1. Notes: 10672 / 5 months ago  from wilwheaton (originally from squid-skywalker)
   "

   Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program. The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking sound bites to support it. “Wouldn’t you say,” she asked, “that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?” No, I said, I wouldn’t say that. “But what about ‘Basketball Diaries’?” she asked. “Doesn’t that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machine gun?” The obscure 1995 Leonardo Di Caprio movie did indeed have a brief fantasy scene of that nature, I said, but the movie failed at the box office (it grossed only $2.5 million), and it’s unlikely the Columbine killers saw it.
   The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. “Events like this,” I said, “if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. The kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn’t have messed with me. I’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”

   In short, I said, events like Columbine are influenced far less by violent movies than by CNN, the NBC Nightly News and all the other news media, who glorify the killers in the guise of “explaining” them. I commended the policy at the Sun-Times, where our editor said the paper would no longer feature school killings on Page 1. The reporter thanked me and turned off the camera. Of course the interview was never used. They found plenty of talking heads to condemn violent movies, and everybody was happy.

   "
   - Roger Ebert (via squid-skywalker)
2. Notes: 2809 / 6 months ago  from wilwheaton
   

   wilwheaton:

   (via Daily Kos: Handy candidate comparison chart)

    
3. 6 months ago 
   Recommended reading

   A detailed essay on the “pro-life” movement’s real agenda, by a former pro-life activist.

4. Notes: 280 / 6 months ago  from wilwheaton (originally from parislemon)
   Why Google's new Nexus 4 doesn't have LTE

   parislemon:

   This is a much more important article than it may appear on the surface. It shows exactly why it was such a mistake for Google to capitulate to the carriers. They made the proverbial deal with the devil, trading control of their destiny for traction. Too bad.

   Make no mistake, when Andy Rubin tells Dieter Bohn and Nilay Patel of The Verge that “costs” and “battery life” are two major factors in the decision, it’s pure misdirection. Said another way, it’s bullshit. How do we know this? Just look at the iPhone 5. It’s rolling out on LTE networks around the world just fine with its thin design, multiple antennas, and solid battery life.

   The real issue here is that Google wants to sell an unlocked LTE phone and can’t because the U.S. carriers (Verizon in particular) have them over a barrel. And why do they want to sell unlocked phones (which are more expensive since they’re not subsidized by the carriers)? Because the carriers have proven time and time again that they will not allow Google to push timely Android updates.

   And yet, Apple has no problem shipping iOS updates over the same networks. Why? Because they strong-armed Verizon into the same deal they got with AT&T. They fought for the user. Google sold us out to sell some phones. Now the devil is collecting.

5. Notes: 3 / 7 months ago  from powervicky
   

   powervicky:

   University of Alabama
   Facepalm

   http://www.happyplace.com/18688/student-mocks-obama-with-misspelled-sign

   I hate this state.

    
6. Notes: 81889 / 7 months ago  from fishingboatproceeds (originally from thedailywhat)
   

   fishingboatproceeds:

   valerie2776:

   thedailywhat:

   Dear Ann Coulter of the Day: After Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a retard in a tweet during Monday night’s presidential debate, Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens penned her this open letter:

   Dear Ann Coulter, 
   
   Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult? 
   
   I’m a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public’s perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night. 
   
   I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have. 
   
   Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next. 
   
   Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift. 
   
   Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more. 
   
   After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV. 
   
   I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash. 
   
   Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor. 
   
   No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much. 
   
   Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged. 
   
   A friend you haven’t made yet, John Franklin Stephens Global Messenger Special Olympics Virginia

   [specialolympicsblog]

   hell yeah

   Hey, Anne Coulter, here is some commercially available burn cream.

    
7. Notes: 611 / 7 months ago  from wilwheaton
   At long last, we get the details of Mitt Romney's tax plan.
8. Notes: 3047 / 7 months ago  from wilwheaton (originally from observando)
   
    
9. Notes: 86715 / 8 months ago  from wilwheaton (originally from johnjlm)

   (Source: johnjlm)

10. Notes: 236 / 11 months ago  from powervicky (originally from braindeadradio)

    endlessmeg:

    braindeadradio:

    Real Genius is such a great flick. 

    Professor Hathaway: What’s that smell?
    Chris Knight: Must be the dog, sir.
    Professor Hathaway: That’s popcorn.
    Chris Knight: Yes sir, I know…
    Professor Hathaway: Well, get it away from me! I hate popcorn! I can’t stand popcorn!
    Chris Knight: Good. Now I know what to get you for your birthday.

    Yes!!!!!!!!!!!

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