Technically, it's not AIDS denialism. They believe that AIDS exists, but that it is NOT caused by HIV. They typically espouse that HIV is a common virus among humans, and that AIDS is caused by a combination of health afflictions rooted in behaviors such as drug abuse, debauchery, and more recently even by the very medications used to treat HIV.
Yet, even many advocates of this belief use the words HIV and AIDS interchangeably, which in-and-of itself shows their lack of credibility.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're so inclined) in the last 25 years, most of the advocates of these beliefs have died. In a total demonstration of denialism, the followers of these beliefs most often blame those deaths on "natural causes"; since dying from pneumonia actually is a "natural" common-enough cause of death among the overall human population. They have even modified their beliefs to explain more recent deaths of people that have embraced this belief system, thus stopping 10+ years of effective drug therapy, as a side-effect of those very drugs!
Sadly, the pathology of Denialism is the real sickness here; whether that be the ultra conservative homophobe that is just denying their own homosexuality, or by extension many that believe AIDS is a punishment for behavior and not merely a mindless viral agent.
Why should anyone, in any capacity, be "forced" to divulge ANY information [including decrypt a hard drive]?
You have the right to remain silent, except when you don't?!?
I don't get it...
If the burden of proof is on the accuser, isn't it equally their burden to discover whom to accuse in the first place! I have never understood the whole judicial process of compelling people to testify to anything!
Freedom of Speech should apply equally to the freedom NOT to speak/testify, to anything!
"Solar" isn't just photovoltaics; it also includes heat.
Running steel rods through "black top" (or even concrete) highways and then concerting that heat into energy is trivial. Trivial that is, if it didn't require a bloated government contract to implement...
NC levies a Personal Property Tax. This used to cover everything from computers to Autos.
Now it is just levied against big ticket items like Autos, Boats, RVs, etc.; and this is on top of usage fees for these items.
NC residents are also supposed to list all Internet purchases on their yearly tax return forms; so I'm sure this information is being used to target audits of those people that never list these purchases.
As a member of the ACLU I'm glad they are trying to expose this practice for the money grab that it is.
As a programmer, I had to cringe at your use of the word "Incompetence". I think this is a bit harsh and here is why:
As the single programmer for several small projects, I make "assumptions" about what the client MIGHT want, all the time. If fact, it's usually the only way I can stay even current with what clients are asking for; that is to try to guess at what features they will ask for later on. Thus while I'm in the code (which getting to the point of actual coding can be the most time consuming piece of an application) I try to add what is asked for, and I also try to stub in as much "nice to haves" or "guess they will ask for" as possible. Thus when the client inevitably asks for such functionality I can just flip a switch and the functionality is there.
Granted, an experienced programmer codes in "switches" where a less experienced programmer [or a rushed programmer] might just make the functionality available without the client asking for it; but I would say this was more "exuberance" than "Incompetence".
I can not comment whether this specific issue is something nefarious, incompetence, or just programmer exuberance; but when individuals "competence" is on the line, I would urge you to lean towards giving them the benefit of the doubt and at least ALSO point out other alternatives than just "incompetence".
Regarding the H1-B visa "study" of the past, something tells me that it is more relational than causative...
The last time that we had such a large active H1-B visa program was during the tech boom, when the growth of new jobs outpaced tech company's ability to fill them with non-immigrants.
In the current situation, with the migration to "off-shoring" after the bust, there is already a glut of skilled tech workers here in America, which has even increased as those in the education system, slightly before and during the bust, are also now on the market as well.
I am not against immigration in general, and I highly support a fairly open startup Visa program, but I think the H1-B program needs to be careful to focus on filling any holes [medical?] vs being used in area where there is a glut of workers here already.
Is it even "legal" to limit what industries can hire via the current H1-B program?
I heard reported this morning that "How to Train your Dragon", pushed out Avatar from it's last remaining 3D theatres?
I'm thinking they may have confused pushing it out of the top ten with pushing it out of actual 3D theatres? I'd heard that was likely with Clash of the Titans, but wasn't sure if it would be until then?
People don't want to be limited by what someone ELSE tells them they should want to see. It needs to be understood that user customization is a right, not a privilege!
Here is the latest post to the author's Facebook page:
Fluff Busting Purity Well the corporate bullies have struck again, they are threatening to delete this page and shutdown my website too if their ridiculous demands are not met by 7pm GMT this evening. They demand I remove all references to "FB Purity" and also even more bizarrely "F*** B*** Purity" from both myfan page and my website
Seems like a thin case Facebook has, but I've seen more ridiculous cases win. Do they have a leg to stand on?
@I AM SPARTACUS: Wikipedia "content" is not considered a reference grade quality "source"; at best you can use it as an index card system to find actual "sources" in the footnotes.
@Overcase: You need to check-out Wine Allows you to run native Windows games on Linux [actually getting better frame-rates than on Windows OS]
Ahhhh, I think I see your mistake. It's one I make all the time.
See, you're assuming that people should be pragmatic.
Actually the "appearance" of being "the best" is way more important to these companies than actually BEING the best. Because people are such idiots, that they don't actually do any research when they subscribe to a service, they just believe the last thing they saw on TV.
It's an easy mistake to make, hope this clears it up for you.
;-)
Is there any Amazon/Kindle like stories involving Barnes and Noble's online library yet? As in them removing anything from your online library?
I'm contemplating the nook, so I started using the B&N online library yesterday, with both the PC and iTouch reader software.
So far, I am not impressed. The iTouch/iPhone app is the most confusing app I've ever seen so far. It definitely has that "defined by committee" feel about it.
I also don't understand their pricing strategy! A good many "new" books are $9.99 which is a very decent price for a hardback equivalent; but then when the paperback editiion comes out, the eBook pricing is only dropping to $7.99 and it's not eligible for the B&N discount even. Why would anyone want to pay MORE for an eBook version? AND to make it even worse, they don't offer any of the compilation editions available via eBook, so you have to pay for each individual eBook in a series ($23.97 for an eBook trilogy), when a compilation paperback is in the range of $9.99-$14.99
I still don't see it the way I want it, so I'm probably taking this off my Xmas list.
Demanding that everything be free just because someone somewhere can get round DRM is not a defensible position.
it's not a position. it's a fact of life. everything digital is already out there, for free, in the clear, for whoever wants to take it, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
it's a guarantee, a mathematical certainty, that content will be downloaded without authorization and no amount of whining will fix that. time and money invested attempts to control the copying of bits on the internet is time and money wasted, in fact, it might very well be time and money invested in ill will on the part of paying customers.
Give me a break. If "teens" are desperate enough to have to get their online porn in 1" thumbnails that show random clips of a video, then there are far greater issues at work than getting it via a MS search site.
Any "teen" that isn't smart enough to get around any filtering/limitations their parents put on them, isn't going to have their mind warped by tiny video thumbnails that merely titillate at best.
I've come to expect more from you guys than this...
Listen man, I really appreciate you. I think your analysis is absolutely SPOT ON.
But I have to take offense as this particular post! This post just smacks of sensationalism, especially when the quote you chose contains a technically incorrect statement, which by repeating you perpetuate.
AIDS is not a "thing" to be recreated at the sub-molecular level, AIDS is a condition, a Syndrome, caused by a thing called HIV. Being HIV positive is NOT having AIDS. HIV can lead to AIDS, but with today's treatment it is possible to live an entire life with HIV and never have AIDS.
I know this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the thrust of your post, but as you know we get our information from all sorts of different sources, so I urge you to please make sure that anything you perpetuate be as accurate as possible.
Re: AIDS denialism
Yet, even many advocates of this belief use the words HIV and AIDS interchangeably, which in-and-of itself shows their lack of credibility.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're so inclined) in the last 25 years, most of the advocates of these beliefs have died. In a total demonstration of denialism, the followers of these beliefs most often blame those deaths on "natural causes"; since dying from pneumonia actually is a "natural" common-enough cause of death among the overall human population. They have even modified their beliefs to explain more recent deaths of people that have embraced this belief system, thus stopping 10+ years of effective drug therapy, as a side-effect of those very drugs!
Sadly, the pathology of Denialism is the real sickness here; whether that be the ultra conservative homophobe that is just denying their own homosexuality, or by extension many that believe AIDS is a punishment for behavior and not merely a mindless viral agent.
5.1, 6.1, 7.1 encoded?
If so, I would actually consider buying these.
What about freedom of NO SPEECH?
You have the right to remain silent, except when you don't?!?
I don't get it...
If the burden of proof is on the accuser, isn't it equally their burden to discover whom to accuse in the first place! I have never understood the whole judicial process of compelling people to testify to anything!
Freedom of Speech should apply equally to the freedom NOT to speak/testify, to anything!
Re: Re: Solar road
Running steel rods through "black top" (or even concrete) highways and then concerting that heat into energy is trivial. Trivial that is, if it didn't require a bloated government contract to implement...
Personal Property Tax
Now it is just levied against big ticket items like Autos, Boats, RVs, etc.; and this is on top of usage fees for these items.
NC residents are also supposed to list all Internet purchases on their yearly tax return forms; so I'm sure this information is being used to target audits of those people that never list these purchases.
As a member of the ACLU I'm glad they are trying to expose this practice for the money grab that it is.
Incompetence is a strong word
As the single programmer for several small projects, I make "assumptions" about what the client MIGHT want, all the time. If fact, it's usually the only way I can stay even current with what clients are asking for; that is to try to guess at what features they will ask for later on. Thus while I'm in the code (which getting to the point of actual coding can be the most time consuming piece of an application) I try to add what is asked for, and I also try to stub in as much "nice to haves" or "guess they will ask for" as possible. Thus when the client inevitably asks for such functionality I can just flip a switch and the functionality is there.
Granted, an experienced programmer codes in "switches" where a less experienced programmer [or a rushed programmer] might just make the functionality available without the client asking for it; but I would say this was more "exuberance" than "Incompetence".
I can not comment whether this specific issue is something nefarious, incompetence, or just programmer exuberance; but when individuals "competence" is on the line, I would urge you to lean towards giving them the benefit of the doubt and at least ALSO point out other alternatives than just "incompetence".
Just get GreasMonkey
The first thought that comes to mind...
The last time that we had such a large active H1-B visa program was during the tech boom, when the growth of new jobs outpaced tech company's ability to fill them with non-immigrants.
In the current situation, with the migration to "off-shoring" after the bust, there is already a glut of skilled tech workers here in America, which has even increased as those in the education system, slightly before and during the bust, are also now on the market as well.
I am not against immigration in general, and I highly support a fairly open startup Visa program, but I think the H1-B program needs to be careful to focus on filling any holes [medical?] vs being used in area where there is a glut of workers here already.
Is it even "legal" to limit what industries can hire via the current H1-B program?
Today is my 9th anniversary, thanks for the gift idea TechDirt!
;-)
Heard reporting this morning that Dragon push out Avatar from it's last 3D cenema
I'm thinking they may have confused pushing it out of the top ten with pushing it out of actual 3D theatres? I'd heard that was likely with Clash of the Titans, but wasn't sure if it would be until then?
(untitled comment)
The stuff he's been spouting during the last year is just comically antiquated.
If I hear one more person say what a visionary he is, I think I'm going to puke.
-Zac Morris
Why not lite?
People don't want to be limited by what someone ELSE tells them they should want to see. It needs to be understood that user customization is a right, not a privilege!
Latest post to the Author's FB page
Fluff Busting Purity Well the corporate bullies have struck again, they are threatening to delete this page and shutdown my website too if their ridiculous demands are not met by 7pm GMT this evening. They demand I remove all references to "FB Purity" and also even more bizarrely "F*** B*** Purity" from both myfan page and my website
Seems like a thin case Facebook has, but I've seen more ridiculous cases win. Do they have a leg to stand on?
Point/Counter-Point
@Overcase: You need to check-out Wine Allows you to run native Windows games on Linux [actually getting better frame-rates than on Windows OS]
I see your mistake
Question regarding encryption
Are you required to actually login to your OS [for OS level encryption], or into any addon-encrypted repositories stored on the device?
B&N Online Library
Here here chris
Demanding that everything be free just because someone somewhere can get round DRM is not a defensible position. it's not a position. it's a fact of life. everything digital is already out there, for free, in the clear, for whoever wants to take it, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. it's a guarantee, a mathematical certainty, that content will be downloaded without authorization and no amount of whining will fix that. time and money invested attempts to control the copying of bits on the internet is time and money wasted, in fact, it might very well be time and money invested in ill will on the part of paying customers.
Give me a break
Any "teen" that isn't smart enough to get around any filtering/limitations their parents put on them, isn't going to have their mind warped by tiny video thumbnails that merely titillate at best.
I've come to expect more from you guys than this...
Please reconsider perpetuating this kind of crap...
But I have to take offense as this particular post! This post just smacks of sensationalism, especially when the quote you chose contains a technically incorrect statement, which by repeating you perpetuate.
AIDS is not a "thing" to be recreated at the sub-molecular level, AIDS is a condition, a Syndrome, caused by a thing called HIV. Being HIV positive is NOT having AIDS. HIV can lead to AIDS, but with today's treatment it is possible to live an entire life with HIV and never have AIDS.
I know this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the thrust of your post, but as you know we get our information from all sorts of different sources, so I urge you to please make sure that anything you perpetuate be as accurate as possible.
THANKS!
-Zac
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