dconway

I could just as easily say that whenever one argues with a non-libertarian, he or she lays out an endless series of straw men.

See how that works? "Your argument doesn't accurately represent my viewpoint" is what both No True Scotsman and straw men are about. So rather than opting out of an argument by calling "logical fallacy" on someone, why not clear up the definitions and be sure of what each other are talking about?

More legislation is almost never a good solution. It'll just encourage the parasites to get more creative and hurt the legitimate journalists.

Good point. The two paragraphs at the bottom state that the FBI's app will likely only use public information. Profile set to private? You're golden.

You're not the only one. The ads are often funny, or beautiful. Flashing lights (in my opinion) help give cities that city feeling.

The design of the controller is obviously very similar to a playstation controller. I don't know much about IP/copyright/patent. What are the chances of this guy getting sued by Sony?

I program. I am able to be social at a basic, perhaps proficient level. Frankly, I sometimes... no, often... find relating to other people, especially other non-nerds or non-programmers to be a real hassle, something I have to put effort into rather than just letting it flow.

With other nerds / programmers, it's easy: we share common interests. Yet where are the social venues for nerds and programmers? All in places unseen by more uh... "normal" (don't kill me plz) people. Maybe this is where the antisocial perception comes from.

When they make one that's safe for implant, I am so getting it.

Forget electric cars. I'm building an Iron Man suit.

One aspect of design that's been on our mind has been naming our product. Any general guidelines about naming websites would also be appreciated. (I've read GoDaddy's suggestions, but useful as they are, they're so sparse.)

Please. All that Google paranoia belongs in the same thread as UFOs and bigfoot. Let Google and Facebook's linguistic algorithms scan my every email. So long as there's no human doing it, I could care less.

Ugh. What a depressing way to think about college. But you're right. My English degree isn't doing jack for me. In my free time during college, I actually studied theology, computer science, and martial arts. They are what should be written on my diploma, and what I'd rather show to potential employers (well, not the theology part so much).

I'm doing a less intense version of this now. Taking breaks (sometimes whole-day breaks) helps prevent burnout. Nontechnical breaks are especially good: house chores, exercise, meals. (I actually let the dishes pile up a bit so I can wash them as a break and come back feeling productive.)

I'm reminded of something I studied in a Communication Theory course in college, but can't remember the title of, and so am having a difficult time find on Google. Some psych researcher / professor proposed that there were four strategies used to deal with cognitive dissonance. The most effective of them was taking what the opposition states as a negative and turning it into a positive. For example:

Opposition: X presidential candidate wants to cut Y from the budget. That's terrible since it will hurt the poor the most. You: Actually, it's great. If you look at Z statistic, you'll see that removing Y helps the rich AND the poor. Opposition: Huh, so it does.

This is obviously way simplified, but does anyone know the name of that theory?

Sweet. I've always wanted to look inside people's pores.