Posts by Rich Lock

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  • Hard News: The Southern Apps,

    the silent killer is ad banners that sit there hogging resources even when their page or tab isn't visible

    It's a (minor) problem even in fairly benevolent work environments, where management are usually inclined to turn a blind eye to personal internet use, unless it seems to be really spiking higher than the norm. Resource-hungry banner ads tend to really add to that.

    I really don't understand why most workplaces don't just install a decent adblocker as standard practice. Or seem to have an ingrained antipathy to switching away from IE, to Firefox or similar.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Long will be the lunches,

    Let me assure you I really do love the middle class. Of all the classes, it's one of my very favourites.

    In fact, some of your best friends are middle class? :)

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Southerly: The Truth About Talkback,

    I've tried every possible approach in finding Marianne -- even to the extent of cashing in my superannuation account to hire private detectives.

    Did they look in the Interzone?

    And since it's Friday.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Long will be the lunches,

    Whereas in New Zealand, we just have TV ads that directly compare losing your job to the atomic bomb dropping on Hiroshima.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Creepy Party,

    My mother gave me a copy of the book two years ago when I visited, and I made the mistake of reading it on the plane. It set me up for a classic "crying in an enclosed public space" moment.

    Not the most uplifting of reads, is it?

    I'm thinking of getting rid of every book I own, and replacing them with a single copy of 'eat pray love'.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Creepy Party,

    I was from a developing country I'd find it terribly wearying to be expected to be so *aspirational* all the time

    I think they just need to learn to be more relaxed about their aspirations

    There must be the seeds of an Onion article in there somewhere. Something about how Brazil and Columbia are getting tired of having Venezuela crashing on their couch all the time, talking about how they should just chill, stop being part of the world that The Man has created, y'dig? Stop worrying about buying and owning all that stuff. Get back to mother earth and all those good minerals, man. Stop being so uptight and hassling me to move out and get my own place, y'know?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Creepy Party,

    there are honest to god sweathshops in the textile industry

    For those who are interested, the first part of Roberto Saviano's 'Gomorrah' will give you a good background to that.

    An extract from this review:

    His Chinese employer introduces him to the world of dressmaking sweatshops. We learn to distinguish between those who work directly for the clans, handling guns, money and drugs, and the workers who are exploited by them, producing high-quality products for the most miserable wages and with no social security. These men and women are deliberately kept needy and hungry: otherwise they might have the leisure to think about what’s happening to them and leave. Saviano meets a talented dress-cutter paid a pittance for extremely skilled work. The same man travels in the boot of a car to give well-paid lessons to the Camorra’s Chinese rivals, at the risk of his life. A barrage of statistics establishes the role of Neapolitan sweatshops in the world of haute couture. Saviano’s style is fragmented, cumulative, insistent, dramatic. The reader must understand how important all this is, and the intensity of its effect on Saviano (in my translation):

    All the fashion of the parades, all the genius of the most dazzling shows comes from here. From Naples and Salento. The main centres for black-market textiles . . . Casarano, Tricase, Taviano, Melissano, or Capo di Leuca, lower Salento. This is where they’re from. From this hole. All manufactured goods come out of the dark. That’s the law of capitalism.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Up Front: Eat Up Your Brothelly,

    I'm sure they got up to speed with the dexies-mal system

    come on, I loan?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Doing Science in Court,

    not attempting to corrupt the peer review process to exclude dissenting opinion

    James, peer-reviewed is just that. Review by people who are qualified and know thier shit. Not some bloke with a tin-foil hat and an axe to grind.

    Do you see how a geologist might get a little...terse...when put in the position of having to argue with a flat-earther?

    Rather than, say getting on with the work that he gets an enormous grant to do, and will do anything to protect, including falsifying the data <sarc>

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Hard News: Doing Science in Court,

    Prove it! Prove that the changes will be costly and expensive. Until you can supply incontrovertible proof of the economic damage then your argument is simply you don't want to change what you are doing.

    What was that quote from James? Ah yes.

    Extraordinary conclusions require extraordinary proof

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

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