I'm just waiting for the dissappearance of the entire population of some small town...

Maybe this is the next crew of LHC saboteurs...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 7:53 PM on November 21, 2008

Justinian nails it. If all you read is the "old-guard" authors, then yes - science-fiction is dying - just as they are...

But... for those who believe it is, try some of the authors Justinian notes - I am always awaiting the latest from; Stross, Scalzi and especially Morgan.

But, then again I am old-enough to have seen the "soap-operafication" of everything sci-fi/fantasy/horror, it seems to me to be a general,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:47 PM on November 14, 2008

see... and my waiting pays off, maybe not with a full-length manuscript, but an author who is directly in touch with his audience today...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:50 PM on November 14, 2008

I am very upset about what has happened with the OLPC. Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth and I learned computing it was a variety of operating systems (Commodore PET CP/M, Apple, Tandy, MSDOS)... the best of which was ICON. The basics of networking and programming were perfectly covered by the OLPC without resorting to a maintstream operating system.

Sure - my kids have MS Windows & Office on their computers - but they also have Scratch, OpenOffice, Dia, InkScape,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:02 AM on November 12, 2008

The world is far sicker than you can imagine. When people hear of child porn, they don't think of slavery, trafficking and sex tourism. It is a business and organized crime is highly involved.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:16 AM on October 29, 2008

Some as young as 3

Try younger, say - two, locked naked and filthy in a dog kennel for days at a time. When out of said kennel, she was repeatedly sexually abused, while photographed/video'd, etc...

She was eventually rescued, but this shit happens. That's why I love my job - this is one area I can help make an actual difference in the world.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:33 AM on October 29, 2008

Actually - legalizing protistution is debatable. Several big-name European countries have had legalized prostitution for decades, yet they have intense problems with human trafficking/slavery.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 10:44 AM on October 29, 2008

jkaczor, if you know what I or other people who don't have the money or the languages to either donate or participate directly, please give us some other ways we can help.

My primary focus is around child exploitation - not slavery overall, most of my advice would be related to keeping kids safe - online and off.

The first thing to to is help people become aware that this problem actually exists, the next step would be to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 10:15 AM on October 30, 2008

People like scapegoats. Makes ‘em feel like they’re doing something when they point out how wrong ‘they’ are.

Honestly I just don’t know.

And next, you don't want "mob mentality" to rule or "knee-jerk" legislation which is poorly thought out and handles boundary cases badly; like, if a teenager takes pictures of themself naked, sends them to their boy/girlfriend they should not be considered a dangerous... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 10:23 AM on October 30, 2008

My kids learned absolutely none of their knowledge of profanity from radio, T.V. or the internet.

They learned it from me.

Thankfully their mother is something of a prude when it comes to swearing, so they follow in her footsteps and do not rant like drunken, on-leave sailors... (though, to be fair, I've never heard a drunken sailor swear)
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 8:41 AM on October 21, 2008

KILL KILL - stomp stomp - DO NOT WANT...

Sorry... They bug the heck outta me, but fascinate me at the same time.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 8:37 PM on October 17, 2008

I only despise it when it's really noticable - the first thing Tony Stark does is chug down a greasy burger king burger when he gets back home? Fail. It was so out of place and simply obnoxious - hell Robert Downey Jr looked as if he was about to hurl.

Or ... that Dell ad a few years back with John Travolta as the villain? Oh yeah, Swordfish...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 10:46 AM on October 14, 2008

It was very good (just closed the cover a minute ago) - I liked it far better than the Baroque Cycle (which I could not finish - a rare event for me).

Nothing earth shattering that I haven't read elsewhere (Greg Egan) - but a good story, nice narrative, nice characters and no super-deep-geek-dives as per Cryptonomicon (but hey - I'm a geek, I liked those).

It did not take 100 pages to hook me, only about 15 - so, better than I thought. You get... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:55 AM on October 14, 2008

Mi$$ion Accompli$shed!
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 5:43 AM on September 29, 2008

Oh crap - just ordered a Casio "geek" watch online last night - though, not this model.

This is not just profiling - this is "classist" profiling. Think about it for a sec - Casio keeps older models going not just for retro stylism hipsters - but because they are now incredibly profitable - all the R&D, tooling, etc are complete. Sell em to people outside of the North American/European market at a reasonably affordable price and make a crapload... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:24 PM on September 28, 2008

Hey - isn't this the standard "exit strategy" for Republicans? Started by Reagan?

You saddle the incoming administration with a mass of debt (crisis, war, etc.) and therefore they cannot enact any decent social programs and spend their entire term trying to dig their way out of the mess.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 10:40 AM on September 25, 2008

my eyes, the goggles they do nothing
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:57 PM on September 24, 2008

Wow - and yet a few threads down we have this, various people are declaring others to be overly paranoid.

It's not like the debates will really matter anyways, amiright?

Hey, two outta three - maybe we have another trifecta? People have been loosing their homes for the last 2 years - where was the bailout for individuals then?

I cannot believe the quislings here - you trust McCain? Any better than your current leaders?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:58 PM on September 24, 2008

I really couldn't care less about the DRM issues - bought the fancy box yesterday for my daughter's 10th birthday and we are all loving it - this game is wicked fun.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:48 AM on September 11, 2008

Damn - deja420 beat me to it - Salted butter is cheaper because it has a longer shelf-life.

Honestly, we always have both at home, and toast always goes better with the salted.

So - I was a hideous Coke addict as well - my personal story of how to break the habit is simple - switch to Coke Zero.... Ugh, 3 months later I've lost 20lbs...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 6:38 PM on September 9, 2008

Sigh - no Canada, eh? Well - then again, when it comes to book prices we definately are not a merged-market with the US. Even though the dollar has been hovering at/near/above par for almost a year, we still pay 20-40% more for books. Sucks.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 12:22 PM on September 4, 2008

Lessee - 4 TV's, 2 kids, 3 adults. The kids used to be complete addicts. However, once we moved to PVR's, the whole attitude changed... Watch your shows when you want them - pause live TV, never have to worry about missing something - heck a good 15 minute "pause" then lets you forward through commercials. Though, the kids always forget to forward through commericals even on recorded shows. The PVR definately improved things.

But what improved them even... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:52 AM on September 4, 2008

clearly:

This isn't going to be a bunch of saints carrying side arms while stacking sandbags and putting plywood over windows. We are talking about a reckless security organization that have shot many people in Iraq for less than looting the water from a big box store.

Wooosh... I think you missed the irony of the original post... I'm sincerely hoping that Blackwater, the National Guard and any other agencies involved have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:41 PM on August 31, 2008

napkin - has your roommate ever heard of "Closer to Hogs" by "Nine Inch Richards"?
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 5:17 PM on August 28, 2008

Yeah, it will just wreak havoc, 18-19 year olds are just too immature to drink in the U.S.A. - it's not like you guys have another country on your northern border that you could use for research, eh?
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 8:47 AM on August 19, 2008

Lobster is still a wild creature that doesn't require petroleum inputs for it's growth. A better nominee would be Argentine feedlot beef in Toronto.

How so? Last time I checked, catching lobster required gobs of petroleum typically used in inefficient marine engines...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 11:16 AM on July 31, 2008

kuujjuarapik: Well - I am not going to completely disagree, because I truly don't know how my local beef producers fatten cattle for market on a commercial scale. From my memory of our small farm, we did not feed our cattle corn or soybeans - they grazed on locally grown hay/wheat or whatever was in the fallow fields.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2008

Great costumes, great opener but it they lack something...

MeBatFilter
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:17 AM on July 31, 2008

Wow - thx for this, I've been a camera (35mm) enthuisiast since high school - but am only now investigating a decent HD rig.

For those that don't know - Vimeo (the service hosting most of these) has a "channel" for HD video's with/without adapters, they encourage people to discuss the shot setup/camera configuration.

Now - for me the toss-up is tape or SD. Personally I like the idea of working just with digital files, even if I would... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2008

Heh - I was pre-weaned of infatuation for Steampunk at an early age; my dad got me one of those working steam engine models and the thing gave me quite the scalding...

Though - I *liked*; The Difference Engine, Space: 1889, Castle Falkenstein, The Diamond Age and most Jules Verne... I have to admit - I like the visual asthetic, but fundamentally it is a niche/geek thing to do like extreme Star Trek/Star Wars fandom, cosplay, etc.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 5:15 PM on July 24, 2008

This all must go.

The Mgt.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2008

As an ornithological point of order, you should never touch baby birds - no matter how cute they are. It can lead the mother to reject them.

That's what I was told... That's what I told my daughter, but for three years in a row, a couple of Robin's have nested under our deck, near the stairs... Within arms reach of my daughter... One day, I came home to find the chicks on the lawn... She had been taking them out and putting them back for days.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:33 AM on July 15, 2008

I didn't say that Batman Begins was the same as Michael Bay's films--I said that it's a pretty shit movie just like the previous

Ah yes... SPOILER ALERT...

The movie which depends on the plot device of using an extremely powerful microwave emitter to vaporize a drug/toxin into the air, which is residing in the city water supplies... in pipes... underground....

Lest one forget... The average human is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 5:01 PM on July 7, 2008

You forgot Wall-E...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 1:34 PM on July 7, 2008

We are going to have to get alot better at mining trash, dust, water and air for trace elements... Two potential solutions; nanotech & biotech. We are already seeing specific advances in biotech - certain metals and elements actually tend to collect in living organisms.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 8:46 AM on July 7, 2008

disemvoweling

Heh - I did not know about it until this thread. So, for the last 8 months or so, whenever I dipped into the comments for a post, I would often scratch my head and think: "wow, these boingboing readers are incredibly stupid/childish/dumb/ignorant/young" - never once thinking to actually try and read the disemvoweled comment. So - it does it's job well...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 1:16 PM on June 30, 2008

five - I've heard the number bandied about (Radio/CBC) that it takes approximately 50 barrels of water for 1 to make 1 of oil from tarsand.

moonscape - actually, at night... literally hell or Dante's inferno... miles of fire/light/machines raging, ripping, digging...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:48 PM on June 26, 2008

Actually, this video explains exactly why tiered support exists.

Exactly.... and in this video, the point where the guy in the racks accidentally powers down the Exchange server is where me & mine get involved.... ah.... critsit time...

It was cute, a little unrealistic but then again there are some truly clueless IT environments/help-desks out there....
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 2:30 PM on June 24, 2008

So - is the book better than the movie? Is it worth my time, or is it written at a grade 4 level much like some of the other popular series out there?

(Watched "The Golden Compass" recently - the most positive thing that I can say about it is: "it lacked direction"... Talk about a bunch of "scenes" compressed together, stuffed, shoved and hacked to fit - it felt so "disjointed"...)
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 5:27 PM on June 23, 2008

I never got into Playmobil - LEGO was the big toy for me, though I always enjoyed visiting other kids who had extensive Playmobil collections - the Bandito's were definately among my favourites.

My kids - LEGO, WebKinz (god - what a racket, lovable little "stuffies" and an online "safe" community for kids - and massive incentives to always be buying more, so that you can access more online money/activities/pet-of-the-month... sigh), Imaginext, no-name... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:03 AM on June 22, 2008

Wow - on the "grounding". Damned if you do (attempt to enforce rules with a reasonable punishment), damned if you don't - as you are still responsible when they eventually get into trouble.

Well, if the courts are going to determine appropriate child-rearing, punishments, etc - then they can pay and rear the children - but they cannot have it both ways.

(I agree with the no-spanking however, force is the weapon of the weak...)
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 9:36 AM on June 19, 2008

.

Adams, Asimov, Clark, Gygax, Asprin

This really blows - I re-read the Mythadventures every few years. Heck, I even had a treasured 1st edition signed by Bob when I was a teen...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 1:02 PM on May 23, 2008

I for one doubt that my socialized Canadian medicine will pay

Think again - Canada is taking the lead in tele-medicine, remote robotics, etc:

- Robot removes Calgary womans brain tumor

- Dr. Robot

If more hospitals and clinics used electronic systems and health records more effectively the public system would save money and reduce wait times.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 6:27 PM on May 19, 2008

Heh - I once supported a solution called, "WIMS" - Wastewater Information Management System...

Now - for all those that think I sat in an Ivory tower pushing buttons - uh-uh, nope - this was a distributed meter gathering system with code/database at every treament plant...

Guess what... It would invariably fail at a random plant about 1-2am almost every Friday/Saturday night... Guess who was "junior" and always got paged.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:04 PM on May 12, 2008

Oh noes. Damn internet. (hangs head in shame, now I will have to explain this to my Brasilian hosts...)
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:47 PM on May 2, 2008

Until then, you should read the Sears & Roebuck catalog

See - he did provide a working alternative for Billy's problem - that'll do...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 4:53 AM on April 30, 2008

Uh, we have Nerf guns in Canada too - I don't see any correlation to that and school massecre's - if more people blew off steam like this, they'd actually be socializing with other people - something which reduces the "go-psycho" instinct...
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 3:52 PM on April 12, 2008

.
..
...
....
.....
......
Gygax, now Clarke? Sigh - time waits for no man.

I re-read RAMA and 2001 many more times than sooooo many other books... The wonder, the questions, the ideas.

Thanks!
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 6:18 PM on March 18, 2008

Damn, it really is hard to drive in the U.K.
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 6:09 PM on March 18, 2008

For instance on air planes. It's disgusting that people wear shorts and tank tops in cramped flights where people are in close contact for hours.

Ok - next, flight I will drip sweat all over you - or slowly fill up the aisle with stench over the course of 5-6 hours. Betchya you'd be all smarmy in a post about smelly people, wouldn't you? It's bad enough one has to be tortured every step of the way onto the plane, strapped to a seat that is already... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jkaczor at 3:10 PM on March 14, 2008