htsh

Founding charter schools is only part of the solution. You still have to get parents to send their kids to the schools, and you have to get the kids to want to go, and those are tough hurdles to overcome in a place like Newark.

Like it or not, the public school system is what many kids in Newark are stuck with, and it's hard to see how something like this will not help considerably.

And I'm not sure if I agree with your blanket statement re: our public school system, as much of it is functioning just fine. Parts of it are broken and corrupt, yes, but I don't think I'd go as far as comparing them to third world governments.

This is a pretty cynical take on things. Newark has improved considerably over the last decade and hopefully things like this will speed up the process.

The Ironbound district is coming along nicely, with restaurants and art galleries popping up around large corporate offices, many escaping nyc's high rent. I'd recommend visiting if you haven't been recently.

And yes, a lot of work is still necessary. It doesn't mean we should give up on it. If anything, I'd argue we should pay more attention to it if things are as bad as you think they are.

Out of curiosity, why the knock on Edison?

No, he didn't but many took it as such. And I recall in a recent interview that he was disappointed that it was taken as inspiration by many people (as the author here).

Is it just me, or did this used to work before? I thought you could always play the music off someone else's iPod without being able to copy it.

I'm curious if anyone knows, how far does Vibram's IP protection go?

It sounds like here these were counterfeit Vibrams (holding themselves out as real) but can someone else make gloved shoes (with individual toes) or do these guys have a lockdown on that entire concept?

I've been using pen-tech liquiphite pencils for nearly a year now. How are these different?

Is it possible to move your own mp3's to the phone?

I think it's both Liberal and Libertarian. And Ron Paul is quite popular there.

Also, there's still a difference between something that happens there and what the Digg Patriots are doing in that they are conspiring to game the system. There's no such equivalent thing going on at Reddit.

Edit: I think we see the natural split of progressive v. libertarian on reddit, and both parties are represented very well. Perhaps there's not a neo-conservative/fox news voice, but I would not be quick to blame that on some sort of conspiracy as much as I would on the difficulty one has reasoning with these sorts of extremists. They are not there to engage in dialog as much as they are there to poison it.

Agreed, but I think this is a little beyond self-segration. If they just wanted to self-segregate, they'd find stories they agree with and digg them up, but extending that to also ruin other people's discussion is another thing. They are gathering with the explicit goal of drowning out other voices outside of their self-segregated group.

Perhaps another reason reddit isn't as susceptible is that it allows for user-created subreddits where like-minded folks can form such hives.

Yeah as a user since 2007, it went noticeably conservative in the last year or so (which is when many of us moved to Reddit). And it's not just conservative leaning but really pointed partisan stuff.

I hope they can figure out a way to solve this sort of thing going forward. And I'm curious if their choice of either digg/bury instead of upvote/downvote makes it easier to game. I believe it does, as these folks haven't been able to do the same with reddit. I'm not sure, but I believe a story is gone once it gets a certain number of "buries" whereas on reddit a story with a lot of downvotes can be easily resurrected by upvotes. (though I could be wrong about this?)

I agree that it's a bit dodgy but his evidence looks pretty sound and I'm happy I read this, as I had installed the other "Backgrounds" wallpaper application which apparently collects personal information.

actually "niggardly" and "niggle" have related etymology, neither related to the n-bomb.

I read about the etymology -- we concluded that early on in the discussion but the point was that there's a recent usage different from it's dictionary definition. I think urbandictionary is perfect to illustrate this sort of secondary usage.

Also, the salad example is a bit weird as sexual innuendo and racist slurs are beasts of a different kind as there's usually a specific target to ethnic slurs as opposed to innuendo like "laying pipe" or "tossing salad."

But I agree that there's a limit to such sort of political correctness. In this case, for example, it's clear that I'd never ever use "niggardly" in any context whatsoever (and I'd find a writer that does tremendously ignorant) but I can see that the word "niggle" is a bit more on the fence. And I've seen it used on Engadget & other blogs, even if magazines and newspapers won't do it.

Personally, I think it's wise to avoid it as I have heard it used in a tremendously racist way. And again, everyone has different experiences in this regard. I do think, however, that it's a bit odd to get offended when someone points out this kind of usage. At the very least, we know that it's happening.

But at least you do agree and have heard it's used in this way. It's happening, though, for sure, and how we react is unclear.

I guess the interesting question raised here b/w me and Confuzatron is whether we should avoid certain words once racists appropriate them. I see his point that it's kinda like the tail wagging the dog if we go down that road.

But I do not think it's valid to say that the n-bomb is no longer used in a racist way by racists. And there's a lot of evidence everywhere that says otherwise.

I don't think you understood or read my original point. I never said folks "can't use" any word. I said the word is "troubling" because racists today are using it to describe African American babies. And that magazines and newspapers have avoided the words at question here for the same reason (check out the wiki link about the controversy).

I was just pointing it out. I'm not really offended by it but I do agree with many that the words "niggardly" and "niggle" would preferably not be used where other words suffice. Otherwise you end up in silly conversations like this one.

And Buffie has nothing to do with anything and isn't really a valid analogy though I appreciate the humor here. If you can show me actual usage of those words in the way you describe, then yeah I'd avoid those too. Again, go ahead and use them if you want.

Even Confuzatron isn't denying that it's used in this way. His stance is that he doesn't think it's wise to stop using a word because morons are mis-using it. That I understand and I respect considerably more than a position that simply denies that it's happening because someone hasn't seen it happen.

I'm actually coming around to the Confuzatron position. If we let idiots and racists dictate what words mean, our language suffers for it.

But again there are 5 definitions in the link above. Racist people use the word to describe African American babies or as a substitute for another considerably more offensive word. And again, I didn't say that nobody should use it ever, just that the word evokes a troubling reaction in me because of the racist ways in which it is used. I completely understand that many won't have the same reaction, but my take is it's wise to avoid the words precisely so that you avoid these sorts of awkward conversations.

No, no need to clarify your position. I understood it the first time, though I wish you'd go back and read what I wrote such that you could at least understand mine. I said that I find the word "troubling" b/c of how racists are using the term & that many newspapers and magazines are avoiding it for the same reason. I didn't write the wiki page or create the controversy, I just pointed it out to you and said I'd avoid it altogether. Apparently that offended you.

I see your argument though and I'm somewhat sympathetic to it. It reminds me of a recent south park where they talked about another word with a lot of controversy around it as it's recent usage is different from it's dictionary definition. I'm all for people using the words they want to use, but I don't think I've done anything wrong by pointing out that ignorant people are mis-using the words to hurt people. And I'm perfectly willing to accept that there are different opinions on this. I think what you don't get is the subtle difference between something troubling me enough for me to find it wise to avoid it and me being offended by it.

Yeah, same sort of amazement here that people are upset at me for pointing out the controversy (and that you're getting down-voted as well). I am a brown male who grew up in Jamaica, Queens and then New Jersey and saw a lot of interesting mixtures of culture growing up. It was mostly good but I realize that I've seen more racism up close than most of my friends.

I honestly don't blame them though -- they are right by the books and I understand this stance if you've never seen or experienced the words used in that way.

Though the definition has nothing to do with race, but once you know racists have associated the two, what I don't get is why would you get upset at the person that tells you and shows you that racists are doing this?

Check out the dude below -- he's all worked up and offended that I pointed out that people are doing this. And he's offended at me for saying it's troubling and wise to steer clear of that mess. At least he agrees that they are morons.

And yeah this is definitely a bit disturbing. I don't think it's outlandish at all to avoid certain language once racists start using it to hurt people. If he's fine using word that we've experienced racists use to describe African American babies, that's his call. I don't understand why anyone would be offended or flabbergasted that the word itself has some controversy around it. It's not like there aren't other words to use.

I never requested anyone stop using any word. I said I found the word troubling for what racists have done with it and that I avoid it (and that many magazines and newspapers do the same).

Most offensive words are only such because morons use them as such. If you like it, use it. But don't get offended because someone shows you that people are doing this. To be clear, you're getting offended that I'm "troubled" by the usage of a word which is being used by racists to describe African American babies.

And again I didn't ask people to stop using it. I just said it's troubling due to what some folks have done with it. Nothing you or I say here changes the fact that racists are still (mis)using the word and that there's a controversy around it now. I like that at least we agree that these people doing this are ignorant morons.

And since this is off topic here, if you want to continue this conversation via email, I'd be happy to do so.

Out of the 15 definitions, 5 of them are extremely racist.

Do you really doubt that American people have used the word "niggle" in various racist ways and that I have heard it used in these ways? I don't know what else to tell you, but some of these words have ugly histories outside of their dictionary definitions. I cited urbandictionary precisely b/c it's the best resource to illustrate to someone unfamiliar with street usage of some of these words.

There's really no harm in avoiding it. It strikes me odd that people downvote this sort of thing, but it makes me happy that many folks here have never been exposed to this sort of nastiness.

But you're ignoring the part about people using it in racist ways already. That's the rub here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=niggle

Is that the full standalone Safari or an embedded Safari within the twitter client? It looks like an embedded browser within the twitter client.

On my iPod touch, if I left my twitter client to go to Safari, I could not come back to exactly where I was in tweetdeck. But I have not tried 4.0 in this regard.

The word "niggardly" and it's cognates are not preferred language not just due to their phonetic similarity to a word which unfortunately has awful connotation, but also because sophomoric racists have unfortunately appropriated these terms to have this sort of racial meaning. I should have said "recent etymology" above.

For this reason, magazines and newspapers avoid the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%2... (see the bottom)

I might be dating myself here, but "niggardly" and "niggle" used to be used quite often to imply racial meaning even if none technically exists. Perhaps we shouldn't avoid the term just b/c some ignorant folks used them in racist ways, but in this case I don't see the harm in avoiding it considering there are so many other ways to say the same thing. Unfortunately, once racists use these words to mean something other than their dictionary definitions, you run the risk of raising eyebrows amongst people who may have experienced these terms in these secondary contexts.

In England, this is likely a different story.

And would you really use "niggardly" to describe something in America in 2010? Really?

Yeah, what's more, it sounds like an undergrad economics degree. I don't care where you go to school, an undergrad degree in economics does not mean you understand this stuff as well as anyone. That's just pompous huffing.

I'm not sure if it's the most common smartphone multitasking scenario.

Considerably more common than that,I want to leave an application and come back to it without navigating from the beginning. For example, if I'm in twitter and I go to a link in the browser, I can come back to where I was in twitter. And I can do this with the back button.

Do you really check for directions while on phone calls often? Perhaps it's just me, but people don't call me for directions that much.

I do agree that the author's word choice of "niggle" is troubling and slightly outdated, especially if you look up it's etymology.

It's very much along the lines of Gandhi's "You must be the change you want to see in this world."

I'm also waiting for a second source. The only other story I've seen on this bill was also from WSJ, and also written with a heavy spin on it.

This paper's editorial page will argue against anything the current majority party does. Their news reporting is fine, but it's widely known that the editorial page leans strongly to the right.

This same editorial page argued that the healthcare bill contained death panels. Republican politicians, including Palin and Dick Cheney, are regular writers.

I was surprised to not see Amazon anywhere here...

beyond mlia, http://www.givesmehope.com looks like it's trying to the opposite of FML.

Not to say that competition should be a hindrance, but I think its worth looking at these when comparing.

Also, somewhat tangential, FYML is in urbandictionary with the Y standing for "Yeah" and some usage on twitter in that regard. Nobody has the full domain yet.