>> ^pyloricvalve:

Just seems like straight up broken windows fallacy. If we spent 18 months preparing for war with aliens we might all be employed but we'd end up with a bunch of weapons pointed at the sky. Otherwise we could have spent the time making ipods, cars or whatever good or service you might want. Doesn't what he's saying just sound wrong? It clearly would not be a good thing for the world to spend 18 months that way..


I think that's the real problem with the broken window "fallacy" -- it assumes that as your starting point you already have full employment and no idle infrastructure or capital.

That's not true in our situation at all. Unemployment is around 10%, factories are being left idle, and companies are sitting on mountains of cash.

The idea here is to get people back to work doing something, because even if they're producing things there isn't a high demand for (windows, alien-fighting spaceships), it's not like those things come at the cost of the other things they would've otherwise been producing, since they're not producing anything at all right now.

Oh, and in the case of alien-fighting spaceships, there's a pretty high chance that the technology and industrial infrastructure that's developed to build them will be able to be re-purposed for consumer goods once the alien threat is shown to be fake.

Ideally instead of faking an alien invasion, we'd just have the government go and invest directly in our infrastructure (transportation, education, power generation), but without the alien threat it doesn't seem like Congress is willing to engage in any more fiscal stimulus, no matter how economically sound it would be.

Just seems like straight up broken windows fallacy. If we spent 18 months preparing for war with aliens we might all be employed but we'd end up with a bunch of weapons pointed at the sky. Otherwise we could have spent the time making ipods, cars or whatever good or service you might want. Doesn't what he's saying just sound wrong? It clearly would not be a good thing for the world to spend 18 months that way..

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Unfortunately, yes. Advertisers pay for their content to be noticed. I'm just glad we have an option, through charter membership, for Sifters to bypass all of it.>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^dag:
It's a devils bargain - without the ads, VideoSift would cease to exist.>> ^xxovercastxx:
>> ^dag:
In our defense - I don't think we have any more ads than a standard news site. Even communities have to pay bills.
I can respect that you've got bills to pay. I also do not mean to sound unappreciative that you do all this at no cost to us (and little to no profit to yourself).
The ads are just gigantic. I estimate that the initial view when I load a video page is 1/3rd ads. To make it worse, some are intermingled with the content (between the video and comments) and then there's the non-ad clutter. Do we really need a link to Like Videosift on both the top of the screen as well as the side? The giveaway announcement above the video? That's more prominent than polls which change the rules of the site. The Login with Facebook button could be on the login form page rather than the head of every page.
Some people probably don't consider all of these things clutter because they probably use some of them on a regular basis but when they're all thrown in together they start to remind me of... well... http://videosift.com/video/What-if-Microsoft-designed-the-iPod-packagi
ng


But do they have to be so obtrusive?

>> ^dag:

It's a devils bargain - without the ads, VideoSift would cease to exist.>> ^xxovercastxx:
>> ^dag:
In our defense - I don't think we have any more ads than a standard news site. Even communities have to pay bills.
I can respect that you've got bills to pay. I also do not mean to sound unappreciative that you do all this at no cost to us (and little to no profit to yourself).
The ads are just gigantic. I estimate that the initial view when I load a video page is 1/3rd ads. To make it worse, some are intermingled with the content (between the video and comments) and then there's the non-ad clutter. Do we really need a link to Like Videosift on both the top of the screen as well as the side? The giveaway announcement above the video? That's more prominent than polls which change the rules of the site. The Login with Facebook button could be on the login form page rather than the head of every page.
Some people probably don't consider all of these things clutter because they probably use some of them on a regular basis but when they're all thrown in together they start to remind me of... well... http://videosift.com/video/What-if-Microsoft-designed-the-iPod-packaging



But do they have to be so obtrusive?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

It's a devils bargain - without the ads, VideoSift would cease to exist.>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^dag:
In our defense - I don't think we have any more ads than a standard news site. Even communities have to pay bills.
I can respect that you've got bills to pay. I also do not mean to sound unappreciative that you do all this at no cost to us (and little to no profit to yourself).
The ads are just gigantic. I estimate that the initial view when I load a video page is 1/3rd ads. To make it worse, some are intermingled with the content (between the video and comments) and then there's the non-ad clutter. Do we really need a link to Like Videosift on both the top of the screen as well as the side? The giveaway announcement above the video? That's more prominent than polls which change the rules of the site. The Login with Facebook button could be on the login form page rather than the head of every page.
Some people probably don't consider all of these things clutter because they probably use some of them on a regular basis but when they're all thrown in together they start to remind me of... well... http://videosift.com/video/What-if-Microsoft-designed-the-iPod-packagi
ng

>> ^dag:

In our defense - I don't think we have any more ads than a standard news site. Even communities have to pay bills.

I can respect that you've got bills to pay. I also do not mean to sound unappreciative that you do all this at no cost to us (and little to no profit to yourself).

The ads are just gigantic. I estimate that the initial view when I load a video page is 1/3rd ads. To make it worse, some are intermingled with the content (between the video and comments) and then there's the non-ad clutter. Do we really need a link to Like Videosift on both the top of the screen as well as the side? The giveaway announcement above the video? That's more prominent than polls which change the rules of the site. The Login with Facebook button could be on the login form page rather than the head of every page.

Some people probably don't consider all of these things clutter because they probably use some of them on a regular basis but when they're all thrown in together they start to remind me of... well... http://videosift.com/video/What-if-Microsoft-designed-the-iPod-packaging

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Love this joke. For some reason I have it in my iPod as "the funniest joke ever told".

>> ^peggedbea:

i definitely want something faster to access than a laptop, ill get phone calls from people who want appointments while im shopping for groceries or picking my kids up from camp, i want to be able to open the calendar app quickly and book an appointment. also when im checking clients out at my wellness center and i have to wait for 3 other people who work out of there to check out their clients before i can use the comp to check my client out and see my schedule to book their next appointment.... and i see a laptop being too bulky to set on a dresser and play ambient music during sessions.
and gaahhh the ridiculousness of CD's that get lost, or scratched or borrowed (i don't mind sharing, it's just that they always seem to return scratched)... so sure i could get an ipod, but id rather just buy one gadget to take care of everything...
also, sometimes at night when i'm closing up or batching out or whatever i like to sit in the floor and figure out what stock i have/need, how much money i have/owe/made that day, what percentage of it i want to reinvest and what new equipment i'd like to get when its time... instead of doing that with tons of tiny pieces of paper and my shitty memory to rely on, i think a tablet in my lap with my bank accounts and quick books and schedule and the websites of my suppliers on it would minimize my time at work.
im so ridiculously right brained i have to work super hard to stay organized and on top of my business so i don't revert to my ways of winging it on the fly and crash my business into the ground or get so stressed out by all the psychic clutter that i burn it all down catharticly
also, how reliable is it in terms of memory? am i going to overload it making it play music and book appointments all day? is it going to crash in the middle of my last session and force me to pull out the 1990's technology?
>> ^dag:
Laptops are just so damn cheap these days, it's true - and generally a lot more functionality than a tablet.
The benefit of a tablet over a laptop for me are two things:
1. Form factor - I can take it to bed and read it like a book, whip it out on the bus - or in economy class seats on a plane - with a lot less fuss than a laptop.
2. Quickness - I don't mean processor speed, I mean just getting to a bit of functionality that I need at that moment. If I want to open a calendar app on a laptop, I need to open up the laptop, wait for it to unhibernate- hunt for the app and then wait for it to launch. About a minute to do that. Versus about 10 seconds on tablet.



A big part of this for you is how the thing feels in your hand and how it handles in the scenarios you envisage. The operating system is quite solid I'm led to believe. It should be very reliable.

But I'm not sure how well joined up it will be if you're trying to run an entire business of it where you need data from one app to cross over to another. This strikes me as fundamentally basic and obviously straightforward on a personal computer but you'll need an actual living, breathing ipad owner to confirm this is possible.

i definitely want something faster to access than a laptop, ill get phone calls from people who want appointments while im shopping for groceries or picking my kids up from camp, i want to be able to open the calendar app quickly and book an appointment. also when im checking clients out at my wellness center and i have to wait for 3 other people who work out of there to check out their clients before i can use the comp to check my client out and see my schedule to book their next appointment.... and i see a laptop being too bulky to set on a dresser and play ambient music during sessions.

and gaahhh the ridiculousness of CD's that get lost, or scratched or borrowed (i don't mind sharing, it's just that they always seem to return scratched)... so sure i could get an ipod, but id rather just buy one gadget to take care of everything...

also, sometimes at night when i'm closing up or batching out or whatever i like to sit in the floor and figure out what stock i have/need, how much money i have/owe/made that day, what percentage of it i want to reinvest and what new equipment i'd like to get when its time... instead of doing that with tons of tiny pieces of paper and my shitty memory to rely on, i think a tablet in my lap with my bank accounts and quick books and schedule and the websites of my suppliers on it would minimize my time at work.

im so ridiculously right brained i have to work super hard to stay organized and on top of my business so i don't revert to my ways of winging it on the fly and crash my business into the ground or get so stressed out by all the psychic clutter that i burn it all down catharticly

also, how reliable is it in terms of memory? am i going to overload it making it play music and book appointments all day? is it going to crash in the middle of my last session and force me to pull out the 1990's technology?
>> ^dag:

Laptops are just so damn cheap these days, it's true - and generally a lot more functionality than a tablet.
The benefit of a tablet over a laptop for me are two things:
1. Form factor - I can take it to bed and read it like a book, whip it out on the bus - or in economy class seats on a plane - with a lot less fuss than a laptop.
2. Quickness - I don't mean processor speed, I mean just getting to a bit of functionality that I need at that moment. If I want to open a calendar app on a laptop, I need to open up the laptop, wait for it to unhibernate- hunt for the app and then wait for it to launch. About a minute to do that. Versus about 10 seconds on tablet.

Actually, this protest has its roots months ago.

A bunch of happy libertarians wanted to celebrate Jefferson's birthday. So they planned a little midnight dance party, with iPods so no music could be heard, done quietly to minimize the impact, thinking that there wouldn't be any tourists to disturb. No harm was intended, it was just a little celebration.

They were still loud though, and they were asked to leave. Everyone left, loudly protesting but no big whoop, except one woman, who got arrested.

I don't know exactly what transpired next, but she sued and lost, and appealed and lost.

It was the loss on appeal that led Adam Kokesh to post a YouTube invitation to anyone to come to the Memorial at a specific time, during the day. That is what you see at the other video -- what happened with the public demonstration.

As I posted on the first video:
For those interested, here are links to the original flash mob event that precipitated the chain of events that led to this action:

Part I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-IpdeMqlkM&feature=player_embedded

Part II -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrSAJ1b6Go (the first person you see is the woman who ends up getting arrested at the end of this part)

And here is the original facebook invitation to the first birthday celebration:

"It's a secret birthday/dance party thrown by a group of flashmobbing libertarians. Tell friends about it if they are 1. Awesome. 2. Can keep their mouth shut 3. libertarians

Sweet dance moves wouldn't hurt either.

It works best if we all listen to the same song (nominate on the wall) but since libertarians are "free to choose" come prepared to listen to whatever makes you happy."



>> ^dag:

^Agreed. And remember that this video has to be viewed in context, having watched this video first: http://videosift.com/video/Police-State-Arrested-For-Dan
cing-in-the-Jefferson-Memorial
This second video is a direct response to the first - these are people putting themselves at risk of being arrested - to support the innocent people who were assaulted and arrested for shuffling their feet a bit in the previous video.

This is like those Begat bible verses:

1. A group of admirers of Jefferson decide to celebrate his birthday at midnight, when tourist traffic is low, by "dancing" with iPods plugged into their ears. The original facebook page invitation, slightly edited:
"It's a secret birthday/dance party thrown by a group of flashmobbing libertarians. Tell friends about it if they are 1. Awesome. 2. Can keep their mouth shut 3. libertarians

Sweet dance moves wouldn't hurt either.

It works best if we all listen to the same song (nominate on the wall) but since libertarians are "free to choose" come prepared to listen to whatever makes you happy."

Seems to me it was a sweet idea to honor someone they admired, knowing it probably wasn't okay (secret, going at midnight, they knew they were being naughty, but no big whoop.) No disrespect intended.

2. Disrespect, however, was perceived by others. The video shows a party-like atmosphere, which attracted attention enough for the partiers to be asked to leave.

3. Being asked to leave was perceived as being disrespectful to the rights of the partiers.

4. Not leaving (the woman who was arrested, not the guy filming, who left) was perceived as disrespectful.

5. Being arrested was perceived as disrespectful.

6. Which led to a series of other events, all of which were perceived as disrespectful by one "side" or the other.

Perceived disrespect begats perceived disrespect begats perceived disrespect.

Who is going to step outside this cycle and say, hey, can we go about this differently? Because going on like this perpetuates nothing but bad feelings and a lot of lawyer fees.

We have tested on a ton of iPod touch 3rd gens. Hmm. Why haven't you updated your iOS? It might be that, but I'll forward it to the programmers.

Does it matter which level you choose?

Thanks for the feedback.

It crashes for me at the loading screen after I select the level/map.

iOS 4.1 on iPod touch 3rd gen.

Now... that... is.... awesome... if I can get the mp3 of it, it's going straight into my iPod

>> ^quantumushroom:

Sigh. Do you really want to go toe-to-toe, STINK?
Here's Barack, the clown YOUR sycophantic media elected.
Palin said "Squirmish?" Got it. Izzat anything like BHO's CORPSE-MAN?

“Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.” --BHO

“Thank you, Sioux City. … I said it wrong. I’ve been in Iowa for too long. I’m sorry.” -- said in front of Sioux Falls, SOUTH DAKOTA audience

“In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died — an entire town destroyed.”
---May 2007 speech. Actual death toll: 12.

A "few" other gaffes here.

"In their first meeting, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave Obama a carved ornamental penholder from the timbers of the anti-slavery ship HMS Gannet. Obama’s gift in return: 25 DVDs that don't work in Europe. His gift a month later to Queen Elizabeth doesn’t quite make up for the snub, either: an iPod full of his own speeches."

"The Chicago Tribune reported this little-noticed nugget about a fake autobiographical detail in Obama’s Dreams from My Father: 'Then, there’s the copy of Life magazine that Obama presents as his racial awakening at age 9. In it, he wrote, was an article and two accompanying photographs of an African-American man physically and mentally scarred by his efforts to lighten his skin. In fact, the Life article and the photographs don’t exist, say the magazine’s own historians.”

Minus the fibs, I couldn't care less if Barack steps on his Telepromptongue now and again. It's the whole inexperienced-total-failure-as-President part that bothers me.
PALIN/FIRE HYDRANT 2012


http://politicalhumor.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/top10bushisms.htm

People make mistakes. Sucks being human doesn't it?