Azalin

That's pretty cool - I was completely unaware of that. I remember MTV was pretty good in it's first year.

I never said anything about it not being probable cause if it looked as if you had a concealed weapon or were hanging out on a street corner known for it's drug activity. Situations like that can reasonably be considered to be probable cause. Simply looking "out of place" shouldn't be.

Here is a very good article explaining the shift to ICANN, the reasons for and against it, and what role it actually plays in terms of internet freedom. To those who fear other countries may attempt to regulate or censor content, I would point out that North Korea already has complete control of the web within their borders, and many other nations have been censoring content to their citizens for years. https://www.cnet.com/news/why-is-us-giving-up-control-of-the-internet-dns-icann-domain-ted-cruz-faq/

There's a way to counter even the dreaded Jedi mind trick:

I remember Blotto - never saw them, but always liked them. Who wouldn't like "I wanna be a lifeguard"? Blue Oyster Cult - I've seen them 21 times over the years. They rank among my very favorites.

Who would dare sue a Jedi?

It seems like it's a pretty good slight to demigods, too.

The issue with ICANN is being very heavily politicized right now. As I understand it, it hands over control of IP address allocation to individual countries, taking it away from government control and giving it to a non-governmental international agency. In other words, be skeptical of our politicians objecting to this, because as I understand the issue (and I'm still digging), it's not about them keeping the internet free at all.

Demi-God, eh? Hmmmmm.....I hadn't even considered assuming a pronoun that implied divinity. Or even the diabolical. I may have to alter mine - perhaps something like "His Most Unholy Highness".

This. Stop and frisk has had some demonstrably good results with regard to reducing street crime, but you just can't stop and search someone with no probable cause - and looking out of place or like a thug isn't probable cause. I would think that libertarians, conservatives, and liberals would all be in agreement on this.

You may as well - it's available now.

Genius? It's beyond that, it's just plain inspirational. From now on, I'm insisting on "His Highness".

So.....nowadays students go to school to teach everyone else what to think? edit: I just read a couple of the stories linked underneath this one, and the one featuring the Swarthmore student who had to leave campus is just too much. It's time that we at least started calling these people what they are: fascist bigots, because they're absolutely not liberals. They have no respect for freedom of speech, and certainly none at all for anyone who holds an opinion that differs from their own. So much so in fact that they do everything they can to silence any speech with which they disagree. It's a youth movement based on intolerance and exclusion, the exact opposite of what they claim it to be. They need to be identified as what they really are, publicly ridiculed for their bigotry, and denounced wherever they appear.

Worst: The Babies at the Century Theater back in the late 70's. I got in free and was still angry after that show. Best: A tie between Frank Zappa at the Century in '80 and Deep Purple at Merriweather Post, Maryland, in 1985. The level of musicianship displayed by both bands was way beyond anything I've seen outside of a symphony.

Perhaps it was a moon disguised as a sound stage.

I don't really trust the information at that link. According to the list, nobody's ever discovered Earth's moon.

We're not hated publicly at all. I don't know where you get that. My industry is just a business like any other - we provide a service and people either subscribe to us, or they subscribe to someone else. Sometimes customers are unhappy, and when that happens, it's our business to fix their problem. My company needs to provide better service at an affordable price to stay in business. it's not any more complicated than that. One of the things you fail to see is that the Net Neutrality regulations are not only pushing smaller ISPs out of service by making the demands on their networks impossible for them to meet, it's also preventing start ups from getting into the business, since the only way they have to provide last-mile delivery is through existing networks owned by bigger companies - in other words, no new infrastructure from the local central office to the field. The reason that other guy you know reacts the way he does is quite likely because you are choosing to believe information from blogs and sources outside the industry that have a political bent, rather than a technical one, while ignoring his experience, expertise, and insight. That is your prerogative, but if you choose to believe that crap, then be prepared to be ridiculed for it. The way you address the issue sounds an awful lot like you think that you're entitled to smokin' fast internet with limitless streaming. Well, you may as well feel that you deserve a smokin' fast car, with clear highways for blasting your entitled ass from place to place as you please. It's the same damned thing. Open your eyes and get over yourself. Life's too short to spend it with your head planted firmly between your butt cheeks.

I'm on facebook, but I don't have any information regarding my employer, and I never, ever post anything even remotely related to politics. I'm a local musician here in Austin, so my page is generally for contacts and promotion. The last thing I want to do is alienate people with my politics. Most of my facebook friends have no clue that I'm involved in telecom - they know me primarily as a guitarist, which is infinitely cooler than being known as a telecom guy, even to a nerd like me.

Oh, that sucks big time. I had seen a blurb on an untrustworthy web source that it would end after this season, but I figured it was nonsense because nobody else was saying it. Oh well, at least there's one more season to wrap things up.

I guess it serves a purpose in creating a public mud-pit if nothing else. It's also a great way to find out which of your friends and associates are morons - if you haven't identified them already, that is.

No, I'm pretty sure you mean chloroform.

Time Warner absolutely did have to limit data, at least they did in central Texas until they could increase their multiplexing capabilities. You can make fun of my credentials if it helps you feel better. This all started over your insistence that Net Neutrality was needed, yet not a regulatory takeover. Instead of just calling you an idiot, I made my best effort to correct a misconception on your part. Since then, it's become obvious that you a) are arguing from a strictly political point of view, b) have absolutely no freakin' clue what you're talking about, and c) you have no desire whatsoever to learn a damned thing. That, sir, is your problem. Perhaps I was misinformed, but I thought you raised cattle.

That reminds me of my facebook news feed. I'll post political opinion here, because a) it's a political forum, and b) because it's anonymous. The fact that so many people are so self-absorbed, self-righteous, and self-important as to think that people bow and scrape to their memes and opinions is pretty pathetic.

Yes, I do know the ins & outs of infrastructure, transport capability, and maintenance & upgrade deployment costs, because I do work in the industry. What you call my bias, I call my education and experience. If I'm not qualified to discuss this, then what the %@#$ is your qualification? I have not argued opinion. I've been correcting your misinformed and extraordinarily myopic opinion. If you choose to be a tree stump for the rest of your life, then that's your business.