AnimeSuki Forums

Register Forum Rules FAQ Members List Social Groups Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   AnimeSuki Forum > General > General Chat > News & Politics

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 2011-08-16, 16:27   Link #5381
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anh_Minh View Post
There's a man who needs a Carebear cure. (by which I mean, force him to watch carebears till he believes he's one. He'll get a colorful shirt and offer free hugs - who cares?)

Don't get him started on the Bible, though. There could be trouble if he starts believing he's a got to kill all the firstborn in Egypt.
Yeah, the Bible seem to be a rather bad choice of reading for this young man, saner peoples had been badly influenced by that book.
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-18, 21:57   Link #5382
AnimeFan188
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Manbe-kun Infuriates Right: “Japan Murdered 20,000,000″

"The mascot for an obscure Japanese town has caused a scandal after daring to say
that Japan killed 20 million in a war of aggression, with 2ch and Japan’s online right
banding together in a successful effort to silence him."

See:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2011/0...ered-20000000/
AnimeFan188 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-18, 22:14   Link #5383
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimeFan188 View Post
"The mascot for an obscure Japanese town has caused a scandal after daring to say
that Japan killed 20 million in a war of aggression, with 2ch and Japan’s online right
banding together in a successful effort to silence him."

See:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2011/0...ered-20000000/
I can't really say if the 20000000 number is right but...
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-18, 22:24   Link #5384
MrTerrorist
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
Comic giants battle for readers
__________________
MrTerrorist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-19, 11:36   Link #5385
AnimeFan188
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilisations, say scientists

"It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but
reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack,
scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's
atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take
drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers
explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated
scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered
unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at
some point in the future."

See:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...-civilisations
AnimeFan188 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-19, 16:38   Link #5386
Kamui4356
Aria Company
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimeFan188 View Post
"It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but
reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack,
scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's
atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take
drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers
explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated
scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered
unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at
some point in the future."

See:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...-civilisations
Given that aliens have likely dismantled their homeworld and anything else nearby to construct some form of dyson swarm, I really doubt they'd care what we do. If aliens ever did wipe out humanity, it would either be more akin to us killing an ant colony when we build a shed, or because they have a standing policy of sending a RKKV towards anything that they detect that seems to be a sign of intelligent life. Of course we're almost certainly alone in our neighborhood, and quite possibly alone in the galaxy.
__________________
Kamui4356 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-19, 16:45   Link #5387
Xellos-_^
Not Enough Sleep
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimeFan188 View Post
"It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but
reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack,
scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's
atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take
drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers
explain.


This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated
scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered
unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at
some point in the future."

See:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...-civilisations
David Weber wants royalty for this report.

Quote:
The Galactic Hegemony, a system alliance of assorted alien races, sent a research and survey group to Earth (designated as "KU-197-20") for assessment. The ship arrived in Earth's orbit in the 15th-century during the Hundred Years' War. The survey group observed the Battle of Agincourt between the English and French, and are horrified of humanity's feriocity and cruelty - being that war and violence rarely happened among the Hegemony - before leaving Earth's orbit, in which most of the members of the Hegemony is disgusted with these "humans".

By the 2010s, the Hegemony reviewed the survey on Earth and were again instantly repulsed. Seeing as humans being similar to a recent species reluctantly admitted to their alliance, the carnivorous and wolf-like Shongairi, the pacifist Hegemony decided to send the Shongairi to see humanity's extinction before humanity will reached the same level as the Shongairi, seeing that as the "lesser of two evils", rather than a second Shongair Empire. However, the Shongairi saw value in the human race as slave soldiers and decided to conquer Earth and make human beings their client race, or subjects. Upon the Shongairi expedition fleet arriving Earth orbit, they are surprised of humanity's advancement in the last 600 years, in which they have advanced at six times the galactic norm. Fleet Commander Thikair order his fleet to continue the conquest by hacking into the humans' computer military systems and laying a series of Kinetic strikes on nearly every military installations, naval fleet, and major city on the planet with KEWs, or Kinetic Energy Weapons, wiping out one-half of the human population. Expecting that this attack had crippled the humans, the Shongairi landed their forces centering around Europe and North America and expected for the humans to surrender immediately (the Shongairi and the other alien races believed that a "submission mechanism" exists within every species). However, they are severely underestimated as the surviving remnants of humanity began a massive guerrilla war against the invaders in which it is exacerbated as the Shongairi had never before fought an advance race in their military history. In every human successful attack on the Shongairi, the Shongairi retaliated with an orbital strike on the attackers or any nearby standing towns or structure in order to inflict submission.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_...82010_novel%29
__________________
Xellos-_^ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-19, 20:48   Link #5388
SaintessHeart
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL :

Hewlett-Packard sums up worst of Corporate America

Quote:
ROCKVILLE, Md. (MarketWatch) — The market had quite an ugly day on Thursday. But for a brief moment, Hewlett-Packard swam dramatically against the down-current on news it was considering a massive $10 billion buyout of software firm Autonomy, among a host of other reports swirling around the stock that day. HP stock gapped up about 6% at lunch time yesterday even as the Dow Jones bounced along about 400 points below the index’s reading at the opening bell.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard have fallen by half since the highs of February.

Of course, the gains were fleeting and HP HPQ +0.08% finished the day down, along with nearly every other stock on Wall Street. Some investors were fooled for about an hour — and then the profits evaporated. Read our story on Friday‘s stock market movements.

Thursday’s performance is a fitting example of how short-lived any rays of hope are for HP these days amid the frenetic pace of company developments. The 10-figure buyouts. The claims that it is rethinking its role in the tech sector. The blatant flaunting of its massive cash stockpile at a time when companies claim to be suffering from the economic downturn.

Hewlett-Packard is everything that’s wrong with corporate America right now — stupidity, a lack of innovation, bloated operations and no leadership.

Stupidity

Lots of people thought that Hewlett-Packard was batty when it bought Palm in 2010. At the time, the company didn’t bother to hedge its bets but instead engaged in the typical hyperbole of a big-name buyout. Check out this gem from the official press release on HP.com:

Hewlett-Packard stunned the industry by cutting sales outlook, dumping its webOS operations and saying it's considering spinning off PC manufacturing as it reported quarterly results ahead of schedule. Dan Gallagher has details on The News Hub.

“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley, an executive vice president in the personal systems group.

Oh yeah? Well what about the news Thursday that Hewlett-Packard will be abandoning any effort to capitalize on the mobile market by killing its tablet computer and mobile phone business based on webOS – the very gadgets Palm was supposed to inspire?

Only can a bloated corporation like HP make a $1.2 billion purchase during a recession and then give up on that buy a mere 16 months later.

The icing on the cake: Just this past February, HP made a big to-do about its plan to duke it out with the iPad — and just months after smack-talking, had to eat its words.

Lack of innovation

Unfortunately, the $1.2 billion for Palm is just part of a spending spree fueled by HP executives with too much money and a desire to spend it without thinking.

In November 2009, the tech giant paid $2.7 billion for routing and digital security stock 3com. Then in September 2010, Hewlett-Packard engaged in a spitting match with Dell DELL +0.14% to buy out data storage and cloud computing stock 3Par — with HP paying $2.35 billion for its “winning” bid of $33 a share, over 83% higher than Dell’s opening bid of $18 a share.

Now we have news that the company is buying British software stock Autonomy UK:AU +71.85% AUTNF +8.14% AUTNY +4.61% for $10 billion.

We’ve already had HP essentially admit the Palm move was a disaster. But even if we take a huge leap of faith and assume those other moves pay off, HP is building its future profits on the work of other companies and the efficiencies it can gain from streamlining operations to maximize margins and profits.

That’s fine if you’re a CEO or executive at the top of the food chain. Not so good if you’re part of the 25,000 workers trimmed in the wake of the 2008 acquisition of Electronic Data Systems for $13.6 billion. Or the 9,000 HP employees let go in 2010, or the thousands of folks who will undoubtedly be terminated as this tech giant “consolidates” operations in the years ahead due to these bloated buyout deals.

God forbid Hewlett-Packard should grow through innovation and critical thinking — or at the very least, to simply do what it has always done in a compelling way that will connect with more consumers and businesses. That would require some leadership and some true entrepreneurial spirit.
Bloated and getting fatter

So in under two years, the company will likely burn $16 billion on four multi-billion buyouts that cover consumer tech, data storage, networking and enterprise/search software.

Undoubtedly, board members will argue that Hewlett-Packard is trying to diversify its operations so it can offer a wide array of services with synergy, winning both an economy of scale and the ability to easily package related products to get the most bang for their buck.

Of course, those folks should probably stop justifying their behavior and listen to companies like Cisco CSCO +0.40% . I’ll let CEO John Chambers do the talking:

“When you’re growing, let’s just say for purposes of discussion, in the high teens, you can afford to bet in many areas,” the Cisco exec said in April. “When you’re growing in a lower number — just for purposes of discussion, let’s cut that number in half — you can’t afford many of the areas. So we’re going to cut back on the number of priorities, get very focused on our top five [and] grow it through.”

There’s nothing new about good corporations getting a little too fat and unfocused. Heck, even Wall Street darling Apple AAPL +0.26% had its moment of corporate disarray. The iconic tech company was on the verge irrelevancy in 1997 before it called Steve Jobs back to the corner office. But as you can watch on YouTube if you search for the 1997 MacWorld clip, Steve Jobs makes a rather simple but prescient statement: “Apple’s not as relevant as it used to be everywhere, but in some incredibly important market segments, it’s extraordinarily relevant.”

In short, Steve Jobs and Howard Schultz didn’t reinvent the wheel. They simply knocked off the other doo-dads and flashy lights that had stopped the wheel from rolling smoothly.

HP hasn’t gotten that memo. Instead, it continues to spend increasing amounts of money for the next big thing — not realizing that too many big things will actually cave the roof in.

No leadership

Perhaps most damning is that HP is an asylum run by the inmates, with varying degrees of delusion and plain craziness across some of its biggest moves lately year.

The company announced a $10 billion buyback in 2010, and executed over $4 billion of that plan. Just weeks ago it announced plans to buy back another $10 billion in shares. Yes, HP had $12 billion in cash as of this spring… but where is that money coming from in light of this $10 billion buyout deal unveiled this week? Was the buyback plan just a PR move to cheer up investors, or did the company honestly have no idea it would be burning $10 billion in this recent buyout of Autonomy? Read why HP’s repurchase is one of 5 bogus buybacks at big-name stocks on InvestorPlace.com.

In reporting earnings Thursday, Hewlett-Packard lowered its revenue forecast for the year, which hurt the stock. But more disturbing was the sideshow that surrounded these announcements. After rumors surfaced that HP was considering spinning off its PC business, the company confirmed talks with a surprise press release — that just so happened to drop the bomb about killing its its webOS mobile business on top of disclosing earnings about a half hour before its scheduled time to report numbers.

Who the heck is running this operation?

That question looms large, as the company continues to struggle to find its way. Carly Fiorina was forced to resign as chief executive officer and chairwoman in 2005 following “differences [with the board of directors] over how to execute HP’s strategy,” according to a corporate press release. Funny to think they had one, given the last few years.

Then in 2010, CEO Mark Hurd resigned amid controversy over sexual harassment claims and shenanigans over expenses. It’s one failure in leadership after another.

This leadership vacuum is perhaps the most disturbing things for shareholders. Because until HP gets some adult supervision, it will continue to make stupid and lazy business moves — and share prices will continue to suffer.
Looks like Marketwatch is starting to be insulting.
__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
SaintessHeart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-19, 22:46   Link #5389
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Swedish house up for sale, complete with skeleton
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-17-10-45-14
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-20, 02:25   Link #5390
Vexx
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL :

Hewlett-Packard sums up worst of Corporate America



Looks like Marketwatch is starting to be insulting.
The two things H-P ever did well was printers and calculators... calculators are mostly dead. Everything else has been a disaster thanks to the factors described in that article.

And you can say the same about most of the corporations in America... terrible decisions, millions of employees lose their jobs, and these executive "leaders" pack their pockets with millions in personal gain and simply scoot to the next job title.
__________________
Vexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-20, 06:17   Link #5391
sa547
Senior Member
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL :

Hewlett-Packard sums up worst of Corporate America



Looks like Marketwatch is starting to be insulting.
Sounds like the most blunt business article I ever read, and articles like that could bring down stock prices (methinks of the other day I read the following article at The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21525442 where they jokingly "reveal" the identities of their editors-in-chief).
__________________
sa547 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-20, 08:33   Link #5392
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Moohunt: Runaway cow captures German hearts

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-19-16-12-21
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-20, 08:58   Link #5393
Xellos-_^
Not Enough Sleep
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
Quote:
Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
Moohunt: Runaway cow captures German hearts

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-19-16-12-21
does she have a gun with her? it is cow tse tongue?
__________________
Xellos-_^ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-21, 04:57   Link #5394
SaintessHeart
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
 
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
Quote:
Originally Posted by sa547 View Post
Sounds like the most blunt business article I ever read, and articles like that could bring down stock prices (methinks of the other day I read the following article at The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21525442 where they jokingly "reveal" the identities of their editors-in-chief).
The problem is, traders and investors already knew what is happening beforehand and had dumped their stocks many days (or even months!) ago, so the reduction in stock prices is simply a "whistleblowing" effect to revalue and normalise P/E ratios.
__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
SaintessHeart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-22, 04:35   Link #5395
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Thirsty boy stuck in chimney trying to get drink
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-21-18-48-28
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-22, 11:09   Link #5396
TinyRedLeaf
Moving in circles
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
Get excited about literature — with naked reading sessions
Quote:
New York (Aug 21, Sun): Sit back and enjoy readings of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde or Henrik Ibsen, sip a glass of wine — oh, and gaze upon the readers themselves: they're naked.

That combination of delights is on offer once a month in New York, thanks to an enterprising group called Naked Girls Reading. At a recent session, about 30 people, mostly younger couples and men, met in a small room with a boudoir atmosphere in Manhattan's trendy Greenwich Village.

Joining them were four young women in bathrobes and heels, who climbed onto a small stage and took seats on a large sofa. Applause welcomed the readers, including from an older man who had until then been quietly reading his newspaper.

With a flick of their dressing gowns, the four women — with the stage names Nasty Canasta, Gal Friday, Sapphire Jones and Tansy — were transformed into truly naked readers, ready for what they like to call "full-frontal literature".

What followed was a lot like a traditional reading session, with witty and gripping passages from theatrical works like Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and A Doll's House by Ibsen. The readers were accomplished performers and Sapphire Jones prompted a moment of real emotion when she dedicated a Shakespeare text to her late grandmother.

Gal Friday admitted to feeling nervous at first, "but now to be naked is not even an issue any more". The listeners — or perhaps viewers — also get used it, she added. "You can always feel the shift, so when you see a nude at first you say, 'Oh, there is a naked girl!' Then we start to read and you can feel their eyes going up."

Naked Girls Reading was founded in Chicago in 2009 by Michelle l'amour, who, like many of the readers, comes from the world of neo-burlesque, a risque form of theatre inspired by the music-hall burlesque shows of the early 20th century.

"I was sitting on the couch and reading naked when my husband found me. Let's say he was inspired by the image," she told AFP. "We started laughing about doing nakedgirlsreading.com. And then, we thought, hmm... maybe this is a good idea, so we bought the website that day."

The audience certainly love the sessions. "It was wonderful. When they started to read, I forgot they were naked," said lawyer Ellen Snare, 32. "I think it was very powerful; the choice of the pieces was very well done."

AFP
TinyRedLeaf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-22, 22:15   Link #5397
ganbaru
books-eater youkai
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
Quote:
Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf View Post
What the fact than the readers are naked is supposed to improve the reading ? Yes, it might attract some currious to the session but beside that
__________________
ganbaru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-22, 23:50   Link #5398
Vexx
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
What the fact than the readers are naked is supposed to improve the reading ? Yes, it might attract some currious to the session but beside that
Deliver it through coffeehouse smoke with everyone snapping their fingers to applaud and it'll be Beat.
__________________
Vexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-23, 00:33   Link #5399
Ithekro
Gamilas Falls
 
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
So it is basically 1954-ish Beatniks again?
__________________
Dessler Soto, Banzai!
Ithekro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 2011-08-23, 00:48   Link #5400
Vexx
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
*Author
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ithekro View Post
So it is basically 1954-ish Beatniks again?
Heh.. .yeah that's the first thing I thought of when I read the article...
__________________
Vexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
humor

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 00:21.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
We use Silk.