Slashdot Mirror

I read a book recently that touched on something similar to this. Part of the argument was if more of our leadership actually had any military experience, they might stop treating the military as a black box they can just throw any problem in and crank out any solution they desired. Also, if more of our leadership (cultural as well as political) had children who served in the military, they might think twice of using the military in some of the ways it's been used in the past decade.

The book was titled AWOL. Pretty interesting book, and while I don't agree with everything in it, it made me think.

-gb

My word.

It's quite impressive really, how a web-comic that deliberately sets out to be juvenile and offensive so often ends up involved in a reasonably respectable way in some pretty big news stories.

I know this probably isn't the most appropriate comment, but I this whole thing really does remind me strongly of this book. In fact, the echos are bordering on being uncanny. I guess it all boils down to the question of whether somebody can just be "born bad".

The evidence both from this case (if the account here is to be believed) and my own experiences is "yes, they can". I'm not sure anybody in the political or academic estabishments really want to face up to the implications of this, though.

I don't know which version of the PS3 you're looking for, but if it's the 60GB one then you should run over to Amazon right Now! Apparently they have 37 new and used available from $599.99. I reloaded, they still have 37. So this is your opportunity to buy it before "they sell out immediately."

I'm always happy to help. I don't know if the Amazon link is dynamic and will stop working. But I'm sure you can still find it if you poke around their site for a bit.

Barnes and Noble is selling this book for $44.99, but Amazon.com is only selling it for $31.02!

Save yourself $13.97 by buying the book here: Minimal Perl for Unix and Linux People. That's a total savings of 31.05%!

Amazon has WiiPlay in stock right now. I have it. It really isn't worth it but for only $10 more than a Wiimote, it's not that bad.

Wii Play

I don't want to put Perl down, but I think that its day is past except for those who, because they learnt it when it was the only thing around, are willing to tolerate its eccentricities. While switching from sed/awk to a general-purpose programming language with good text manipulation abilities can certain improve the possibilities of what you can accomplish with a single chuck of code and processor (as opposed to the old-time Unix way of piping), I'd recommend Python for that, getting started with a guide like Mertz's Text Processing in Python (Addison-Wesley, 2003). Python is now as mature, if not more, in the realm of text processing as Perl was when its won its accolades a decade ago. (Heck, the treatment of Unicode is enormously forward-thinking compared to any other scripting language on the market.) And so you get the same power as you would with Perl, but much, much more readable.

I fear I'm starting a holy war by recommending Python in a Perl discussion. That's certainly not my intention. For those who already know and love Perl I say, great, keep on trucking. But I just can't see the point in steering newbies towards it.

Slashdot links to B & N here, but it seems that the book is quite cheaper at Amazon. Just look at the "Used and new..." listings. (Note that that is a referral link, but it costs you no more than a direct link. Just don't click it if you object.)

I was wondering what you think of the software with that edition of the printer, is it really worth paying that much more than the Amazon price for?

I don't mind spending money either on good photographic equipment and software, but I was suspicious of that package really being worth the extra you'd pay beyond just the printer cost alone.

I have an Epson R800 (very little brother in that it uses roughly the same inkset) currently and love the quality, but I have to send larger stuff all out for printing and I would love to have full control over larger prints.

I agree with you for the most part, but in that book I cited, they point out that while the bully may be the aggressor, the situation that lead to bullying is not always his or fault entirely.

The solution offered in this book, is to engage the entire class in problem solving exercises, so that all involved (bully, bullied, and all bystanders - all of whom are affected) can have some understanding of why this happened, as well as have some input into a better way to respond to similar situations in the future. And all the while they are learning to think critically about these kinds of problems, rather then just getting angry and remaining clueless about how to deal with the frustrations and fears that lead to bullying in the first place.

You are correct that this has to be dealt with head on, every time it happens. The kids - all who are involved - have to learn how better to handle a situation that could escalate into full blown bullying.

For another reference, check out "You Can't Say You Can't Play" which is the book that describes the techniques that Jane Katch from They Don't Like Me implemented in her preschool class.

As a parent I disagree with your statement, on it's face. Sure, it's my responsibility to teach my children to do the right thing, and I surely do that to the best of my ability.

Still, it remains fact that not all kids have parents that are going to teach vital life skills, like how to organize, study, and get along with others. It remains fact that the rest of us, and our children still have to deal with these less than prepared people, and their children. And it remains fact, that schools can and should do something about it.

We just need the political and social will to make policies that teach this stuff. There are plenty of books on the subject, some even demonstrating what can be done by both teachers and parents, such as "They Don't Like Me: Lessons on Bullying and Teasing from a Preschool Classroom".

In an ideal world, parents would all do the right thing. In reality, many of them are not prepared for the task, and could use a little help. For the sake of the rest of us, and for their sake, I think we should address that reality.

I don't think people should reject all forms of external storage and try to live by memorizing everything. Putting information into the world (to use a term Don Norman explored in The Psychology of Everyday Things [1]) is a Way Good Thing.

Cellphones and laptops are too fragile to make good storage media, though. It's too easy to put them into a state where you can't get any of the information back out of them. Laminated paper, like the cards I hand out, is far more durable, portable, and reliable. Unfortunately, it's also hard to come by, compared to just saving a number in a cell phone.

[1] - A great book on design theory and usability. He uses the phrase, "it probably won an award" as a curse, and tells stories like the two guys trying to figure out a new coffee maker: one said, "You'd need an engineering degree from MIT to work this thing," and the other says, "I *have* an engineering degree from MIT."

How to Start Your Own 'S' Corporation, Second Edition
Mar 2, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471398128/

Doing Business Tax-Free: Perfectly Legal Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Your Federal Business Taxes, 2nd Edition
April 23, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471418218/

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Feb 4, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071425462/

Buy Your Own Business With Other People's Money
April 25, 2005
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471694983/

etc etc etc

How to Start Your Own 'S' Corporation, Second Edition
Mar 2, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471398128/

Doing Business Tax-Free: Perfectly Legal Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Your Federal Business Taxes, 2nd Edition
April 23, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471418218/

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Feb 4, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071425462/

Buy Your Own Business With Other People's Money
April 25, 2005
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471694983/

etc etc etc

How to Start Your Own 'S' Corporation, Second Edition
Mar 2, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471398128/

Doing Business Tax-Free: Perfectly Legal Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Your Federal Business Taxes, 2nd Edition
April 23, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471418218/

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Feb 4, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071425462/

Buy Your Own Business With Other People's Money
April 25, 2005
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471694983/

etc etc etc

How to Start Your Own 'S' Corporation, Second Edition
Mar 2, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471398128/

Doing Business Tax-Free: Perfectly Legal Techniques to Reduce or Eliminate Your Federal Business Taxes, 2nd Edition
April 23, 2001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471418218/

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Feb 4, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071425462/

Buy Your Own Business With Other People's Money
April 25, 2005
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471694983/

etc etc etc

Perhaps the article is mr. McNamara's poor attempt at humour, but most of those 12 points are actually very good suggestions to help manage your email... If you're stressed because you get too many items in your inbox (or more probably, if you think you're getting too many mails), they'll help a lot. Perhaps they're not so good for overcoming an actual addiction though. For that, step 1 and some discipline is enough.

Most of these tips come from Getting things done, which I can highly recommend if you're stressed out because you feel you have more work than you can manage. It worked wonders for me!

Bianca Schroeder, of CMU's Parallel Data Lab, submitted Disk failures in the real world: What does an MTTF of 1,000,000 hours mean to you?

It means I should be storing my important, important data on a service like S3.

I flat out don't believe you. What couldn't they find in Vista? What's so drastically different from XP? Did they fail to notice the handy (new) search bar? Do they not know how to make shortcuts?

There's always going to be a bit of a learning curve with any new product that is different even in the slightest of ways. Complaining about how it's different is asinine to me...if they just wanted XP because that's what they were used to, then why were they shopping for new computers? Sounds like you weren't much of a help at all.

And as for this nonsense about Vista being a memory hog and performance drain...that is demonstrably false. I have a 3 year old Dell that I've just upgraded with Vista, and if anything, Vista is snappier.

You are right about one thing, though; XP is next to impossible to find:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=cat 16104&type=category
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/5385 14/ref=br_bx_c_2_1/103-9340057-3065405
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/search-ng.gsp?searc h_constraint=3944&search_query=windows+xp&Continue .x=22&Continue.y=7
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/d efault.mspx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA =0&type=&Description=xp&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

What planet? RTFA, its 700 years to get from our solar system to the next nearest solar system. We're not talking light-speed here, we're talking about fusion-driven generation ship.

Well, perhaps smaller spacepods, lifeboats or "seedlings" could be launched from the generation ship as it travels along its 700 lightyear path to wherever. This would enable one generation ship to colonize multiple systems by benefit of getting the colonists 'half way there' along the way. The generation ships path(s) would ultimately appear as a branching tree with Earth at the base its trunk. This would be a more cost effective and productive scenario than launching multiple (huge) generation ships from Earth with each requiring the resources to make the entire trip.

At the end of the journey 50 generations later you end up with a starship crewed by CANNIBAL NAZIS.

I think both of these ideologies (Cannibals, Nazis) are Earth-bound concepts (terms). Consider that the initial generation of crew members could be raised onboard the ship while its construction is finalized in orbit between Earth and the moon. These people would not need to be educated in the "worst traits" of humanity and at the same time could be instilled with the highest regard for human (all) life, ethics and morality. They could be taught all the greatest aspects of religion without being exposed to the darker aspects of damnation and "hell" (e.g. they could be taught death is the end of life and so living a good life should be its own reward). The colonists could, as in the movie The Village, be raised in near total isolation from the rest of humanity. And this would also give them the benefit (?) of beginning the voyage disease free; unless passengers with fully built-up immune systems would improve their survivability.

Of course even the health/illness issue is catch-22 and perhaps best left for another discussion, do you want disease free humans or ones with fully developed immune systems who may at the same time carry germs with them.

A book I read that explored a few of these aspects was Voyage From Yesteryear by James P. Hogan. Also, the amount of biomass represented by a single individual is rather negligible depending on the size of the ship, or becomes diminishingly relevant as the size increases.

Thanks for continuing the dialog. Perhaps one day our comments will turn up in a global archive of ancient thoughts and be read by our children's children's children's... well, you get the idea.

Yes they do!

I have a Hot Wheels radar gun,
http://www.amazon.com/Mattel-J2358-Hot-Wheels-Rada r/dp/B000EHLB0M

There's a long history of cryogenic computing in the crypto area. IBM and NSA put millions into this back in the 1960s and 1970s ("I want a thousand megacycle computer. I'll get you the money" - NSA director in the 1960s), and there were some actual successes. Liquid nitrogen tank trucks pulled up to Fort Meade in the 1960s. The problem was that the computing element they were using could be made fast, but not small or cheap; it involved a coil and a magnetic field, so it was a discrite component, like a memory core. CMOS ICs won out.

Then there was the Josephson junction effort of the 1980s. Those worked, but again, CMOS ICs won out. Cheaper to build, easier to shrink. It's hard to beat the mainstream IC technology that everyone is working on.

(Actual quote)

Bork, you're a federal agent! You represent the United States Government! Never end a sentence with a preposition.

from the film
 

This has been an interesting dialogue to read.

Just to throw in another possibility previously discussed on slashdot, perhaps "TV" helps cause autism in those susceptible to it. See:
    "TV Really Might Cause Autism"
    http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/1 7/0435250
Though others disagree:
    "Does Watching TV Cause Autism?"
    http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,154 8682,00.html
(even suggesting indoor air quality might be part of the problem).

See also:
    "Toddlers' TV habits may 'rewire' brains"
    http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/05/Worldandnation/T oddlers__TV_habits_m.shtml
"Very young children who watch television face an increased risk of attention deficit problems by school age, a study has found, suggesting that TV might overstimulate and permanently "rewire" the developing brain. ... The researchers didn't know what shows the children watched, but Christakis said content likely isn't the culprit. Instead, he said, fast-paced visual images typical of most TV programming may alter brain development."

Autism (or other similar seeming behavioral issues) it likely to be a multi-factorial disease, with many interacting causes -- genetics, diet, heavy metal exposure, viruses, TV, stress, and so on. Some of these factors may weigh more than others -- probably all are involved to some degree or another, and the amount may vary by individual based on how well their genetics can compensate for various problems whether they are too little good fats, too much heavy metals from whatever sources, or exposure to rapidly flickering changing scenes on TV. And it remains true that eating right, exercising, moderation in vices like TV, and trying to reduce stress are all good things to do in almost any situation (which is why I like that omega-3 suggestion, because it is probably not going to hurt, but generally may improve health). So too for not watching TV -- getting rid of your TV can't hurt much, and probably will improve health. Vaccination is admittedly a much more controversial topic. Here is one of the less sensationalized books on that:
    "Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent's Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions about the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives"
    http://www.amazon.com/Vaccinations-Thoughtful-Sens ible-Decisions-Alternatives/dp/0892819316

Of course - the answers you may get can vary wildly depending on the input you give. One question that has to be asked is: Do we have a civilization on earth or are we still barbarians?

We are still barbarians because...

• ...we still use violence to resolve our differences.
• ...we still believe in overnatural phenomenons.
• ...we still try to discredit people that actually tells the truth.
• ...we still use deception and threats to reach our goals.
• ...we still have people that thinks that we are engineered.
• ...we are still falling back on our animal reactions when pressed.
• ...we as a group are still acting irrational.

And there are actually only two alternatives: Expand or become Extinct, if we are staying on earth it's only a question of when extinction will occur. Be it through a pandemic plauge, asteroid impact or war, pick your poison...

Expanding into the galaxy will certainly require technology that's more advanced than we have today, but we know some of the obstacles that we will encounter and that means that we are on our way.

We know that a large number of stars actually have planetary systems in one way or another. In a near future we are likely to be able to see more and more extrasolar planets in better and better detail. Right now it's more or less guesswork and estimations about the actual composition of the extrasolar planets based on our knowledge of our own planetary system. We may be in for some great surprises!

And expansion of humankind into the galaxy will very likely at the beginning be done with seedships with a very small crew and a large number of frozen embryos. The Science Fiction with large starships crewed by a large number of humans is in a distant future, if ever achieved. A more likely scenario would be the ability to create warp tunnels as in Tunnel in the sky. It would also be far more efficient than a starship since a starship will only be able to transport a few people at a time while a tunnel may be able to transport continuously. We have already observed tunneling on a laboratory level, although it's still a very unpredictable phenomenon.

"At least a creative one. I am always impressed when I see works of art, and 3d rendering is no different. I always download these apps, then I try to find online tutorials, forums and all that... but I can never produce anything worth mentioning. I guess I just lack the creative artistic abilities."

It's not that hard. Yes, really.

"At least a creative one. I am always impressed when I see works of art, and 3d rendering is no different. I always download these apps, then I try to find online tutorials, forums and all that... but I can never produce anything worth mentioning. I guess I just lack the creative artistic abilities."

It's not that hard. Yes, really.

I can't accept the thinking that a sufficiently advanced race would feel it was neccessary to go out and conquer the galaxy, which pretty much blows this theory out of the water.

In Poul Anderson's future history starting with Harvest of Stars , the machine intelligences that arise on Earth after a first wave of settlers has departed to Alpha Centuri send a message to the colony claiming that they now find pure mathematics more interesting than space exploration. Of course, Anderson sees this as "navel-gazing" and celebrates the irrational curiosity of human beings and drive to see what's out there.

If there are other conscious civilizations out there, ignoring the possibility that they just haven't gotten around to colonizing yet, one might venture that perhaps they too have delved into abstract thought in lieu of expansion.

Yes, there is research on neural net hardware.

I don't work on this myself, but some links:

http://www.amazon.com/Analog-VLSI-Neural-Systems-C arver/dp/0201059924

http://www.google.com/search?q=neural+vlsi

http://www.google.com/search?q=neuromorphic

Regular fluorescents and compact fluorescents are available in dimmable varieties. A friend of mine actually made a color organ from fluorescent lights some 25 years ago to demonstrate rather dramatically that it
was possible. Newer technology makes it much easier. It is just a matter
of having a smart electronic ballast and a way to communicate the dimming commands. Some ballasts for regular fluorescents have a 0-10V input, X-10 control, or other electronic input. Some ballasts
also can work downstream of a regular incandescent dimmer; you only use the top range of the dimmer (so the
ballast has enough power to work on) and the ballast senses that you have reduced the duty cycle by say 25% and reduces the current through the bulb by 50%. A dimmable CFL will cost around $18 (less than I used
to pay for the regular variety but enough for half a dozen now). Whether your fixture takes 4 foot long tubes,
circular tubes, floodlights, or compact fluorescent/ordinary lightbulbs, there are dimmable replacements for
either the bulb, balast, or fixture.

http://www.amazon.com/Dimmable-Spiral-Fluorescent- Light-Bulb/dp/B000BCMZPK
http://www.worthingtonsolutions.com/activekb/index .php?ToDo=view&questId=120&catId=5

You can get this story cheaper at Real Fucking Genius

Anyone finding the above idea interesting should read Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It deals with an interesting fork in civilization that has very interesting consequences.

Yes?

You know, I've seen this statement a number of times, and I like it. My problem is that I don't think it is strictly the case.

I go to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) when in doubt. (Those of you who doubt that the OED is the definitive reference for the English language, check out the footnote below 1).

The first definition (sense d) in the citation for Steal, verb, is in conflict with the assertion above. I've removed the quotations and tried to retain the time-line of references so that we could see this is no johnny-come-lately definition, but the formatting got kooky too quick, so let it suffice to say that the first reference is in 1275.

1 If you don't care for the OED, give Simon Winchester's 'The Meaning of Everything' a read. It's a testament to the hubris of the Victorian Englishman, made all the more amazing by the fact that they pulled it off, albeit a little later than the originally estimated ten years (turned out to be 71 years). And I was boggled as to how dissertations were completed using typewriters when I had the good fortune to discover LaTeX whilest undertaking my grad thesis - these guys (and gals, check out the contribution of the Thompson sisters) did it with lined paper and pigeonholes! It really is an accomplished jewel of literature, and interestingly enough, only recently has its model been reused - look at how the democracy of Wikipedia maps onto the process of creating the OED. I was reading recently about Citizendium, and it occurred to me the Wikipedia is evolving in the direction of the original OED model ...

Read The Songs of Distant Earth, by Authur C. Clarke. Though the book is more about what happens when a fast ship from Earth finally visits a "grown" colony such as this one, it is one of my favorite sci-fi books.

Ha, I've been looking for a comment like yours. I just finished Phoenix Without Ashes the other day and am disappointed that the story ended abruptly.

Done well with today's CG technology, a revival would be breathtaking.

from Douglas Adams Restaurant at the End of the Universe (also part of the TV series"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". That ship included people with the most useless jobs such as telephone sanitizers, hair dressers and realtors.

Of course, your description also fits the planet Earth.

Maybe you are an anthropologist, or perhaps a social historian, who has unequivocal proof that original hunter gatherer society was better off than modern global society. I however disagree with you. Myself I am not an anthropologist, nor am I a historian or an archaeologist.

Instead of arguing with you, I will, however, refer you to someone who is much better apt at explaining the point of view I subscribe to. Steven Pinker has asked himself some of the questions you ask about hunter gathering being some sort of an ideal. I read a book by him, where he is exposing the fallacy of romanticizing the primordial hunter gatherer lifestyle. And he does it really well. Maybe you have read this book, and something inside you protested against all the facts thrown at you. Perhaps.

If you haven't read it and you really care about the issues you brought up in your post I suggest you read this book, and see whether you want to bring out the same point of view again.

Permutation City, among others. http://www.amazon.com/Permutation-City-Greg-Egan/d p/006105481X/sr=8-1/qid=1171811681/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1 /104-7115273-0999957?ie=UTF8&s=books

Well, Rendezvous with Rama itself didn't explore the idea of human beings en route across the galaxy, since Rama was then just a mysterious alien object that dipped into our solar system, got explored a bit, and then departed. It was only those atrocious sequels penned by Gentry Lee that had humans staying on it and riding it out to far away places. Apparently the only thing Lee found worth exploring in the concept was puerile sex scenes and soap-opera intrigues, and lots of 'em.

I'd recommend instead Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun which, even if the technology is a bit out there, is a much more likely scenario from a sociological point of view. If you're looking at a journey of hundreds of years in a ship big enough to seem like an expansive world and not just cramped quarters, there's going to be people dividing into factions based on disagreements, there will probably arise a class difference between those who do the steering and those who are just "cargo", and there will be people at the end of the voyage who will not want to disembark from home onto a potentially unpleasant colony world.

In science-fiction writer Michael Flynn's future history starting with the novel Firestar , it's actually the fear of an asteroid that gets a corporate executive starting commercial space travel, jumping ahead of inefficient and bureacratic NASA. Well, it's been a few years now since the date Flynn suggested for the start of real orbital travel, not just the suborbital tourism we're seeing developed now. But nonetheless, I'd like to think that in the last couple of years we're showing enough progress that by 2039, we will have the technology. Even if the investment is motivated a little more by profit than by a desire to protect the human race.

whats so terrible wrong about that?

how about 100 million dead?

HOwever I do think that assuming he has some degree of autism isn't unlikely, I myself suffer from quite serios mental disorders and I seem to find that autism and other mental disorders (or what you like to call them, doesn't matter much) is much more common in "the geek community" than in the world surrounding us.
Probably has a lot to do with that the commputer is really a big help to people like me who have problems handling social situations.

Ever read Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"?
Just finished it myself.
I ordered the UK version, but that's just me. :)

http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins /dp/0618680004/sr=8-1/qid=1171673717/ref=pd_bbs_sr _1/103-4789113-2852618?ie=UTF8&s=books

Now I don't know exactly what Amazon said to their customers, but the most Amazon can do is ask those customers to pay for it, charging customers post fact is blatantly illegal, and even if it isn't in your country that type of thing that can destroy a company's reputation.

From the first linked forum:

Now I don't know exactly what Amazon said to their customers, but the most Amazon can do is ask those customers to pay for it, charging customers post fact is blatantly illegal, and even if it isn't in your country that type of thing that can destroy a company's reputation.

From the first linked forum:

Now I don't know exactly what Amazon said to their customers, but the most Amazon can do is ask those customers to pay for it, charging customers post fact is blatantly illegal, and even if it isn't in your country that type of thing that can destroy a company's reputation.

From the first linked forum:

If that amount changes, they are expected to notify me before charging, unless their terms allow for increasing the charge automatically (I can't find terms like this their site).

I think you're looking for the first link in the submitter's comments: terms stating that Amazon checks order prices before shipping.

Nothing in there indicates that the price paid will be increased without contacting the buyer prior to shipping.

I'm not sure if you know this, but the Home and Student edition has been around for several years. http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Office-Student-Tea cher-2003/dp/B0000C0XT1

That's because their networks run on these