Disqus - Latest Comments for devilinthedetails

Re: Negro League All Star Art Pennington’s Home Destroyed by Iowa Floods

devilinthedetails — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:52:20 -0000

Delete.

Re: A President’s Regret

devilinthedetails — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:07:07 -0000

I suppose he could simply be defiant and give the country a big middle finger salute, but I don't think that would do much good for his legacy as president.

I agree that his administration has done a very poor job, but the American voters are just as much to blame as the Bush Administration. We as voters (all of us, not just Republicans) need to remember that elections are our chance to cast a referendum on our elected officials. President Bush's philosophy hasn't changed so much in the last 4 years, but our willingness to tolerate it has.

Re: A President’s Regret

devilinthedetails — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:01:32 -0000

Well, hopefully President Obama will work to restore some of the privacy that the Patriot Act strips away, but based on his vote on the FISA bill earlier this year, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

A government rarely rescinds powers that it has been granted, regardless of who leads it.

Re: Psychological differences of Liberals & Conservatives

devilinthedetails — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:56:55 -0000

Perhaps, although I tend to feel that McCain is losing this election not due to the root differences between liberals and conservatives, but because of the strategies he has employed and his track record over the last 8 years.

In 2000 John McCain was a "maverick" congressman who stood up to his party on issues like campaign-finance reform and took unpopular stands against the majority party. After losing the 2000 primary, he changed his tune and went down a path that led him to vote with an incredibly unpopular president 9 out of every 10 times he voted.

His track record of siding with this administration is what is costing him this election because that voter record tells people that he is not a maverick, but simply a senator who kept in line so he could get his shot at the presidency. It's too bad, I would have voted for the John McCain of 2000, but now, he has lost my vote.

Re: Twine: The Bookmaring Site You Should Use

devilinthedetails — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:55:17 -0000

Having used both Twine and Social|Median, I would have to cast my vote for the latter. Twine is nice, but too often I receive links to articles that are either irrelevant to the topic they purport or are in a language i don't speak (all I'm asking for is an English only filter since my German is not exactly what I would call up to snuff).

The community over at social|median is very involved and the continual attempts at improving the site through user feedback and testing are impressive.

Re: Late Adopters

devilinthedetails — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:14:56 -0000

It could be content, but I would say that the Obama campaign has generated plenty of content (140 characters at a time), enough to get 30,000+ to follow their relatively pointless updates.

Slow adoption by politicians mirrors adoption for the rest of society, that's what confuses me, you would think that by embracing these technologies early they could develop a rapport with influential techies, which can add a lot of volume to their message.

Re: Late Adopters

devilinthedetails — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:12:32 -0000

What I think it shows is a fundamental lack of understanding on the part of political types of how to embrace openness. They live in a world of complete control, so the idea of opening up the windows of their lives gives them pause.

I guess what it comes down to is maximizing the spread of their message and identifying influencers in the demographic areas they target. When it comes down to it, politicians are little more than salespeople who are trying to sell themselves and I would think that engaging in a demo. that they need would make sense.

Re: Mark Cuban: Blogging For Justice

devilinthedetails — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:37:11 -0000

just out of curiosity, did you read any of the comments sent to Mark Cuban? Many of them are have very specific nationalistic sentiments.

I am not defending Howard's sentiments, I am merely defending his right to hold un-popular beliefs.

Re: Mark Cuban: Blogging For Justice

devilinthedetails — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:33:56 -0000

First off, Howard is protected by the first amendment when he makes comments about his beliefs in regards to the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, etc...

Second, not all speech is protected (as anyone who chides people on not having read the Federalist Papers) should well know.

Third, simply being a public figure does not rescind one's right to privacy.

Fourth, my point was that those who claim to defend America's freedoms (namely freedom of speech) by telling people they don't agree with to shut up (or worse) are missing the point.

Lastly, I never, ever, said anywhere that those who do this don't have every right to do it. They do, but they should be every bit as prepared to take responsibility for what they say as they want Howard to be.

Re: How Cirque Du Soleil Shows Social Media Love

devilinthedetails — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:19:52 -0000

While I can't say that I'm much of a Cirque fan, the show they have at Disney World is certainly entertaining. While it's not my typical style of entertainment, the performers are certainly talented and able to do many, many amazing things.

I can't say as I am surprised at the size and activity of their fans, they put on a good show and I have known many rabid Cirque fans, it's good to know that they are engaging their fans when so many in the entertainment industry overlook their core audiences almost constantly.

Re: What are You Packing for Snacks

devilinthedetails — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:27:06 -0000

My son is good with vegetables (he's the only kid I've ever known that loves broccoli), graham crackers (mainly Teddy Grahams), granola bars, Gripz, etc... Part of what we found is that the fewer options he has, the more new things he's willing to try. We alternate between the above, adding fruit snacks to the mix as well, and try to keep the number of snacks low. He's healthy and happy, he eats much better than I do most of the time.

Re: When Your Kid Is Mildly Allergic to Milk

devilinthedetails — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:23:11 -0000

Does the school not offer a milk alternative (i.e. orange juice) for kids with dairy allergies? My school always did, and to be honest, I was always jealous of the kids who got the OJ.

Re: Nuts!

devilinthedetails — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:21:06 -0000

My sons school has policies similar to your daughter's school, and I would agree that this seems to be the best way to handle it. We do have to a little more conscious of what we send for snacks, but other than that it's handled fine.

The only allergies we ever had in school when I was a kid were milk allergies and those kids just got orange juice to drink, no special tables, no nothing (granted milk allergies aren't quite as severe as peanut allergies can be), my how times have changed.

Re: Comics and Kids

devilinthedetails — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:14:31 -0000

While I agree that violence in comics has become an issue, it hasn't changed significantly from the Golden Age books we all grew up with. Certain books (many of which I love) should simply not be read by kids, but there are plenty of titles out there that, while they may contain violence, are no less inappropriate for kids than movies made by Disney, Dreamworks, etc...

Ask yourself, is Shrek any more or less violent than Spiderman fighting off the Sandman? I'm not saying to get your kid started on The Punisher or Nick Fury (which are two of my favorite titles), but as long as the good guys win I think comics generally send good messages. Spiderman never goes looking for a fight, but he'll defend himself (as well as those who can't defend themselves) wherever and whenever he needs to.

Re: Improving Your Windows Experience, 11 Applications

devilinthedetails — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:16:28 -0000

I don't know if that's a fair assessment. But it all depends on what your needs are.

I have friends of all ilks (programmers, media creators, etc...) who love their Macs (although only none of them are fanboy's and they hate "Apple people" as much as I do).

The closed system is my biggest issue and the fact that Apple as a corporation is a tyrant in hip clothing.

Re: Devil in the Details » Chicago Alderman wants metal bats tossed from baseball

devilinthedetails — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:00:41 -0000

Mike,

That is a very thorough response and I certainly appreciate the message. I used metal bats growing up (although they were light years behind the current bat technology), in fact I still have the Easton that I used in Little League and Babe Ruth.

I certainly understand your argument, and have to say that I can't really disagree with too many of the points you make (aside from the independent testing, which I haven't reviewed). Additionally, there does tend to be significant over-reaction in many cases such as this, where someone in a position of power attempts to insert legislation because of an accident to a friend or loved one.

For me, I would like to see metal bats disappear because I am a baseball purist and wooden bats are the legacy of the game, and while Ken Griffey Jr., Carl Crawford and Alex Rodriguez are poignant examples, players like Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez (and many others that come from poorer countries and most likely did not have access to Demarini's, COMbat's, Worth SuperCells, etc...) show that the tools available don't necessarily make the player.

Personally, while I may agree with the alderman's viewpoint, I do not agree with the attempt to legislate this on a governmental level (and perhaps I should have made that point clearer). When a child plays a sport (any sport) they, and their parents, assume risk. Accidents happen at all levels of sports, regardless of their nature as recreational or competitive. I have been injured many times due to sports, it's something that comes with the game and as a parent I think that there is far too much caution injected into the lives of our country's children at this point.

The choice of whether or not to use metal bats should be left up to each individual organization and the players/parents involved with that organization, this should not be something that the government (at any level) should have any involvement with.

Again, thank you for the response.

Re: The Dangers Of Citizen Journalism

devilinthedetails — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:52:42 -0000

This post was intended to highlight the issues in China specifically, although those issues are certianly not limited to China. Citizen journalism always has the potential to be dangerous, especially overseas.

Re: The Dangers Of Citizen Journalism

devilinthedetails — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:50:52 -0000

I would generally agree with that, but it's better than being out there with no protection at all.

Re: Improving Your Windows Experience, 11 Applications

devilinthedetails — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:45:55 -0000

I definitely agree with Steve on this one. I would never say that Apple doesn't make great products, but as someone who grew up with Dos-based machines, I just can't buy into the idea that I can't change my own video card, add my own ram, etc...

I also hate Apple's marketing, it's remarkably patronizing.

Re: Improving Your Windows Experience, 11 Applications

devilinthedetails — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:43:32 -0000

Thunderbird is great, although I do wish the folks at Xobni would create a Thunderbird version. Although I can't see a need for it for my home pc, it's great for work though.

I would say that I prefer Notepad ++ to any other text editor I have ever encountered.

Re: 10 Firefox Plugins For Networking Addicts

devilinthedetails — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:46:40 -0000

I think I'm going to stick with Sxipper for now, the idea of starting over with a new tool makes me tired. Vidoop seems like a great tool, so if you're not using a passwrod manager/form filler definitely check it out.

Re: 10 Firefox Plugins For Networking Addicts

devilinthedetails — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:45:04 -0000

Yeah. Kudos to SBSpalding for putting that together.

Re: 10 Firefox Plugins For Networking Addicts

devilinthedetails — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:44:22 -0000

Don't, I hate the download window as well. The status bar makes life much easier.

Re: 10 Firefox Plugins For Networking Addicts

devilinthedetails — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:39:22 -0000

I love FireFTP, I have played with Colozilla (but not being a designer, I didn't have a ton of use for it). Measureit sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out.

Re: 10 Firefox Plugins For Networking Addicts

devilinthedetails — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:37:21 -0000

I'll have to take a look at Vidoop, although I do like Sxipper. I'll check it out.