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Save yourself $10.20 by buying the book here: C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%! That's a total savings of $10.79, or 22.82%!

Save yourself $10.20 by buying the book here: C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%! That's a total savings of $10.79, or 22.82%!

Not necessarily. Allowing Joe Q. Public to partake in the market would be a bad idea. Allowing the designers, testers, etc. to (anonymously?) participate is a great idea. Check out The Wisdom of Crowds for a great read.

Cancelled before it was ever used. It probably would have worked, too.

Slashdot has linked to B & N here, but it seems that Amazon has it much cheaper.

Yeah, I hated seeing that terrorism futures market get blasted for all the wrong reasons.

A great book, The Wisdom of Crowds, goes over why futures markets work so well. Things ranging from judging the weight of a pumpkin to predicting within minutes of the Challenger disaster that the O-rings were responsible, have been foretold by futures markets or simple version of them.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385721706/

Some time read, "The Day The Universe Changed," by James Burke. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316117048/002-07 01003-8544823?v=glance&n=283155 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Universe_ Changed

Just because Einstein turned Newtonian physics on its ear doesn't make Newton any less of a genius. Whenever Einstein is superceded, it won't make him less of a genious, either. It just means that someone else has stood on his shoulders, like he stood on Newton's, and has seen even further.

Newton and Einstein both "changed the Universe" because they changed how we view it and how we relate to it. Or the example Burke uses is Galileo, and how he shifted the center of the Universe from the Earth to the Sun. (I know you could argue that it was really Copernicus, and that neither was really correct.)

Aye, faith and reason need be seperate. Reason is for science, it's how progress occurs...faith is for the development of a human being.

In my mind, they are all mythologies (before I get flamed please go read some Joseph Campbell...you'll see that there is nothing derogatory about my use of the word mythology). We all need to believe in something, and that is a choice and the strength of the choice is rooted in faith...just my two cents though.

Read Kingdom Coming by Michelle Goldberg to learn what she has discovered during her recent research.

I live In Columbus, Ohio and have seen some of the things Michelle described first hand.

Have a look at Melissa Scott's The Jazz for a fine sci-fi example of this effect in action. We're simply seeing the evolution of PR and marketers finally groking this "Internets"

...shove it where the sun don't shine

And I call bullshit on the fundamental premise of your post, there is a difference between "owning" (which is really just existing) your body and the very basic housing you need to survive and "property" which can be unlimited in it's extent while other people suffer in great misery. Native Americans for example "owned" their own bodies, tools, and houses with no idea whatsoever of the abstraction of a possible infinite accumulation of property.

Economists in my opinion are the rationalizers of the great evil of 10 percent of the U.S. population owning as much as the bottom 40% of the poorest people in the world. Paying people less than a dollar an hour while your have billions as Phil Knight who owns Nike does is evil.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/2KZ5.html

No Phil is not 10,000 times more "productive" than one of his workers in Vietnam who works in stifling hot conditions for 12 hour shifts with few bathroom breaks so she can go back to a tiny shack and a plate of beans and rice.

As far as I'm concerned by providing the intellectual version of spin in fancy charts and statistical analysis that are based on on fundamentally flawed premises economists serve much the same function in society as Nazi propagandists like Goebbels did, i.e. putting a happy face on misery and destruction. And what are some of these false premises?

1. Economics is predicated on the idea of infinite expansion and in fact it's necessary for the economy to function. Clearly this is a fallacy because infinite expansion is not possible on a finite planet. Why is infinite expansion part of economics, because banks when they give out loans by creating a loan account in essence create money out of nothing, and that newly created money must be paid back by expanded production or the whole pyramid scheme of bank financing collapses because banks loan out more money than they have in savings and checking accounts.

2. Currency speculation can expand the money supply without actually creating more productive activity. This in turn leads to bubbles like the Asian financial crisis, the great depression, the dot com bust, and the current perilous housing market are just 4 examples of. Thus fundamental instability in capital financing again leads to great suffering throughout the world.

3. Pure capitalism leads to monopolies which destroy the competition that Adam Smith's self organizing principles of economics are based on. Yet most supply side economic theory does nothing to reign in pernicious monopolies and their distorting effects on society. Do I really need to talk about Microsoft here on slashdot? Look up Bechtel, Haliburton, Shell in Nigeria, Coke in India, Union Carbide in Bhopal, Nike in Vietnam, and when you have read of the great suffering these companies have caused feel free to shove your charts and graphs up your ass.

4. Pure capitalism has no easy way to quantify externalities and thus encourages pollution as long as the pollution doesn't directly damage the property owners own property.

5. Closely related pure capitalism cannot distinguish destructive activity from non destructive activity except through the wild guess of "opportunity cost." Thus for example war by the U.S. and Israel is very profitable for Boeing the Carlyle group and their friends and guess what again causes great suffering in the world. And rebuilding the destroyed societies as vassals of U.S. multinationals is also a "gain" for the GDP.

So if your claim that I made a "typo" is based on some economic terminology I'll pass and use my own terms thanks.

I also recommend you read "The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1887208038/002-02 04872-9747219?v=glance&n=283155

Where a Stanford business school PHD takes down the fundamentally flawed assumptions in contemporary economic theory that underpins the globalist juggernaut.

There's a nice account of this in Ian Stewart's The Magical Maze.

i've read about this in keith devlin's 2001 book "The Math Gene" i think.. It is explained there how the pattern of a tiger's fur is only stored in functions in the genes... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465016197/sr=8-1 /qid=1154892579/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3922311-3366415?i e=UTF8

He doesn't want you stealing his wonderful music.

The Light of Other Days.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0590443143/sr=1-1 /qid=1154815827/ref=sr_1_1/102-0969231-6065720?ie= UTF8&s=books

There you go. Prices start at a penny.

What I don't understand is why this had taken so long. Andrew Ford, in his book Spinning the Web published in 1994 said that he got his experience of building websites from a project with the British Library to put the Domesday book online. If so, then the Electronic Domesday book has taken longer to complete than the original.

Yeah, but once you are off the damned lawn, then what?

I'd suggest that taking a look at a book that takes the subject seriously.

When somebody "gets one over" on you, there are a bazillion ways to fight back. This is a funny, insightful, and comprehensive explanation of just how many options you really have.

It's amazing what you can do with a $0.99 bottle of super-glue! (Hint - a drop or two in each keyhole of his car door locks can be very entertaining)

Poit!

Here is what I do. I take my discs out, put them UPSIDE DOWN in the jewel box so as to protect the fragile top layer, then I get out my handy Sharpie and write on the well-protected side what the disc is.

My "When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight And He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right" album doesn't play very well anymore, though.

I know what you are thinking, 'No great loss'.

You've been reading Involution Ocean again, haven't you?

and NO, i'm not upgrading the f'ing radio just so I can listen to the same thing available on CD. My "newer" car may play MP3's, but Its just as easy to create a mix on the computer and burn it to a music CD.

My mom on the other hand does not yet have a computer and there is no way in hell you are going to convince her to replace her car stereo. If it doesn't play in the car, ITS BROKEN.

All you need to get a portable MP3 player to work in the car is an FM transmitter like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AAAPF/002-97 36569-7252810?v=glance&n=172282

They are very inexpensive and work like a charm.

So tell me now how is bringing all of your CD's with you in the car where they can be broken/stolen better than having your whole music collection on an MP3 player that you can bring with you when you get out of the car??

My mom on the other hand does not yet have a computer

My 92 year old grandmother even has a computer, get your mom out of the stone age. My grandma got hers for free and yes it is dated but it does the job of letting her check her e-mail and play solitaire so it's just fine. There has to be someone around giving away an old system that you could setup for your mom, you just have to look around a bit.

But, If you want to jump into it really soon some things to think about; Do you have enough (6 figures+ ?) money (you don't have to if pro shop finances some of it)? By that I mean do you really have enough staying power for 1-2 years, i.e. making 2k one day or 10k-20k one month, then loosing 5-50k a month for 2-3 months in a row?

But, the best option regardless is to start and read up on using proper money management (portfolio position sizing) techniques, thus hopefully avoiding above scenarios. Better yet if you do not jump right into a pro shop (maybe one year from now) is to start slowly and read as much as you can and start to papertrade. Will you be programing your own system or use something more professional like eSignal, Tradestation, or cheap good begginers program (so I've heard) Amibroker? Do you want to backtest and keep all the data on your hard drive or rely on downloading bits and pieces from an online software company?

Being a successful institutional trader involves a number of skills and personal characteristics. The more you can learn about it going in, the better I think your chances will be. As far as which market: focus on the area that you're most interested in. There is one caution: really understanding the process of valuing options and other derivative securities takes a non-trivial level of math understanding.

Yes, exactly.

However, as (BengalsUF) stated: It doesn't sound like you have talked to anybody that would actually be your boss if you made the move to the trading floor. Having worked in the same environment, if you had asked them you would know exactly what you need to do to move into that area.

Have to agree here, but read on.

Taking the day trading route, commisions will eat at you. You can still make money, but should be the last thing to jump into with a lot of money. Maybe the best way to test out day trading is to try Forex with one of those firms that allow you to trade $1 or so per trade, like papertrading but real (except for liquidation). I would also recommend looking into Interactive Brokers for an online brokerage.

A couple of beggining books I can recommend to get you started are Come Into My Trading Room, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, Give you a headstart and you'll also want to check out some trading forums, EliteTrader is a good one and Trade2Win

Good Luck.

ps If you get steered into really looking at Forex (still not fully regulated), really look into the broker that you choose (Refco FX Asscociates)!! Not to worry if you try "papertrading" with $50 or so.

But, If you want to jump into it really soon some things to think about; Do you have enough (6 figures+ ?) money (you don't have to if pro shop finances some of it)? By that I mean do you really have enough staying power for 1-2 years, i.e. making 2k one day or 10k-20k one month, then loosing 5-50k a month for 2-3 months in a row?

But, the best option regardless is to start and read up on using proper money management (portfolio position sizing) techniques, thus hopefully avoiding above scenarios. Better yet if you do not jump right into a pro shop (maybe one year from now) is to start slowly and read as much as you can and start to papertrade. Will you be programing your own system or use something more professional like eSignal, Tradestation, or cheap good begginers program (so I've heard) Amibroker? Do you want to backtest and keep all the data on your hard drive or rely on downloading bits and pieces from an online software company?

Being a successful institutional trader involves a number of skills and personal characteristics. The more you can learn about it going in, the better I think your chances will be. As far as which market: focus on the area that you're most interested in. There is one caution: really understanding the process of valuing options and other derivative securities takes a non-trivial level of math understanding.

Yes, exactly.

However, as (BengalsUF) stated: It doesn't sound like you have talked to anybody that would actually be your boss if you made the move to the trading floor. Having worked in the same environment, if you had asked them you would know exactly what you need to do to move into that area.

Have to agree here, but read on.

Taking the day trading route, commisions will eat at you. You can still make money, but should be the last thing to jump into with a lot of money. Maybe the best way to test out day trading is to try Forex with one of those firms that allow you to trade $1 or so per trade, like papertrading but real (except for liquidation). I would also recommend looking into Interactive Brokers for an online brokerage.

A couple of beggining books I can recommend to get you started are Come Into My Trading Room, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, Give you a headstart and you'll also want to check out some trading forums, EliteTrader is a good one and Trade2Win

Good Luck.

ps If you get steered into really looking at Forex (still not fully regulated), really look into the broker that you choose (Refco FX Asscociates)!! Not to worry if you try "papertrading" with $50 or so.

The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson.

Fooled by Randomness, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G. Malkiel.

All of these are fascinating reading, and highly recommended. Certainly anyone who pays attention to CNNfn and the rest should read Taleb; anyone who's trading options (and relying on an option pricing model) should read Taleb and Mandelbrot; and anyone who still thinks that investing in mutual funds is a good idea should read all three. The parent's remark about survivorship bias is right on target, and that's by no means the only pitfall out there.

The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson.

Fooled by Randomness, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G. Malkiel.

All of these are fascinating reading, and highly recommended. Certainly anyone who pays attention to CNNfn and the rest should read Taleb; anyone who's trading options (and relying on an option pricing model) should read Taleb and Mandelbrot; and anyone who still thinks that investing in mutual funds is a good idea should read all three. The parent's remark about survivorship bias is right on target, and that's by no means the only pitfall out there.

The (Mis)Behavior of Markets, by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson.

Fooled by Randomness, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G. Malkiel.

All of these are fascinating reading, and highly recommended. Certainly anyone who pays attention to CNNfn and the rest should read Taleb; anyone who's trading options (and relying on an option pricing model) should read Taleb and Mandelbrot; and anyone who still thinks that investing in mutual funds is a good idea should read all three. The parent's remark about survivorship bias is right on target, and that's by no means the only pitfall out there.

Pretty much the same information is in the excellent Personal Finance For Dummies .

60%+ of day traders lose money, and once you factor in fees none of them can match the performance of (say) an S&P500 index fund, on a long term basis. It really is a game for suckers.

It has been proven (see The Great Mutual Fund Trap) that day trading is a way to lose. People always jump in too late and jump out too early and have their profits eaten up by fees (which they pay whether they win or lose). The guys in that book reported on an analysis done of Etrade and Ameritrade records. The numbers were very clear.

The only way to win is:

• buy into a broad index fund. That will track the dow, and the DOW will rise over the long term.
• dont buy and sell. Buy and hold (or better - buy and ignore).
• hold for many years. You will see jumps and dips spanning months and years. But in the long term (many years) you will do better than anything else.

Here's a little info from the book:
They tracked over 1000 mutual funds for 10 years. Of the 1000, 1 (count them... ONE, uno, single) fund gained every year over the DOW. Mutual funds are run by fund managers who know a lot more than you, and have huge resources. Turns out that it is completely random as to wether a fund can beat the DOW.

Every now and them, one fund manager wins big for their fund. And they become hot property. But its random. They will eventually fade.

A side note: there is also a survivorship bias - any mutual fund that does poorly for very long is usually folded into another - that is, it disappears. So the ones that survive are the best, and they aren't better than the DOW on average.

Index funds are the way - they have very small fees, insulate you from any sector tanking, they track the dow, and require 0 effort on your behalf.

The book was a huge eye opener for me, and for the last few years has proven itself.

The Investor's Guide to Active Asset Allocation

Have a look at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044006550X and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006Y2ORW - I've read the latter, and it is...interesting...to say the least. Enough to keep me searching for a (cheap) copy of the former.

Have a look at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044006550X and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006Y2ORW - I've read the latter, and it is...interesting...to say the least. Enough to keep me searching for a (cheap) copy of the former.

I knocked my PS2 over while there was a game in it, spinning, and it fell a good 3 feet, gouging the DVD when it hit the floor. Rebooted, and the game wouldn't start. Tried toothpaste, and the disc got a little better (the intro music started playing again). Tried some more toothpaste, and it got worse (intro music stopped again).

Then, I went to the local gamestop and bought one of those "Disk Doctor" (Same concept as this model: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000J4PD ) things, that has a grinding disk that's supposed to evenly grind down the outer surface of the disk, leveling it out to below the level of the scratch(es). I'm usually skeptical about that sort of thing, but there were some glowing reviews online.

It worked perfectly. I was stunned. I guess the fact it worked *after* having beat the hell out of it with toothpaste is even more impressive.

This works pretty well if everyone has a copy of the game. I have done this a lot and had great fun. Since it was made in 2002, the graphics are a bit dated, but that means you can actually run it on some older machines. Luckily it is very affordable now and you can get it to run under Linux and Mac OS X. The Linux version requires having the PC version, then downloading the Linux client here. The mac version is here, but you need to buy both expansions seperately so it's more expensive than the PC version.

Be sure everyone updates to the latest game patches. The new Community Expansion Pack v2 is coming out soon with neat stuff like ridable horses, hundreds of new items, a thousand new monsters, and a couple of thousand placable objects. You can build your own modules in the toolset, or just download some great ones from Neverwinter Vault. Then just serve it from your broadband connected machine either with the stand-alone server or the dm client.

With all that for running table-top like games, plus a good single player game and lots of multi-player persistent world modules it's like three games in one, and the best part is no monthly fees.

This works pretty well if everyone has a copy of the game. I have done this a lot and had great fun. Since it was made in 2002, the graphics are a bit dated, but that means you can actually run it on some older machines. Luckily it is very affordable now and you can get it to run under Linux and Mac OS X. The Linux version requires having the PC version, then downloading the Linux client here. The mac version is here, but you need to buy both expansions seperately so it's more expensive than the PC version.

Be sure everyone updates to the latest game patches. The new Community Expansion Pack v2 is coming out soon with neat stuff like ridable horses, hundreds of new items, a thousand new monsters, and a couple of thousand placable objects. You can build your own modules in the toolset, or just download some great ones from Neverwinter Vault. Then just serve it from your broadband connected machine either with the stand-alone server or the dm client.

With all that for running table-top like games, plus a good single player game and lots of multi-player persistent world modules it's like three games in one, and the best part is no monthly fees.

This works pretty well if everyone has a copy of the game. I have done this a lot and had great fun. Since it was made in 2002, the graphics are a bit dated, but that means you can actually run it on some older machines. Luckily it is very affordable now and you can get it to run under Linux and Mac OS X. The Linux version requires having the PC version, then downloading the Linux client here. The mac version is here, but you need to buy both expansions seperately so it's more expensive than the PC version.

Be sure everyone updates to the latest game patches. The new Community Expansion Pack v2 is coming out soon with neat stuff like ridable horses, hundreds of new items, a thousand new monsters, and a couple of thousand placable objects. You can build your own modules in the toolset, or just download some great ones from Neverwinter Vault. Then just serve it from your broadband connected machine either with the stand-alone server or the dm client.

With all that for running table-top like games, plus a good single player game and lots of multi-player persistent world modules it's like three games in one, and the best part is no monthly fees.

This works pretty well if everyone has a copy of the game. I have done this a lot and had great fun. Since it was made in 2002, the graphics are a bit dated, but that means you can actually run it on some older machines. Luckily it is very affordable now and you can get it to run under Linux and Mac OS X. The Linux version requires having the PC version, then downloading the Linux client here. The mac version is here, but you need to buy both expansions seperately so it's more expensive than the PC version.

Be sure everyone updates to the latest game patches. The new Community Expansion Pack v2 is coming out soon with neat stuff like ridable horses, hundreds of new items, a thousand new monsters, and a couple of thousand placable objects. You can build your own modules in the toolset, or just download some great ones from Neverwinter Vault. Then just serve it from your broadband connected machine either with the stand-alone server or the dm client.

With all that for running table-top like games, plus a good single player game and lots of multi-player persistent world modules it's like three games in one, and the best part is no monthly fees.

Computer science professor Norman also advises design firms. He brings his background in academics and business to bear on the emotional valence surrounding objects of daily use, be they kitchen utensils, automobiles, or a football coach's headset. Norman's analysis of people's emotional reactions to material objects is a delightful process, replete with surprises for readers who have rarely paused to consider why they like or loathe their belongings. He breaks down emotional reactions into three parts, labeled "visceral," "behavioral," and "reflective," asserting that "a successful design has to excel at all levels." Norman's examples of items ranging from bottles to hand tools fulfill this dictum, although he feels that designers do not often take emotion into account when formulating what an object should look like. With household robots on the horizon, Norman implores designers to redeem their mistakes in designing personal computers. His readers will take away insights galore about why shoppers say, "I want that." Gilbert Taylor

Save yourself $14.80 by buying the book here: Java Regular Expressions. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%! That's a total savings of $15.20, or 38.58%!

Save yourself $14.80 by buying the book here: Java Regular Expressions. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%! That's a total savings of $15.20, or 38.58%!

Although I know Slashdot gets kickbacks from B & N, it seems inconsiderate of them to make their readership pay too much when Amazon has the book cheaper

If you're inclined to teach yourself DiffEq - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471319988/002-03 87074-6940836?v=glance&n=283155 . You can find it cheaper used (even more so if you get the international edition in paperback).

How many sites even -offer- USPS as a shipping option?

The largest online retailer uses them for Super Saver and standard shipping. I also see a lot of QVC returns by USPS, and they ship to customers via UPS or USPS.

Were you even alive during those years?

Excellent post (and BTW, I'm not in the habit of complementing Republicans!). Speaking of telecoms, there's an excellent book by Nomi Prins which covers the telecom situation, Other People's Money.

What I'm referring to is the overt and covert attack on traditional values. If you've read Golberg's Bias there seems to be pattern of destruction of traditional values. Goldberg is concerned with the news media, and the book is written in that awful breathless newstwit prose, but there are some points to be made.
Mrs. Doubtfire is a funny movie. Robin Williams is a genius. Setting aside the baby and peering into the bathwater, isn't the flick a disturbing assault on fatherhood? Tactically, the movie is an enjoyable escape, but, strategically, do I want to see men desperately mis-representing themselves to gain access to their children? Are we advocating an "end justifies the means" mentality here? Has my wife overstarched my underwear again, and I need to lighten up? Certainly: if there are too many flaws in the painting, take a couple of steps back and don't lose sight of the picture.

It's a logical fallacy to assert that the government where I live has to be perfect for me to point out a problem that is going to be a serious potential issue for this project. (I don't like ANY government. I think they're all lousy. Some are just worse than others about overt corruption on such big projects.)

Just because the planners for this project SAY it requires no infrastructure to make it work other than what's available doesn't make it true. Just shoving a piece of hardware at someone isn't going to magically make him learn something. The goal of this project is allegedly to bring the people on the bottom up to par technologically with people in more developed countries. All it will really do is create bigger gaps between the small minority in those countries who are already educated and the majority who don't have the basics.

Better education comes from the interaction of a decent teacher with a student, not from throwing a piece of hardware at them. We haven't even figured out how to make computers improve education in places where we have all the money in the world to throw at education. What evidence is there to think it's going to work some kind of magic in other places that have even less developed education systems? It's all pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. It's the evidence of an irrational trust in technology to fix problems -- when the problem isn't the technology. (Hint: The educated people of the past -- before computers were even thought of -- were somehow able to become educated despite the lack of comptuers.) The problems limited these Third World countries are economic and government-imposed. Although I don't agree with this author's economic conclusions about everything, he does make a strong case for why Third World governments are causing the poverty their own people face:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195 189779?v=glance

People who think "it is worth a shot" haven't thought this thing through, IMO. Governments are going to divert millions upon millions of dollars to a project that is more likely to produce a bunch of expensive doorstops, IMO. The ones that ARE used will most likely be used by people who would have had computers anyway. The ones who it's allegedly supposed to help aren't going to see any benefit to it.

You and others who lash out at those who think this is a bad idea seem to see this as having something to do with evil racist attitudes of people who don't like "other people," but that misses the point entirely. To me, it's merely that computers don't fix education the way people assume they do -- not here in the West or in any place. If you want to be dumb enough and insulting enough to think my opinion is wrong because I live in Alabama, you're terribly prejudiced. My opinion is based on my judgment concerning the efficacy of computers in learning, not judgment about the people targeted. But you'd apparently rather make prejudiced assumptions instead of understand the reasons behind why I think it will fail.

David

as other posters have pointed out becoming an actuary is one career choice - its quite a big committment in terms of working your way through the exams (lots of people are quite pleased to see the end of them when they finish university)
My experience is that the math in the exams will probably start at about what you could comfortably do at 18 (but may have forgotten since ;) and in some specific cases extend from there a little bit. But its by no means hard abstract math - more applied specific math.
The key requirement for the job (aside from passsing the exams) is IMHO enjoying working with numbers all day

if the exams put you off, consider "quant" work in the finance field
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471 394203?v=glance
I think traditionally they've picked up people with PhD's in Math and Physics who didn't want to continue in those fields (or wanted to multiply their earnings subsatntially). Hedge funds, investment banks, etc are the potential employers.

Hedge funds aren't the only financial asset that requires math

All -

Several years ago in an excellent book "The Transparent Society:How Technology Will Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom, David Brin argued convincingly, that "privacy is gone, get over it!", and that in trying to hang onto it, we put our freedom at risk. For we would put ourselves in the position that those in authority/power would be able to hide their actions and those of us who aren't would be on the short end of the stick.

In the society envisioned by Brin, this street would have been covered by cameras, the homeowners would be able to dump their feeds into the grid for observation by others, and all of the officers and their vehicles would have cameras. And all of us would be free to examine the feed in real-time or pull materials out of the archive. In fact, the "surveillance" Brin envisions would provide the kind of check that articles such as this do.

I will be honest, I would be more than willing to live in Brin's world - with the checks it would give us on those in authority - and the privacy zones it would grant us (need to read the book to get the full details).

All -

Several years ago in an excellent book The Transparent Society:How Technology Will Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom, David Brin argued convincingly, that "privacy is gone, get over it!", and that in trying to hang onto it, we put our freedom at risk. For we would put ourselves in the position that those in authority/power would be able to hide their actions and those of us who aren't would be on the short end of the stick.

In the society envisioned by Brin, this street would have been covered by cameras, the homeowners would be able to dump their feeds into the grid for observation by others, and all of the officers and their vehicles would have cameras. And all of us would be free to examine the feed in real-time or pull materials out of the archive. In fact, the "surveillance" Brin envisions would provide the kind of check that articles such as this do.

I will be honest, I would be more than willing to live in Brin's world - with the checks it would give us on those in authority - and the privacy zones it would grant us (need to read the book to get the full details).

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