On the contrary, I think the people who know whether an action is right or wrong don't spend a lot of time arguing either way, they just go ahead and do what they think is right. It's the people who don't know whether an action is right or wrong that get all worked up trying to handle their conflicted feelings about it.
Maybe, but for the silent majority it's pretty straightforward: 1) we view information as fundamentally different from currency, goods, and services; 2)
we don't want to pay for information if we don't have to and we're not going to get caught.
The gymnastics are mostly about just trying to figure out whether we're bad people or not - because everyone else's favorite game is Shame the Pirate - but once you realize you're not a bad person and that you're okay with doing something illegal then it all just sort of fades into the background.
The main problem I have with the prevalence of adblockers is that now you have to "block" the meta-advertising people in discussion forums that criticize you or attempt to make you feel guilty for blocking ads on your own property any time the subject comes up, and it's a lot harder since the messages are usually targeted, handwritten, interspersed with useful content, and overall difficult to detect automatically.
Inch / foot / yard / mile is a really small range compared to what metric can handle (anything), so in practice most science is done with metric units.
What are the pros and cons of Silicon Valley being the VC capital of the world? How do you feel about it on the whole? Do you guys ever talk about diversifying, either inside the US or out?
Sometimes people cross their arms because it's a comfortable resting position. It's common in overweight men, the arms rest on the belly quite naturally. Often people will lean back against the chair or wall at the same time.
The FSF considers BSD a free software license, it's just non-copyleft. There was a lot of discussion on Groklaw about taking BSD code, modifying it, and slapping a GPL license on top. I believe the consensus was this is OK, since you are still respecting the BSD license terms.
Yes, but I think there's also something to be said for learning to swim in life's ocean of ups and downs, making the most of your situation. For me, a successful person is someone that knows how to swim, not someone that caught a once-in-a-lifetime tidal wave. Usually it isn't very glamorous, but it's what I personally aspire to.
I've seen the same thing at companies, where employees get in trouble for talking about confidential information that is known outside of the company.
I think the rationale is because sometimes the file gets updated internally such that the leaked info is no longer accurate and the person with access might screw up.