Zerg wrote on Nov 5, 2024, 09:38:
Whatever happens, whoever wins, I hope they will do what is best for the people of USA and its allies.

Nice hope. Unfortunately it is only true for one of the candidates.

Good luck, friends from the US, with your elections.

Whatever happens, whoever wins, I hope they will do what is best for the people of USA and its allies.

Sidenote: jury duty is generally not something that happens in my neck of the woods. I would not trust myself to be a voice that can decide the fate of someone else.

1badmf wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 20:49:

Jaysen wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 16:36:
Apparently you should be careful if you get coffee near a courthouse. An officer came in and tried to sign my dad up on the spot immediately. He avoided it because his dog was in the car and the officer grabbed someone else.

they can do that?!? just snag someone off the street? that doesn't seem right. sounds like old royal navy press gangs.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/jury-duty-public-talesman-procedure-1.6503019

In Canada yes. Apparently called “talesman”? Still rare but not unheard of. Now I’m interested if other countries have that.

Jaysen wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 16:36:
Apparently you should be careful if you get coffee near a courthouse. An officer came in and tried to sign my dad up on the spot immediately. He avoided it because his dog was in the car and the officer grabbed someone else.

they can do that?!? just snag someone off the street? that doesn't seem right. sounds like old royal navy press gangs.

I asked GPT to create a segment in the style of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on the topic of Crowdsourcing and how most end with the project suddenly ending or the final product not living up to what was promised. Enjoy this fake episode!

(P.S. There's no swearing. This is a PG version. 👍)

------------

Good evening, and welcome to Last Week Tonight! I'm John Oliver, the Marmite of late-night television—half of you tolerate me, and the other half deeply regret my existence. Tonight, we're diving into the wonderful world of crowdsourcing, where ordinary people's dreams are transformed into reality—or, more often, into crushing disappointment.

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with crowdsourcing—first of all, congratulations on not getting sucked into that black hole of broken promises. But let me explain. Crowdsourcing is where someone, usually with more enthusiasm than experience, pitches an idea for a product, a game, a film, or some other harebrained scheme to the Internet. They say to strangers they've never met, "Hey, wouldn't it be amazing if we could make this thing happen?" And if enough people agree, they throw money at it, sometimes thousands of dollars at a time.

But here's the thing: Just because you throw money at something doesn't mean it will work out. Take, for instance, the Coolest Cooler. It was supposed to be a cooler with Bluetooth speakers, a blender, and USB ports—basically the Swiss Army knife of coolers. It raised over 13 million dollars! It was the most funded project on Kickstarter at the time. People were more excited about this cooler than they were about, I don't know, any cooler that has ever existed.

But, like most things that sound too good to be true, it was. The company ran out of money before it could deliver to all its backers due to production delays, cost overruns, and, surprise, surprise. The Coolest Cooler went from "the last cooler you'll ever need" to "the last time you'll ever get this cooler."

And the Coolest Cooler is just one example. There are countless others, from tech gadgets that promised to revolutionize your life but only ended up revolutionizing your disappointment to video games that were supposed to be groundbreaking but were more like… broken.

Let's talk about Star Citizen. It's a game that raised close to 750 million dollars. That's nearly a billion dollars! And what do backers have to show for it? It's a game that's still developing after over a decade. A decade! For comparison, humans took only 10 years to go from the Wright brothers' first flight to the first commercial flight. But sure, Star Citizen needs just a little more time to figure out how to get a spaceship to fly without the game crashing.

And that's the crux of the problem: Crowdsourcing thrives on ambition, but it often needs more reality checks than, you know, actual business plans usually provide. These campaigns start with flashy videos, grand promises, and a whole lot of optimism. And who can blame people for getting excited? It's like being a part of something special, something that's just yours. But more often than not, these projects don't just hit a bump in the road; they careen off a cliff and burst into flames at the bottom.

It's not all doom and gloom, of course. There are successes—like Exploding Kittens, a card game that raised 8.7 million dollars and actually delivered what it promised. But the success stories are the exceptions, not the rule. The problem is that when crowdsourcing fails, it fails spectacularly, often leaving backers with nothing but a bitter taste in their mouths and a strong aversion to PayPal. You hear me, Elon Musk?!

And it gets worse when creators go silent, leaving thousands of backers in the dark. Imagine being ghosted by someone you gave money to and then not even getting a thank-you text—just radio silence. It's like dating but somehow more depressing.

But here's the kicker: When a crowdsourcing campaign fails, the backers—those loyal, optimistic, financially supportive backers (or, in some circles, whales)—usually have no legal recourse. That's right; there will be no refund and no accountability. It's like taking a gamble where the odds are stacked against you, but you're too blinded by a shiny promise to see the house always win.

So, what's the solution? Should we ban crowdsourcing altogether? Of course not. Crowdsourcing can be a force for good when done right. But we need to approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism. Treat every campaign like a Tinder date: don't just believe the profile, look for the red flags. And if you see a campaign promising the world for just a few dollars, remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

In conclusion, crowdsourcing is like an elaborate magic trick. It's dazzling and impressive, but sometimes, the only magic you'll experience is the disappearing act of your money. So, be careful out there, folks. In crowdsourcing, the only thing guaranteed is a lot of promises and, usually, a lot of nothing like these:

[John Oliver raises his hand to a rousing applause from the audience. The screen behind him flashes various failed Kickstarter projects as he gives the camera a knowing look.]

That's our show! See you next week! 😁

Prez wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 15:21:
For as much as I research court proceedings I have seen relatively little of the jury selection process. What kind of traits can get you kicked out of a jury pool? And what is to stop you from lying about them to just get kicked on purpose?

There's nothing to stop you from lying to get out of duty except your own conscious. I suppose if you said something that could be proven you are lying to the court that you could be held in contempt but I doubt a judge would even bother unless you really upset them. The judge will ask the jurors if any of them thinks they cannot be impartial and to explain why. In the jury I served, one in the pool said he was a former police officer and would always believe the police over anyone else. Since the prosecution was calling 2 police officers to the stand as their entire case, that juror was excused. Jurors can also cite hardships like being a busy single parent, sick mom at home, etc. It's up to the judge to decide if the hardship is worthy enough to excuse the juror.

In the case I served, both the defense and the prosecution got to pick up to 3 jurors each they could have excused without any justification needed. I was actually an alternate juror at first but due to a number of people being excused, I was bumped up in to the main pool of 12.

Apparently you should be careful if you get coffee near a courthouse. An officer came in and tried to sign my dad up on the spot immediately. He avoided it because his dog was in the car and the officer grabbed someone else.

Cutter wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 14:11:
Did you give him some Pacino? 'I'm out of order? You're out of order! The whole freakin' system is out of order!'

Nah, I think I said enough. During the round of questioning, I went on a mini-rant about something (I don't remember exactly what I said cause it was such a long time ago). The one dude that spoke after me, basically paraphrased what I said and essentially said he didn't want to be on jury duty. I think the judge figured I would be a cancer in the jury, so he quickly kicked me out. lol.

For as much as I research court proceedings I have seen relatively little of the jury selection process. What kind of traits can get you kicked out of a jury pool? And what is to stop you from lying about them to just get kicked on purpose?

First time summoned for jury duty was when I was in my early 20s. I was working nights at the time and had to keep doing that while attending jury duty. I dozed off here and there. Real court isn't much fun. We convicted the person on one charge but not the other after 3 days for a fairly minor crime.

I got called a second time several years later even though I moved out of state and returned to the same state but in a different county. I went anyways (next county over) and I brought up to the judge that I no longer lived in the county so I'm not eligible for jury duty. Judge knew I was right but was upset telling me, "You win" but I actually enjoy serving. She had a chip that day, fined everyone $5,000 (back in the late 1990's) if they came for roll call but didn't return after the break. No one was told this would happen ahead of time and I would have been caught since I was called up as an alternate.

Third time was just several months ago, I'm now living in a different state after having lived in 3 other states between my last jury call. Called the jury pool number the night before as instructed to find out all of court was dismissed for the next day but that it also counted as having served on the jury even though everyone was excused.

The part I found most interesting was the jury deliberation. My experience wasn't, "12 Angry Men" but it was very rewarding being part of the discussions.

Krapalicious wrote on Nov 4, 2024, 13:34:
Strangely enough, defense lawyers seemed to ask me the more questions than prosecutors.

Not really. Prosecutors can afford to hit and miss as they're on the public dime and appeals don't cost them anything. A criminal lawyer, on the other hand, has their entire livelihood based on whether they're any good at their job. They have to be way more selective.

There was another time when the judge excused me from the jury before the lawyers the lawyers excused jurors. I don't remember what I did or said, but it must have been serious lol. It may have been during the criminal case I just mentioned. It was like 20 years ago.

Did you give him some Pacino? 'I'm out of order? You're out of order! The whole freakin' system is out of order!'

The closest I've been to actually serving on a jury was when I was juror #2. I've made it to the jury box about 2-3 times in my life. Hated getting grilled by the lawyers. Strangely enough, defense lawyers seemed to ask me the more questions than prosecutors.

I've only had to sit in on one criminal case. The defendant kept giving me the cold stare (or at least it felt like it). I wasn't sure what to make of it. If I recall correctly, the defense lawyer asked me a few questions and the defendant passed his lawyer some notes. I was excused from the jury box not long after that.

There was another time when the judge excused me from the jury before the lawyers the lawyers excused jurors. I don't remember what I did or said, but it must have been serious lol. It may have been during the criminal case I just mentioned. It was like 20 years ago.

This comment was edited on Nov 4, 2024, 13:51.

I can't remember if I have ever been selected for jury duty. I know that I never served. My ex-wife got summoned in Memphis and she went. She was actually selected to sit on jury for a fairly high profile case that could have conceivably required being sequestered for up to 6 months. She was like "I have children; there's no way that I can do that". I on the other hand was like "I really think that you should do it!"

I think my mistake was being a bit too excited by the prospect.

I have been registered to vote in the same county since 1980 (when I turned 18), I have never been called to jury duty.

I used to hate jury duty, mainly because I was ALWAYS struck by one side or the other during the jury interview process. Attorneys generally don't like to have engineers on a jury - too analytical.

Now that I'm older and semi-retired, I would actually like to be on a jury to see what it's like, but ironically, the system seems to have completely ignored me the past decade.

I hate jury duty, too...fortunately, I am now (very recently) considered too old and too wise for it and have been removed from state and federal Jury rolls! Hallelujah! Several times during the years I had been called and had to go in, but either the civil cases were just settled prior to jury selection, and we were sent home, or else I was excused from a selected jury pool (I had asked for some clarification from prosecution attorneys in one case and in another from the defense, and my curiosity got me excused!...;)) I got the distinct feeling that both the prosecution and the defense (or the plaintiffs) were looking for "rubber stamps" who wouldn't think too much--and they wisely figured I would make them jump through hoops to vote "guilty." So the upshot was, I am glad I never had to serve on a civil or a criminal jury. For me to vote guilty, the prosecution would have to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt! And I would hold their feet to the fire, believe me...;) (I found out later that merely putting down my occupation as "computer consultancies" was enough to get me tossed off of most juries--as supposedly the courts don't like detail-obsessed professions in their juries. I would have thought that defense attorneys would like people who insist on the prosecution having all its ducks in a row, but apparently neither side likes that very much! Go figure.

I was kind of disappointed I didn't have to do jury duty. I was, at least, curious what it would have been for.

RIP Quincy. The man made a lot of good music. The best thing he ever did though was team up with Lionel and Michael to do 'We Are The World'.

Except it was several turtles and most of them being helped by vets and wildlife rescues. I hate those clickbait videos especially where they use animals to drive views. Please don't show them.