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4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
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Slothrop
02/27/09

In reply to 4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
Just to add another $.02, I really, really like Pattern Recognition and think it's Gibson's best writing. But I cannot find a way into Spook Country and having just recently finished The Difference Engine, cannot understand why that book is popular. But I'll buy anything by Gibson.

As far as Rainbow's End, I think it's a good look at the future--I do think we'll be wearing soon enough--but the whole tragic devouring of books plot line left me cold. And I am a bibliophile.
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ctaylor
02/26/09

In reply to 4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
I'm a huge Vinge fan, but Rainbow's End left me cold.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
02/26/09

@ctaylor: I've found over the years that I admire Vinge's writing more than I enjoy it.
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Slothrop
02/27/09

@ctaylor:

I think Vinge is in the PKD range--always great ideas and some good to great writing, but often not.
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CSX321
02/26/09

In reply to 4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
I love Vinge, and I have Rainbow's End on my to-read list. I'm trying to read Infinite Jest right now, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it? I may have to read some Hitchhiker's Guide just to flush my brain out.
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Plague
02/26/09

@CSX321:

Yes, it's worth it.
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Slothrop
02/27/09

@CSX321:

Infinite Jest is soooo worth it, though the ending takes some time to sink in. And Dave was right on about the rise of HD and what it means for actors and why videophones won't realy work--IJ is scifi.
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Pope John Peeps II
02/26/09

In reply to 4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
really? Pattern Recognition? I mean, it was okay but by no means is it a MUST-READ book. There's got to be something out there more "must-read"-ish than Pattern Recognition.
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Rasselas
02/26/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I liked it better than Spook Country (which I liked perfectly well, just not quite as much).
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worrytron
02/26/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I couldn't stand Pattern Recognition, and not the least because i work in video post-production, and nothing about that whole viral video production process made any sense. Not even on a 'this isn't possible yet' level, it just read like he'd never spoken to someone who does it. Maybe i'm being too pedantic, but i wasn't feeling it.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
02/26/09

@worrytron: I haven't read it, since the reviews didn't make it sound like I'd really like it, and this makes me even more wary. I used to do a skosh of video editing myself so I'd probably hate it too.
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Slatz_Grobnik
02/27/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Something I've noted about Pattern Recognition is that it has a high "conversion" factor. I know a number of people, who are nominally adverse to science fiction, but devoured Pattern Recognition with serious speed and fervor.
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Andrew Liptak
02/26/09

In reply to 4 Science Fiction Books Every Social Media Junkie Must Read
Hm, Charles Stross's Halting State isn't mentioned? That's a huge oversight.
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corpore-metal
01/15/09

In reply to Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
What's the biggest threat to children online? Advertising.

Really. Think about it.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@corpore-metal: Point on the doll to where advertising touched you, please.
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Plague
01/15/09

In reply to Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
Hey, someone post the FARK owl going O RLY?
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Belabras ate my dingo!
01/15/09

@Plague:

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Belabras ate my dingo!
01/15/09

@Belabras:

Hunh, something weird going on with Gawker and images.
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Plague
01/15/09

@Belabras

Yeah, the comments section have been effed up for the past two days on Gawker. Though no word why.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

In reply to Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
Cyberbullying... Jesus. I see this on the Today show all the time. Do they steal their Cyber Lunch Money? Here's a bit of advice for kids getting cyberbullied. The next day, at school, go beat the shit out of the kid doing it to you.

Not to sound like a grumpy old dude, but in my day, when I would get bullied it was a real and tangible threat that I couldn't turn off. So I learned to stand up for myself and all was right with the world.
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LittleDragon
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn: And what happens when the bullies are bigger then you and/or there are more of them. Some times standing up for ones self just means they can beat you down again.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@LittleDragon: So you're just saying you should give up and take it? They're always bigger than you, and there are always more of them, that's why they're bullies.

You don't need to win, you just need to shock them into realizing that leaving you alone is the path of least resistance. Or, if you don't want to fight, which is understandable, you remove yourself from an online presence keeping in mind the old, sticks 'n stones bit.
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Belabras ate my dingo!
01/15/09

@LittleDragon:

Planning and preparedness.

My metal lunchbox, wielded properly, helped me put the fear of god into kids 2 grades above me. No joke. I chased those jerks up a frickin' tree.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@Belabras: See?! I'm telling you, it's a classic kids movie/cartoon plot about beating up the bully and unmasking him as a wimp, but I'm telling you, unless he's a total thug it usually works. The only reason they pick on you is because they think they can get away with it. Change their mind on that fact and they stop.
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LittleDragon
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn: I'm just talking about the real world because you can just log off the internet for the online bit. But I was subjected to the kind of bullying that leaves scars and it didn't matter if I stood up to them or not. I was just wondering what your advice would be for the situation where standing up for your self and/or fighting back is just as bad as doing nothing.
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alphanumeric1971
01/15/09

@LittleDragon: Hire a bigger kid to kick their ass...
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@LittleDragon: I'm talking about the real world too. It always matters if you stand up because even if you get the snot kicked out of you at least you can tell yourself you tried.

I remember one day being chased down the hallway by two kids who were coming to beat me up. I could lose them on the stairs, but was slow as dirt on straightaways. They caught up with me outside the gym. My out of shape self couldn't run anymore so I braced myself for a whupping. The big one went to kick me and out of nowhere I grabbed his leg when it hit my ribs and held on, kicked out his other leg from under him and he landed hard on his tailbone. I thought I was going to get it from the other one when he just started to laugh at his friend on the floor. It was then that I realized that bullies are all pathetic morons with something to prove and the second they can't prove that anymore to you is the day they leave you alone. Of course there are always dangerous and violent nutbags and there your only option is the authorities or to out-crazy them (I've done that too) but use caution when doing so.

I'm not saying what you did was wrong, or that you could have done anything differently, and I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I just would want to tell anyone going through this that in my experience, never give an inch, if only for your own state of mind down the road. Oh and make sure to get your friends, no matter how small or few they may be, to back you up. Oh and repeated viewings of Lindsay Andersons film "if..." is good for the soul.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@alphanumeric1971: Or that would work too. Remember, there are no rules.
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tetracycloide
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn: i think the greater point is that really only works on bullies that aren't specifically trying to hurt you.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@tetracycloide: Nah, I'm not special, it worked for Belabras as well apparently.

There is no problem that can't be overcome with a generous amount of creativity and a modicum of violence.
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Plague
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn:

or a level of insanity that the bullies don't understand.
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Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn: I hope you don't have kids. You know what some of them do now? Carry guns and knives. Send your kid into that one.
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LittleDragon
01/15/09

@Grrsn Dn: Unfortunately I had no friends at the time and the bit about telling your self you tried does not really help when you know you are going to get beaten up if you leave your house. Every one's experiences are different so our solutions and out comes will be different.

Thanks for the suggestion of "if..." I had never heard of it before. I will have to check it out.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@Shamoononon has hebetudinous dog ★★★★★: I went to school 1 mile from the north border of Washington DC when it was still the murder capitol of the world. They had guns and knives in my school. Many times after school across the street where security couldn't leagally get to them there would be a gang from another school waiting for the gang from our school. There were stabbings and people had guns in my school. Your point? It wasn't the bullies who had the guns though. I think Columbine unfortunately proved that.

@LittleDragon: It sounds like you had it rough and I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is pick on you about getting picked on. I hope that you've moved on somewhat and take comfort in knowing that all the people who bullied me 10-20 years ago are absolutely nowhere now and I have a great life that has been motivated by showing up those douchenozzles.

@Plague: But Plague may have the best advice. Looking like someone who may snap any second saved my ass continuously throughout highschool.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@LittleDragon: ah, I meant to add after saying my life was going well, that I'm sure yours will too and one day you'll run into one of those bullies as you pass them on their way in for meth rehab while you're off to do something grand.
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ManchuCandidate
01/15/09

In reply to Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
That means the 'tubes for kiddies is a lot like Ender's Game's Battle School?
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ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@ManchuCandidate: Although with more fatalities I suspect.
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Log1c
01/15/09

In reply to Harvard Task Force Uncovers Biggest Future Threat to Children Online
When I was a kid we searched out upsetting content.. and then set it as desktop backgrounds and screen savers and homepages.
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Gann
01/15/09

@Log1c: I distinctly remember being 'bearded' my freshman year. I naively ran an inoffensive looking .exe I found on the dorm's intranet that replaced your windows background, screensaver, startup and shutdown images with the nastiest, hairiest vagina I have ever seen. When you cleaned it out, it also put a .bat in your startup that would change it all back when you restarted.
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Belabras ate my dingo!
01/15/09

@Gann:

Delicious!

Actually, I've heard of a similar trick that involved clearing out all task bars and shortcuts and just showing a blue screen of death screencap.
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goldfarb
01/15/09

@Belabras: the best one is, on a windows box, replacing the background with a mac desktop
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Log1c
01/15/09

@goldfarb: Hilarious, but not dirty enough.

Our current schemes involve setting either the homepage, or an activeX desktop to, including but not limited to:

meatspin.com

lemonparty.org

2girls1cup.com

etc.
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Gann
01/15/09

@Log1c: I had a boss once that got a kick out of setting mine to brotherlover.com
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
01/15/09

@Log1c: When I was a kid we wrote programs for little games and stored data on cassette tapes and called the internet Bulletin Boards.

i'm getting old.
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tetracycloide
01/15/09

@Log1c: there was a link to a relativly harmless HTML page that would continually open dozens of gay porn pop-ups and blared 'I'M LOOKING AT GAY PORN' over the speakers as soon as it was opened that made the rounds at my high school two or three times.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
11/19/08

In reply to A Future Where Actors are Robots
They've been filling much of the cast of Heroes for a couple seasons now.
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