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Comment Re: WINNING! (Score 1) 557

> The more competent military leaders, like Lee... FYI, the podcast ["Behind the Bastards"](https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fbehind-the-bastards%2Fid1373812661) is currently doing a 4 part deep dive on "Robert E. Lee: A Lifetime of Failure." I'm only up to the middle of part 3 with him starting the war as commander of Viginian forces (the Confederacy is still being formed) but the general vibe so far is "he is definitely not the genius the Lost Cause makes him out to be, but he's smart enough to pull back Jackson from invading Maryland and provoking the Union because they have no army yet." Worth a listen.

Comment Re: WINNING! (Score 1) 557

Regarding the apocalyptic mindset, I'd like to propose that if anyone ever makes a public claim of such they are required to read the [Wikipedia list of predicted apocalyptic events](https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FList_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events%3Fwprov%3Dsfla1) and write a 5 page essay about why they're right but all the hundreds of other folks were wrong. I'm sure it wouldn't change a single mind, but it'd generate some hilarious content. Aside: If you have a few minutes, check out the list. It actually comforts me that this is an intrinsic facet of human stupidity and not something new.

Comment Notes at work, Evernote otherwise (Score 1) 187

I used to keep very detailed spiral notebooks for work and a lined notebook to plan and track personal stuff via a simplified version of Franklin Planning. I still use the hard copy notebook for planning but personal notes go into Evernote now. Since I'm stuck behind a firewall and some horrible IT policies at my work now I use MS OneNote for my job specific stuff (my only option) and explicitly send copies of generically useful technical stuff I want later ("How to do XYZ in Linux...") to Evernote via the email interface. A silver lining to this is that when I leave this job there will be no question about what are my personal notes and what is my employer's - everything goes through the email filter and I've already confirmed its non-proprietary.

I find OneNote to be like most MS products - a bucket of features that feel half done because once it got launched MS felt it gave a "good enough" alternative to stop bleeding to competition and thus back burnered it. I particularly miss Evernote's tags and the ability to easily clip web items in different formats (caveat: perhaps plug ins exist for Chrome/Firefox but our IT policies don't let us use any plug ins). I also like that you can capture/download all your notes into an XML file in case the company disappears (although I've been bad about doing this on a regular basis). I *don't* like the Android app for it as it is very slow and the clipping options are lame - they seem to think I *always* want to copy the HTML on a web page as opposed to just copying a URL. Those minor issues aside, I like Evernote enough to pay the annual fee for it - big praise form a cheap bastard like myself.

Comment This isn't a victory for Behring-Breivik. (Score 3, Insightful) 491

Someone once pointed out that hoping a rapist gets raped in prison isn't a victory for his victim(s), because it somehow gives him what he had coming to him, but it's actually a victory for rape and violence. I wish I could remember who said that, because they are right. The score doesn't go Rapist: 1 World: 1. It goes Rape: 2.

What this man did is unspeakable, and he absolutely deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. If he needs to be kept away from other prisoners as a safety issue, there are ways to do that without keeping him in solitary confinement, which has been shown conclusively to be profoundly cruel and harmful.

Putting him in solitary confinement, as a punitive measure, is not a victory for the good people in the world. It's a victory for inhumane treatment of human beings. This ruling is, in my opinion, very good and very strong for human rights, *precisely* because it was brought by such a despicable and horrible person. It affirms that all of us have basic human rights, even the absolute worst of us on this planet.

User Journal

Journal Journal: in which i am a noob all over again 17

I haven't posted a journal here in almost three years, because I couldn't find the button to start a new entry. ...yeah, it turns out that it's at the bottom of the page.

So... hi, Slashdot. I used to be really active here, but now I mostly lurk and read. I've missed you.

Education

Quantum Physics For Everybody 145

fiziko writes in with a self-described "blatant self-promotion" of a worthwhile service for those wishing to go beyond Khan Academy physics: namely Bureau 42's Summer School. "As those who subscribe to the 'Sci-Fi News' slashbox may know, Bureau 42 has launched its first Summer School. This year we're doing a nine-part series (every Monday in July and August) taking readers from high school physics to graduate level physics, with no particular mathematical background required. Follow the link for part 1."

Comment Re:Markups (Score 3, Insightful) 339

Imagine that, after buying the car, you turned the key to start the car and instead a lawyer popped out of the glove box holding out a contract insisting that you were not allowed to start the engine unless you signed it. That's not fair. You have to be permitted to decline that contract, and if the engine manufacturer refuses to let you use that engine as a result, they should buy it back from you.

Comment Re:Wow (Score -1, Redundant) 341

No. No, I don't. I don't even slightly get it.

For starters, why are you referring to a date in 1997 as if it hasn't yet occurred?

Next, why did you end your second sentence with the word "too"? Were you addressing an individual other than who you addressed in your first sentence?

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