Thread: No news is good news

  1. #1
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    No news is good news

    After noticing that most of the news broadcast today is pure conjecture punctuated by the occasional fact I have made a personal policy of not watching any broadcast news.

    When I think back there is not one story that affected my life or safety nor that I could not have learned from co-workers and friends.

    Since I have stopped watching the mass media I notice my life has less stress. I have never been a fan of sticking your head in the sand but it might not be a bad idea when all that is broadcast is negativity and what-if scenarios conjured up by people with a clear bias, goal, and almost no knowledge of the subject.

    I still keep up with local news via the internet from time to time but that news is usually 'just the facts.' National news is far too littered with editorial and nine times out of 10 it is completely inaccurate.

    For me, it's been nice. The world hasn't been ending in disaster now for at least a month.

  2. #2
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    Bubba, you strike me as an older dude, so was public TV news better? Is it still?

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    Guest Sebastiani's Avatar
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    After noticing that most of the news broadcast today is pure conjecture punctuated by the occasional fact I have made a personal policy of not watching any broadcast news.
    You're just now noticing that?

    I still keep up with local news via the internet from time to time but that news is usually 'just the facts.' National news is far too littered with editorial and nine times out of 10 it is completely inaccurate.
    CNN is the worst, too. IMO, if you want some decent news, try the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer or BBC Worldwide.

    I always feel a bit nostalgic when I think about the news station we had growing up in Houston back in the 70s/80s, Channel 13 KTRK. To be sure, it probably wasn't nearly as objective as I remember it to be, but it had enough hard-hitting investigative reporting to keep us happy, anyway. And of course we had Marvin Zindler, who was always exposing consumer fraud, dirty restaurants, and political corruption. He'd often end his reports yelling - "MARVIN ZINDLER... EYEWITNESS NEWS!!!". God love him.
    Code:
    #include <cmath>
    #include <complex>
    bool euler_flip(bool value)
    {
        return std::pow
        (
            std::complex<float>(std::exp(1.0)), 
            std::complex<float>(0, 1) 
            * std::complex<float>(std::atan(1.0)
            *(1 << (value + 2)))
        ).real() < 0;
    }

  4. #4
    Woof, woof! zacs7's Avatar
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    > if you want some decent news, try the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

    We get that here... and yawn

    I also haven't been watching the news for the last few years or so, but it's almost like a movie anyway. The extra plus is I'm not scared of swine flu

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post
    After noticing that most of the news broadcast today is pure conjecture punctuated by the occasional fact I have made a personal policy of not watching any broadcast news.
    Welcome to the real world.

  6. #6
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I confess i'm a news wench. I don't think I will ever be able to take that leap. Which does sadden me somehow because I fully agree to Bubba's approach

    But to my credit I am an expensive wench. BBC, one local news channel, one local newspaper and the NYT are my only customers. Everything else I scorn at.
    Last edited by Mario F.; 08-04-2009 at 07:45 AM. Reason: ..........
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    I stopped watching TV news a while ago and I noticed the same thing. Everybody was ........ed off and worried and I felt great. I just have an RSS-feed or two for tech news, and a Google news page with the top 3 stories for World, Nation, State, and Local news. I skim the headlines and read if it sounds compelling (which is once a week...).

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    Registered User lattica's Avatar
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    "...Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander..."

    There's nothing new about the news.

  9. #9
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    I've only owned a TV for a total of less than six months since 1994. Well, actually I do have one hooked up to a DVD player, but there's no cable, antennae, or reception, so I never use it to watch television stations.

    I used to think it was all mindless crap and no good for anybody. I don't really feel that way anymore, and enjoy it in the laundromat, at friend's houses, etc., but still have no desire for it in my own home. I do listen to (non-commercial) news radio quite a lot. I don't read newspapers at all as I've never found much value in them -- but that's a little hypocritical, because I do get a lot of info from news article links people send me in emails. Which is pretty nice, I could never skim thru all the world's dailies for bits of interest.
    Last edited by MK27; 08-04-2009 at 11:27 AM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  10. #10
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    If watching run-of-the-mill news is deemed "mostly pointless" (and I agree), then someone needs to make a very strong case for watching anything else that's less important.

    The only reason I have a TV is to play DVDs & Blu-Rays. Initially I had some fun with free off-the-air HD broadcasts but that thrill dissipated. I find even so-called educational channels are just eye-candy and inane commentary with random footage that obliquely shares the same topic. All too much re-enactments (trying to make archaeology interesting), or way over-the-top "science" such as Mythbusters which is way past it's expiry. Or Homes on Homes which never spends enough time to actually teach you anything.

  11. #11
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    I watch cooking shows almost exclusively.

    When I was younger I used to watch cartoons, and animation as an art form is still nice, but there is virtually nothing good on TV anymore.

    I never actually watched the news for the reasons that everyone has noted. But I would like to watch good news. Being informed is most of the battle in a debate, and debate is the axis on which the democratic world seems to turn. So I've found news to be important.

  12. #12
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    I heard a theory that the 24 hour cable news networks ruined the news. Think about it: If you have to have enough news each day to report about it for 24 hours, what kind of news are you going to get?

    Also there's the fact that "The sky is falling" generates more viewers than "Everything is OK".
    bit∙hub [bit-huhb] n. A source and destination for information.

  13. #13
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bithub View Post
    I heard a theory that the 24 hour cable news networks ruined the news. Think about it: If you have to have enough news each day to report about it for 24 hours, what kind of news are you going to get?
    To be fair, it would be more like, if you have to have enough news to fill 24hrs but you cannot cover any stories that were not covered in one hour at 6 o'clock -- because that will be too upsetting to too large a percentage of your audience -- then you will really have to scrape barrels to satisfy "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" type new junkies, ie, the kind of person who wants to be considered an authority on current events, but has no intention of taking them seriously. Those people DO NOT want to see too much, both because it is offensive to them and because they do not want other people to see it either -- that would threaten their status as "knowledgable".

    There is a significant number of people like that, IMO; including elected politicians, who perhaps provide the role model xP
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

  14. #14
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bithub View Post
    I heard a theory that the 24 hour cable news networks ruined the news.
    Actually over here they are the ones that work better. One of my favorite news source is a Portuguese cable news channel. We have a different model for cable news channels, over here:

    - News are presented every 1 hour for 10 minutes. We get to hear and see the highlights and necessarily they are a repetition from the previous hour. Less important news or older news are replaced as newer ones come out in a more or less weighted FIFO style.

    - At key hours, there's a full news coverage that runs for one hour. This is usually early morning, mid morning, lunch time, mid afternoon, 8:00pm and 00:00am.

    - And now the sweet part. The rest of the whole day is spent with debates, opinion makers, documentaries if there's a relevancy to some current news, and foreign production the likes of 60 minutes, Dateline and BBC News coverage.

    This is a very appealing model to me.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  15. #15
    spurious conceit MK27's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    Actually over here they are the ones that work better.
    Oh come on -- how much is there to report in Portugal? Like some guy got drunk on sweet strong wine and fell off his fishing boat?

    Plus I imagine the standard western fare would be mandatory vis, what to do with all the pesky Arabs and Africans...etc

    I notice you guys kiss the big American tush just like everyone else, congrats:

    Q&A: "Too Many People Don't Want the Truth on CIA Flights to Come Out" - IPS ipsnews.net

    They are bending over for more pretty much everywhere on this one.
    Last edited by MK27; 08-04-2009 at 08:03 PM.
    C programming resources:
    GNU C Function and Macro Index -- glibc reference manual
    The C Book -- nice online learner guide
    Current ISO draft standard
    CCAN -- new CPAN like open source library repository
    3 (different) GNU debugger tutorials: #1 -- #2 -- #3
    cpwiki -- our wiki on sourceforge

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