Social Networks; The Realm of Vacuous Mingling

there should be breeding licenses, sad to say. Most of RC would find the concept easy to accept (and an easy license to gain), but for a lot of people, it would be impossible.

The biggest problem with this is ANYONE can go make a baby whenever they want. With cars and guns and other stuff it's easy to restrict people's behavior because most of them can't go out into their garage and whip up whatever technology is being regulated. The second biggest problem is that the people saying it assume they know who should and shouldn't be having children (usually but not always including themselves in the lucky camp). Oh well.
 
good points.

Yep. The internet can be an amazing tool when used right, ot the worlds worst timesink when used improperly. Hell, my current work is a prime example. I NEED any of a dozen websites to do my job properly, nobody on the planet can know all the error codes, messages and possible alternative sources, therefore we need google and other resources.

At the same time, sometimes I can't be bothered to read a 1000 page PDF for the next project and find myself trolling forums.

The biggest problem with this is ANYONE can go make a baby whenever they want. With cars and guns and other stuff it's easy to restrict people's behavior because most of them can't go out into their garage and whip up whatever technology is being regulated. The second biggest problem is that the people saying it assume they know who should and shouldn't be having children (usually but not always including themselves in the lucky camp). Oh well.

Thats true. I can't say I could make a clear definition of who should/would make good parents. On the same hand, I can quite easily point out FAR too many BAD parents.

Sadly it will never happen (people crying and stuff) and would likely be impossible to control/prevent anyway. Even China somewhat half-failed in the rural areas.


edit: btw: a word processor might be good for literacy, but most of my early literacy stems from Civilization 1 (reading the entire civipedia), my father reading to me every night (got me hooked on stories/books), which was followed by me reading these same books myself. Lord of the Rings took me an entire year, but at 4 1/2 years old thats still an accomplishment. Though I did get a lot more out of it by the 2nd and 3rd readings (8 and 11 respectively).

edit2: oh, and at 6: [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Warfare-Earliest-Times-Present/dp/1579582168[/ame] :(
 
I played left4dead for 8 hours tonight. Literally. 8 straight god damn hours of Left4fuckingDead on Expert. We died often. We didn't care. Time was not a problem to us.

I'd just like to mention that this once again applies. Except this time, it was versus mode.
 
but most of my early literacy stems from Civilization 1 (reading the entire civipedia),
Learning to read (as well as English, for us non-native americans) by computer/video games is probably quite common among our generation, and the next logical step is interwebbing, something we couldn't do growing up. I most certainly would if I was 15 years younger.
 
Learning to read (as well as English, for us non-native americans) by computer/video games is probably quite common among our generation, and the next logical step is interwebbing, something we couldn't do growing up. I most certainly would if I was 15 years younger.

I have a colleague who also started learning english by playing civilization. He didn't understand anything at first, but with a dictionary and some time he made a lot of progress.
 
I've got my old amiga and those nice "PICK UP SPOON",,, "READ NOTE" games to thank for learning english....
those where the days...
 
I gotta give Myspace props for saving my brother's life, because it really did. Some of you may recall me talking about my 30-something year old bum of a brother that did absolutely nothing with his life except smoke pot and wash his hands constantly.

I guess it's been almost a year since he got his Myspace. Soon after he got it, his high school flame found him and they started corresponding. Immediately he started to change. Started laying off the pot, even worked for my mom a bit here and there to make some money (which he did not spend on pot). Then, she came over to the house one day and within twenty minutes they were holding hands. They got back together, he got off the pot (for the most part), got his own full-time job, cut his awful hair, and moved in with her and her kid. What ended in 1993 picked back up in 2008 just like no time had passed at all. April 19th is the wedding date.

It's truly amazing how much he got his shit together in the past year. Sure, his current haircut may resemble that of 1991 era Vanilla Ice, but it's kinda nice to have that brother back finally. He and his woman are as happy as they can be, and luckily the kid loves him. The kid's dad will be losing any custody rights pretty soon unless he can chalk up an ungodly amount of child support he never paid, then my bro will be adopting him as his own.

Myspace :headbang:
 
Success stories? This is RC, GTFO.

Seriously though, that's a good thing to hear.
 
so in essence, wasting time on the internet is only good when it leads to stopping wasting time on the internet -- i can dig
 
Compulsive text messaging and fagbook whoring go mano y mano. Ugh.

NEW YORK – The nation's newest texting champion has a message for parents across the land — although they might not want to hear it.

"Let your kid text during dinner! Let your kid text during school! It pays off," 15-year-old Kate Moore said Tuesday after winning the LG U.S. National Texting Championship.

After all, she said: "Your kid could win money and publicity and a phone."

For the Des Moines, Iowa, teenager, her 14,000 texts-per-month habit reaped its own rewards, landing her the competition prize of $50,000 just eight months after she got her first cell phone.

Moore, with a speedy and accurate performance, beat out 20 other finalists from around the country over two days of challenges such as texting blindfolded and texting while maneuvering through a moving obstacle course.

In the final showdown, she outtexted 14-year-old Morgan Dynda, of Savannah, Ga. Both girls had to text three lengthy phrases without making any mistakes on the required abbreviations, capitalization or punctuation. Moore squeaked through by a few seconds on the tiebreaking text, getting the best two out of three. As she anxiously waited for confirmation of her win, tears streamed down her face.

The teen dismisses the idea that she focuses too much on virtual communications, saying that while she has sometimes had her phone taken away from her in school, she keeps good grades, performs in school plays and socializes with friends — in person — on the weekends.

In between, she finds time to send about 400 to 470 texts a day. Among her uses of the text messages? Studying for exams with friends, which she says is better done by text because she can look back at the messages to review.

The finalists, all 22 or younger, were among 250,000 people who tried to get spots in the competition. Some won their spots at the Manhattan finals by being the fastest people to text responses to televised ads.

It's the third year for the texting competition, sponsored by LG Electronics Inc.'s mobile-phones division. But it's the first time that it was held at a flashy sound stage with an illuminated platform and surrounded by TV cameras. LG, based in Seoul, South Korea, is considering using the footage in a televised special of some kind.

Twenty-year-old Jackie Boyd, who came in fifth in the competition, said she usually prefers text messages to phone calls because they get through faster and they're more private — leaving her unworried about other people listening in.

"You can get more of what you really truly want to say" across with texting, said the Syracuse University psychology major. "Especially if it's an argument, you don't have to worry about saying the wrong thing.

"And if you don't want to respond, you can always say, 'Oh, I didn't get your text.'"

http://www.lgtexter.com/
 
I send more texts than ever now that I have my work phone... somewhere around 1-2 a day. 75% of those are work related... shit remembered in the subway where its too loud to phone, or I can't be assed to call them, or sending sensitive passwords in a seperate setting as the username (email).

Otherwise I use them similar to email for people who don't check their emails regularly (no computer at home, etc).

But the people in that article are sick.
 
Consumer advocate groups are up in arms over the rising costs of text messaging. If you don't have a text plan, you could be paying upward of 20 cents to receive/send a text. It costs the provider 3/10ths of a cent to transmit this information. :cry:

They could charge any price they damn well please, if you don't like it, don't use the service.
 
My sister hits on average 14000 texts a month. It's RIDICULOUS. But then there's her friend... her record? 31000 texts a few months ago.

I can't stand looking at either of this fucking people.
 
There are 43,200 minutes in a month. That's barely sleeping. I know you can send mass texts, but still.

As much as I think texting and general phone technology is awesome and useful, when it gets to that level, it's definitely not good. It's an addiction.
 
Two things I can't stand:
1) people who talk on a mobile while in an elevator with me
2) people who check their fucking phone every few minutes while in a social situation. Like at dinner the other night...what was so important on my friend's gay super-mega-computer-phone?
 
There are 43,200 minutes in a month. That's barely sleeping. I know you can send mass texts, but still.

I know my sister texts in her sleep on occasion. It's fucking STRANGE.

Not sure about the other one.

I do know that these 2 managed to crash into a parked truck a few months back though...