http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c224 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:32:00 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c224 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/02025423448/company-claims-patent-pop-up-ads-sues-porn-travel-companies.shtml#c182 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:28:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/02025423448/company-claims-patent-pop-up-ads-sues-porn-travel-companies.shtml#c182 "There should be a cookie that indicates you already have a Netflix account so you'd get a different ad. Netflix is wasting a lot of money advertising to its own customers"

Thats a pretty good idea. i think i will patent it.

I called dibs. You might not have heard it, but I said it before you typed that. (That's how the patent system works right?)]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c205 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:26:06 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c205 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130608/03355523371/warning-letters-under-uks-three-strikes-plan-unlikely-to-be-sent-out-before-2016-if-ever.shtml#c301 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:24:27 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130608/03355523371/warning-letters-under-uks-three-strikes-plan-unlikely-to-be-sent-out-before-2016-if-ever.shtml#c301 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c182 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:24:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c182
One might almost think you had the very lack of reading comprehension described by Malor, in the post preceding mine.

One might assume you were a fool, were not the proof of your ill-begotten drivel sufficient to make it fact.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c168 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:24:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c168 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c147 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:22:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c147
Read your history before producing half-baked opinions based on delusion or worse.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c136 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:20:35 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c136
The only tangible metric which has improved in the past 100 years is "how long people live" -- everything else is a matter of opinion, or difficult (at best) to correlate substantially with an actual benefit to the bottom line, that being the health and stability of society as a whole.

We did not have yearly mass-murders a hundred years ago, for example, and they would laugh at the degree of "liberty" that we 'enjoy' now.

What is the worth of a longer life?
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety," was once the prevailing attitude (Franklin was no extremist), and now "My rat-eaten hide before all other concerns."

I cannot see that as an improvement.

Prison might be less deadly than execution, but it is hard to say that it is superior a fate -- only now the prison is our very minds, but unlike The Matrix, there is no way to "unplug" and magically make everything better.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c516 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:17:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c516 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1363 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:16:47 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1363
You're assumptions are STILL wrong and the chief error is this 80 hours a month business. It's really more like 25-35....]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c116 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:13:42 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c116
One would argue the literacy rate is better now than it was back then.

"Achievement is not about averages: those have changed little across human history -- what has changed is the frequency and magnitude of the giants among men; we have no modern Lord Kelvins, or Socrates, or Nietzsches, or Newtons."

Yes because as we all know, historical geniuses are always revered during their time period.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1357 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:12:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1357 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1347 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:10:55 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1347
I could further your idea by saying shut the site down. That was not my intention John. My intention was to alleviate the heartache of dealing with trolling comments and the comments of those who feel the need to play the game as some of do not.

There are only 24 hours in any given day and filtering through trollish nonsense is not how I choose to spend my time, most days - some yes.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c107 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:10:19 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c107 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c98 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:08:59 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c98
As is disingenuity the rule of the day I will stipulate: this does not mean that drivel was not written then -- nor, necessarily, that it would be impossible to write well now.

What it DOES mean is that the bar is lower, far lower, than it has ever been in the past, and that you and your ilk don't even notice. You don't read things from that era; you don't compare the thought or expression thereof with that of today.

Achievement is not about averages: those have changed little across human history -- what has changed is the frequency and magnitude of the giants among men; we have no modern Lord Kelvins, or Socrates, or Nietzsches, or Newtons.

We don't even have a modern-day Einstein; the only truly magnificent intellect of which I'm aware is a self-imposed hermit who turned down our paltry attempts at 'recognition' because he knew all to well that they demeaned his work.

Is this doom? No, we are still alive and breathing; but it is always the work of relativists, liberals, and fools to claim that just because things could become worse that they have not degenerated at all.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c94 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:05:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c94
There are very few modern people with the mental discipline and fortitude to read and write as well as people did in 1871. People back then carried around enormous amounts of information in their heads, and had an incredible ability to concentrate.

Modern people have outsourced all that, and most of us are largely reliant on technological devices to function as memory, organizational tools, and instant research assistants.

Is this better than what we were doing before? I don't know. I think the jury is kind of out on this one.

But I guarantee you that those writers from the 19th and early 20th century would absolutely amaze you with their mental prowess. Perhaps it's like comparing muscle power with a steam engine, but those folks had mental muscles like Charles Atlas had physical ones.

The vast majority of us, who think we're so very strong/clever, are actually flabby and weak compared to our predecessors.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c74 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:05:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c74 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c479 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:03:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c479 why they don't care.

Tell someone for example that businesses don't play the radio in public anymore due to fear of being sued/shaken, that copying a song for a friend to listen to is considered a crime worthy of thousands of dollars in fines, and various other similar things, and suddenly that 'don't care' attitude tends to turn to disgust/opposition pretty quick.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c808 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:02:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c808 The immorality of the health care situation is staggering.

Fortunately if you have good insurance you can see a doctor about your staggering problem.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1331 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:59:51 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1331
I wasn't talking off the cuff, I was using US Census figures: the median individual income in the US last census was around $44,000/year. You are using figures specific to commercial writing (which I think is a bit misleading, but that's a different discussion), I was using exactly what I said: median income.

Your expectation for an experienced writer was $76,800/yr. That's pretty close to twice the median. Even if we accept your BLS statistics, you're still inflating the value considerably.]]>