2009

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• Whoa dude! Chill!
  
  You've got a totally paternalistic view here. Are you not aware that women enoy sex? At least, in my marriage, I'm the breadwinner, we both pay bills, and we both have sex when we feel like it. When either of us have been unemployed we still had sex. Know why? We love each other and it's fun. I don't view myself as a prostitute any more than I view my husband as one. In fact, you could argue that I'm the John because technically I make more money and have a higher drive than he does. But it's neither. It's a partnership. If we've dabbled in non-romance fun, we've never paid for anyone's drinks or meal, we keep it dutch. Nothing is exchanged, nothing gained, nothing lost, and yet everyone gets what they were looking for. Yes, usually on CL, but sometimes you meet people at clubs or other sites or whatever.
  
  I will agree that authorities often are harsh on certain establishments. Municipal laws are especially harsh on strip clubs - where sex usually doesn't take place. Texas just passed a new "sin tax" law that hikes the cover charges of strip clubs. However, teens sexting is entirely different from a cover-charging business for adults only. What the kids are doing is beyond their own understanding, which is why the age of consent is usually 16 or older, why you can't vote until 18, etc. It takes a certain maturity mentally, even if your body is fully developed, to understand the nuances and consequences of certain actions.
  
  You are right in that the majority of a society usually determines the laws. This is why the minority of people that believe sex with children, animals, and the dead are simply matters of sexual preference have yet to legalize these things. There are rammifications for all irresponsible actions and society creates laws to serve in the public interest for the greater good. Yeah, sometimes it's broken, but it's the way that every culture has worked from the beginning of time. What is now good & moral today was punishable by death in some cultures 100 years ago. What's almost frightening, is that there may in fact come a day when sex with those that cannot reasonably consent may be legal. I hope our society does not degrade to this point. For that, laws are important institutions to have, if only to remind us not to behave like monsters.
  
  On your last points, you are right. As a society we really should grow up and take personal responsibility and accountability for our actions. However, this takes the humanist view that all people are basically good. It's not a theory I subscribe to, but many do. The fatal flaw is in people that will continue to be immature, antisocial, controlling, self-righteous, selfish, greedy, and yes, evil.
  
  The answer to your question is yes. We will. Why? Because that's the way it's always been. Hedonistic societies often crumble upon themselves and then new societies rebuild, usually around some sort of religion or superstition and moral code. Then they are wiped out by hedonism and the process starts all over again. It is the way of the human. We are complex social creatures and very rarely monogomous even though we try to be. We are individuals that do not flock well, but cannot survive without one another. We are the most vounerable, weakest creature on earth at birth that takes relatively longer to develop to sustainable maturity of any living being on this planet. And yet, we think of ourselves as so great as to rule the world. In reply to: "Is Craigslist the world's biggest bordello?"

  March 6, 2009

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• Thank you! So many people focus on adult hookers. That's not what it's about. I've seen some pretty scary stuff and reported it. Craigslist is like a car wreck sometimes, just looking at all the weird stuff people can't do with their spouses and want a stranger to do (even people looking for no-strings pregnancy! both ways!). It's really scary when you see that someone wants to sell children or implies that they know someone who can lead you to little kids. While I see the prostitute's point about safety, it would really be better to put the money you save using CL vs. your own website towards hiring a lobbyist to change state laws. This way, it can be regulated, public health and safety will be taken into account, and I can get back to the amusement of the 37 year old complaining all the women that respond to his ads are fat & ugly. In reply to: "Is Craigslist the world's biggest bordello?"

  March 6, 2009

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• Not to mention with proper regulation regardin public health, it would prevent the spread of disease. However, it isn't likely to happen soon and would still probably go state-by-state, with individual communities opting in or out, much like the Nevada model. In reply to: "Cook County: Craigslist's 'erotic' section must go"

  March 5, 2009

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• Every time Facebook changes something, users cry "Where's my cheese?!" Let the petitions begin! In reply to: "Why Facebook's new profile changes matter"

  March 5, 2009

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• I think the legal issue they will be looking at is how valid Terms of Service really are. When someone violates this supposedly legally binding agreement, there are different standards with regards to enforcement. I really hope they look at the legality of these and encourage any online media company or website to enforce them equally. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure that's where this is going. We'll see though, once it hits the appeals process. I really would love to see a ruling on whether ToS are legally binding contracts and whether there are ramifications for the business for failing to honor them, just like there are consequences for the users for violating them. In reply to: "Teen sues Facebook, classmates over cyberbullying"

  March 4, 2009

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• I've never played WoW, but have played a competitor for 5 years now - FFXI. I met my husband there. LOL! But yeah, lots of people have migrated from this JP level grinder to WoW because it's a little more Americanized - more you can do on your own without a community to accomplish something for one. My husband and I have both tried to control the addiction. Getting married and having kids helped. When we met we both played constantly without eating or sleeping or, yes, bathing. The desire to be attractive to another person outside game was a big motivator for bathing, but people would still have to remind us that sex > game so don't worry about missing Dynamis (raids) if something else is going on.
  
  FFXI does have a very clear disclaimer on their game, reminding us "Don't forget your family, your friends, your school, or your work." You have to click "Ok" to this each time you log in. They've also put in place very aggressive policies regarding account usage and ownership. They have made it very clear in recent years that they OWN your character and gear, and that you simply pay the fee to have access to it, and they can deny any part of it at any time. SE can be a high maintenance *****, but we wine her, dine her, and lavish her with gifts to get what we really want - playtime.
  
  House, better jobs, and 2 kids later we're still playing and don't plan to stop, but make every effort to keep it in moderation. Luckily, our linkshell (guild) is also made up of the same group of people that have played since high school and college 5 years ago. They, too, are getting married (yes, sometimes to each other), having kids, and having lives. So we now structure game events around real life instead of the other way around. I don't know if this is quite possible in WoW, as I hear more activities are instanced and soloable, so you'd be more personally accountable for what you did and when. But I can't speak on that. I just know that MMO addiction is something that does need to be kept in check. In reply to: "World of Warcraft: The 'crack cocaine' of gaming"

  March 2, 2009

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