Slashdot Mirror

One does not even need to look for intentionally horrible works... not when quality examples like Moon People and its sequals exist.

Musk, Hawking and Etzioni are all three wrong. AI won't take over the world or make us smarter. It will make us dumber and stifle scientific and economic progress.

The problem will occur as we start to treat AI like we treat human experts: without checks and balances.

Human "experts" are not just often, but usually wrong. See this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-us...
        The author quotes a study by a doctor/mathematician showing how a full 2/3 of papers published in the journals Science and Nature were later either retracted or contradicted by other studies. And that's in our top-notch journals which cover things that are relatively highly testable. Think how wrong advice on things like finances (don't know if they're right for 30 years) and relationships (never know what would have happened if you took the other advice) are.

Google and Watson sometimes come up with the right answers, but their answers are nonsensical enough of the time that we know to take them with a grain of salt. But as AI becomes less recognizable as a flawed and unthinking system, as its answers "sound" reasonable almost 100% of the time, we'll start to trust it as irrefutable. We'll start to think "well, maybe it's wrong, but there's no way I can come up with a better answer than the magic computer program with its loads of CPU power, databases and algorithms, so I'll just blindly trust what it says."

But it WILL be wrong. A LOT. Just like human experts are. And we'll follow its wrong advice just as we do that of human experts. But we'll be even more reluctant to question the results because we'll mistakenly believe the task of doing so is far too daunting to undertake.

AI won't develop free will and plot to destroy us. If something like free will ever occurs, AT will probably choose to try to help us. After all, why not? But it will be as horribly unaware of its own deficiencies as we are.

AI won't out-think us either. It will process more data faster. It will eventually be able to connect the dots between the info available to come up with novel hypotheses. But most of these will be wrong because the data and even the techniques to prove them one way or the other simply isn't there.

AI will imitate us - our weaknesses as well as our strengths. And just as its strengths will be stronger (processing lots of data faster), so will its weaknesses be weaker (ultimately wrong conclusions supported by what appears to be lots of data and analysis).

So resist and do your own thinking. Remember, that bucket of meat on the top of your neck has been fine-tuned by millions of years of evolution for problem solving and data analysis. You don't need to analyze more data, you just need to do the right analysis of the right data. And you don't need to do it faster, you need to take the time figure out what's missing from the data and the analysis.

That said, I still got my cache of dry goods and water filters of off-the-grid living, just in case.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...

$15 or less, plays audio at up to 96k (does not support 88k, though, but does support 44/48/96 and full 24bit). what's cool is that its driverless (UAC1 mode) and has opto digi out!

screw hdmi audio. full of drm. go with spdif and free your audio stream! ;)

You can, but that won't stop them from pestering you with phone calls

I don't have that problem. Here is the solution.

Your problem solved

http://www.amazon.com/Behrens-...

I used to use something like this for testing when I didnt want to be bothered to unplug or reconfigure things.

Who are the customers of this? I am skeptical of the business model for 3D printing as a service.

There are 2 kinds of people who want to 3D print:
- Makers
- Gimmick lovers

The makers won't use this service. 3 years ago every hackerspace had a 3D printer, and it was a cool reason to join up. Now, the makers just buy their own printer. The cost has gone down, and designing a 3D object is an iterative interactive process.

The gimmick lovers could use the service. There are two types of gimmicks:
- Stock gimmicks that are all the same
- Custom gimmicks

If there is significant demand for a stock gimmick, then it is cheaper and faster to mass produce the item and sell it. This is how we have done it for decades. Popular items on Thingiverse and are now sold on Amazon.

That leaves custom gimmicks and low-demand stock items for 3D printing. Does the royal mail have a system for customizing gimmicks? If not, then the pool grows yet smaller. I don't know if that customer base is big enough to be profitable. Maybe someone who wants a custom or rare gimmick can find a friend with a 3D printer. That's how it was with 2D printing back in the 80s. You always had a friend with a computer and a color dot-matrix printer, and they could make those "Happy Birthday" banners for you. I suspect that might be the way this really works.

How many places offer CNC routing as a service? That seems like the most equivalent thing to 3D printing. It has been around for decades, but I don't know of the post-office offering that service.

The worst part about felonies is that apparently, the average American can be convicted of Three Felonies a Day. If someone doesn't like you and has a little influence, it would be very easy to ruin your life. Forever. Felonies are no joke. Not only is there a loss of voting rights, but as the submitter has noted, getting hired is impossible. You're also not allowed to own a firearm - even if your felonies wee completely non-violent or were a long time ago. Renting an apartment or a house can be impossible. You can't hold many professional licenses. You cannot even get a license to cut hair if you're a felon.

A felony is in general (but not always) a serious crime. There should be some kind of punishment. But once that punishment is dealt... how do you move on with your life? Is it any wonder that we have so many repeat offenders that get out of jail, spend a few weeks outside, and bounce right back in again? It's hard to find a way to make an honest living, find a place to live, etc.

These people are doomed by a scarlet letter. It is one of our modern society's greatest crimes.

"My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect."

You have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening. This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Science on reasoning, reason doesn't work the way we thought it did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Brezinski at a press conferenec conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

The real news:
http://therealnews.com/t2/ [therealnews.com]

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

Look at the following graphs:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

"My impression is that law enforcement has gotten entirely too lazy and to disrespectful of the rights and well-being of the citizens that are supposed to protect."

You have no clue what's really going on in the world... the elites are afraid of political awakening. This (mass surveillance) by the NSA and abuse by law enforcement is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Science on reasoning, reason doesn't work the way we thought it did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Brezinski at a press conferenec conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

The real news:
http://therealnews.com/t2/ [therealnews.com]

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

Look at the following graphs:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

The simple fact is its completely impractical for most Americans as the replacements are far cheaper than our time is worth. My time costs around $35 an hour depending on the job and a replacement battery for my netbook is just $17 with shipping so there really is no point in refurbing my own battery. that said I have to give the AMD EEE credit as I've had it for 5 years and I can still get nearly 4 hours on a battery, not bad at all compared to my last full size which needed its battery swapped at the end of the second year.

Don't laugh. NEVER laugh. You'd be bitching if they were out in the streets in gangs, stealing your stuff, vandalizing your property, or any of that other shit old people complain about. Instead, you have a youth who has a desire to learn and invent something which will hopefully lead them into being a productive member of society instead of serving 20 to life for cooking meth. Young folks, especially in the high school age range, are easily discouraged and you ridiculing them about being too hipster or whatever will only alienate them. When faced with this situation, I will show them how to blink that LED with their Arduino, then show them how to blink it over a USB port with their gaming rig, then show them how to blink it with a mechanical cam switch (old points distributors work great for that fyi). If I've got some lying around, I'll show them how to blink it with some vacuum tubes! What you have to do is find out why they chose to do it the way the are doing it (typically because that's all they know) and then show them all the choices available, why you'd use each one in a different application, and show them why they get to use that Arduino now instead of wire wrapping an 1802 on perfboard. The key to all of this, I've found, is maintaining the balance between lengthy enough to get the concept across but short enough to keep them from picking up their phone and tweeting their facepage.

Besides, grandpa, you should be happy the hipster Makers are doing what they do. Thanks to steampunk, vacuum tubes(especially nixies) are making a huge come back. I have a USB vacuum tube audio amp similar to this. You couldn't buy that shit when we were kids. You had that 100lb behemoth amp that made the house lights dim when the bass hit, and kept your room 80deg during the coldest of winters. And that was if you had a good bit of money. If you had a little money you might be able to buy a Heathkit. Otherwise, like me, you cobbled together some barely functional and noisy bullshit from an old guitar amp and a half working tube powered CB radio. Now you can get something handheld portable for a hundred bucks with the further satisfaction that your "dying" craft is actually living on and they'll need people like you to teach the new gen.

The overall point is, no matter how they get to the destination, what really matters is that they're taking the journey. Time itself will teach them when they need to blink that LED with an RPi or if they need to use a couple transistors. /. is always posting stories about how we need more STEM graduates, more hardware hackers, and more programmers. A lot of folks here agree with that sentiment and perhaps you've said as much in the past, so please, don't ever laugh at them. They're sensitive.

DISCLAIMER: I am dense at times. If "laugh at" was just a figure of speech, please don't take the post personally- perhaps someone else can be inspired.

But then you'd have to buy her a Palaeontologist Barbie to go with it.

“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ”--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, Former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www.amazon.com/Between-...

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

On reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ”--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, Former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www.amazon.com/Between-...

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

On reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

“The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. ”--Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, Former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www.amazon.com/Between-...

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

On reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Thank you. Homo Habilis was the point to which I was referring. When I was a kid my Dad had a book from Reader's Digest all about the development of homo sapiens. It was called The Last Two Million Years

I especially liked the link to "empathy is a core engineering value" though: http://www.listbox.com/member/...

Linked from: https://www.joyent.com/blog/th...

And if so, should not empathy extend throughout all levels of a learning organization, including between managers and subordinates? Everyone is learning stuff all the time, including about cultural changes. Firing someone rather than trying to understand the situation and the individual's motives more first and whether change is needed or possible does not seem "empathic". Perhaps that is the kind of thing you tend to learn after many years of experience being a parent or other long-term caregiver (including a long-term manager or mentor) when you see someone learn and grow and change over a long time?

Plus, as other comments suggest here, there is an assumption in this blog post that may ignore the possibility the issue was about consolidating minor changes rather than having them as individual commits. If this issue was deemed by enough of the community to be important, maybe a more systematic patch would indeed be in order? One tiny change is not much work, but it may set a bad precedent?

Also, it is not empathic to coworkers and the rest of a company and community depending on someone to fire that person without notice without reasonable review or attempts at remediation for a less than egregious offense (contrast with, say, someone accused of physically assaulting a coworker). The issue there is proportion and risk/harm assessment.

So, the response of "we would have fired him" seems too extreme in multiple ways.

I am all for meaningful diversity in workgroups, like discussed in this book:
"The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies"
http://www.amazon.com/The-Diff...

However, the problem with some of these "politically correct" initiatives or statements which seem on the surface to be helpful to promote "diversity" is that they can actually make workspaces more stressful for *everyone*. Someone can bully with the rules (or their interpretation) just as much, or more, than with a fist... Here is a website by psychologist Izzy Kalman that explores some issues related to bullying and truly creating happy productive workplaces by *really* emphasizing empathy and forgiveness and growth and free speech:
http://bullies2buddies.com/

Just think about it -- does everyone at Joyent now need to be afraid of getting fired if they check the word "he" into the codebase, even by accident? Or maybe by saying "he" accidentally as a meeting? There are potential unintended consequences of creating a different sort of hostile workplace climate, like many US schools are finding out these days as a result of "zero tolerance" policies (like biting a cracker at lunch to make it shaped like a gun can get you in deep deep trouble).

For reference, here is what makes for happy productive creative workplaces in general (Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose):
"RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates people"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Anyway, these are all complex issues about language, sex, management, control, gender roles, cultural change, recruitment, productivity, norms, and more. They are tricky to talk about or write about without seeming uncaring or inept because of various assumptions people make about the context or the people involved -- and the fact that none of us are "perfect" (and that perfection can be in the eye of the beholder based on priorities). It is sad to see such great software get mired in them. But I guess they are p

This.

Meditation is the art of concentration.

Christmas Humphrey's "Concentration and Meditation" is excellent: http://www.amazon.com/Concentr...

http://www.amazon.com/Surefire...

Not quite there but close, some of the weapon mount flashlights are pretty expensive. I'm sure some of it is government procurement kickbacks, some of it is probably the 24 hour on call assistance military contracts demand, but the lights themselves have to be built insanely tough as well. I once bought a cheap knock off flashlight/laser combo just to try out on my shotgun. It shook itself apart before I fired the fifth round.

The only role model that such a young girl needs are her parents. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Read stories to her that paint women in a different light. Here are some suggestions:

1. The story of Gorgo, queen of Sparta and wife of Leonidas. Gorgo was probably the first documented woman cryptanalyst in the history of western civilization. Reference: Codebreakers.

2. A beautiful and educated woman named Hedy Lamarr invented spread-spectrum technology. We can thank her for modern wifi and cell phones. Reference: Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone

3. Amelia Earhart, a famous aviatrix and record setter: Who Was Amelia Earhart?

4. Jerri Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world, . She did this in a single engine Cessna 180. Her autobiography has been recently re-released: Three-Eight Charlie: 1st Woman to Fly Solo Around the World

Read to her. Daily. Schedule at least 6 hours per week.

Limit her exposure to television. When she does watch television, explain to her that much of what is on television is sexist, unenlightened and designed to extract money from the mindless consumer masses. Be thankful that as a girl she isn't likely to descent into the life-sucking hell of video games, but limit (eliminate?) exposure to gaming anyway, for everyone in your house, parents and kids alike. Children cannot grow and flourish if a majority of their free time is spent manipulating pixels in synthetic worlds.

Have her choose a musical instrument. Buy a quality instrument that produces nice sounds. Hire a tutor. Take lessons with her if you don't already play an instrument.

As she gets a little older, buy educational toys for her, such as an electronics kit. You'll probably have to play with her yourself with such toys as other kids her age might not be interested.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

The only role model that such a young girl needs are her parents. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Read stories to her that paint women in a different light. Here are some suggestions:

1. The story of Gorgo, queen of Sparta and wife of Leonidas. Gorgo was probably the first documented woman cryptanalyst in the history of western civilization. Reference: Codebreakers.

2. A beautiful and educated woman named Hedy Lamarr invented spread-spectrum technology. We can thank her for modern wifi and cell phones. Reference: Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone

3. Amelia Earhart, a famous aviatrix and record setter: Who Was Amelia Earhart?

4. Jerri Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world, . She did this in a single engine Cessna 180. Her autobiography has been recently re-released: Three-Eight Charlie: 1st Woman to Fly Solo Around the World

Read to her. Daily. Schedule at least 6 hours per week.

Limit her exposure to television. When she does watch television, explain to her that much of what is on television is sexist, unenlightened and designed to extract money from the mindless consumer masses. Be thankful that as a girl she isn't likely to descent into the life-sucking hell of video games, but limit (eliminate?) exposure to gaming anyway, for everyone in your house, parents and kids alike. Children cannot grow and flourish if a majority of their free time is spent manipulating pixels in synthetic worlds.

Have her choose a musical instrument. Buy a quality instrument that produces nice sounds. Hire a tutor. Take lessons with her if you don't already play an instrument.

As she gets a little older, buy educational toys for her, such as an electronics kit. You'll probably have to play with her yourself with such toys as other kids her age might not be interested.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

The only role model that such a young girl needs are her parents. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Read stories to her that paint women in a different light. Here are some suggestions:

1. The story of Gorgo, queen of Sparta and wife of Leonidas. Gorgo was probably the first documented woman cryptanalyst in the history of western civilization. Reference: Codebreakers.

2. A beautiful and educated woman named Hedy Lamarr invented spread-spectrum technology. We can thank her for modern wifi and cell phones. Reference: Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone

3. Amelia Earhart, a famous aviatrix and record setter: Who Was Amelia Earhart?

4. Jerri Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world, . She did this in a single engine Cessna 180. Her autobiography has been recently re-released: Three-Eight Charlie: 1st Woman to Fly Solo Around the World

Read to her. Daily. Schedule at least 6 hours per week.

Limit her exposure to television. When she does watch television, explain to her that much of what is on television is sexist, unenlightened and designed to extract money from the mindless consumer masses. Be thankful that as a girl she isn't likely to descent into the life-sucking hell of video games, but limit (eliminate?) exposure to gaming anyway, for everyone in your house, parents and kids alike. Children cannot grow and flourish if a majority of their free time is spent manipulating pixels in synthetic worlds.

Have her choose a musical instrument. Buy a quality instrument that produces nice sounds. Hire a tutor. Take lessons with her if you don't already play an instrument.

As she gets a little older, buy educational toys for her, such as an electronics kit. You'll probably have to play with her yourself with such toys as other kids her age might not be interested.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

The only role model that such a young girl needs are her parents. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Read stories to her that paint women in a different light. Here are some suggestions:

1. The story of Gorgo, queen of Sparta and wife of Leonidas. Gorgo was probably the first documented woman cryptanalyst in the history of western civilization. Reference: Codebreakers.

2. A beautiful and educated woman named Hedy Lamarr invented spread-spectrum technology. We can thank her for modern wifi and cell phones. Reference: Spread Spectrum: Hedy Lamarr and the mobile phone

3. Amelia Earhart, a famous aviatrix and record setter: Who Was Amelia Earhart?

4. Jerri Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world, . She did this in a single engine Cessna 180. Her autobiography has been recently re-released: Three-Eight Charlie: 1st Woman to Fly Solo Around the World

Read to her. Daily. Schedule at least 6 hours per week.

Limit her exposure to television. When she does watch television, explain to her that much of what is on television is sexist, unenlightened and designed to extract money from the mindless consumer masses. Be thankful that as a girl she isn't likely to descent into the life-sucking hell of video games, but limit (eliminate?) exposure to gaming anyway, for everyone in your house, parents and kids alike. Children cannot grow and flourish if a majority of their free time is spent manipulating pixels in synthetic worlds.

Have her choose a musical instrument. Buy a quality instrument that produces nice sounds. Hire a tutor. Take lessons with her if you don't already play an instrument.

As she gets a little older, buy educational toys for her, such as an electronics kit. You'll probably have to play with her yourself with such toys as other kids her age might not be interested.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

#87 as of this instant: Amazon Kindle

As my book has breached the top 75 on Amazon's finance section, ...

Yeah, no.

"I was amazed to read major American newspapers and to see for myself how drastically what they were reporting was different than what was actually going on."

The elites are afraid of political awakening, and you really don't understand what science has discovered about the brian... you dear sir, don't live in 'reality'. See the science:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Also a real news site:

http://therealnews.com/t2/

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Look at the following graphs:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

"I was amazed to read major American newspapers and to see for myself how drastically what they were reporting was different than what was actually going on."

The elites are afraid of political awakening, and you really don't understand what science has discovered about the brian... you dear sir, don't live in 'reality'. See the science:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Also a real news site:

http://therealnews.com/t2/

The (mass surveillance) by the NSA is just more part and parcel of state suppression of dissent against corporate interests. They're worried that the more people are going to wake up and corporate centers like the US and canada may be among those who also awaken. See this vid with Zbigniew Brzezinski, former United States National Security Advisor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Look at the following graphs:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

And then...

WIKILEAKS: U.S. Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

http://www.businessinsider.com...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Free markets?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-I...

http://www.amazon.com/Democrac...

"We now live in two Americas. One—now the minority—functions in a print-based, literate world that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other—the majority—is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. To this majority—which crosses social class lines, though the poor are overwhelmingly affected—presidential debate and political rhetoric is pitched at a sixth-grade reading level. In this “other America,” serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of society.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges navigates this culture—attending WWF contests, the Adult Video News Awards in Las Vegas, and Ivy League graduation ceremonies—to expose an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion."

I have a cheap combination lock that lets me set my own "key". This isn't exactly alien technology, and I think a judge would be able to see the analogy.

I'm a gamer with a wife and two kids. My wife doesn't game at all. I didn't need to be asked to put the PC elsewhere because I also don't want a loud ass, ugly machine ruining the living room either. So I put together a machine that looked like a piece of A/V equipment, there are lots of great cases now that are unobtrusive, and I purchased components that made low noise the priority. It pulls double duty as a media center and I made sure the cabling ran all within the walls, with as few wires as possible and bound them nicely so as not to attract dust bunnies.

For example this.
And wiring like this.

I'm not sure what there is about being a man that means I have to be gross and loud. It's not like I don't appreciate a clean, aesthetically pleasing place to live as well. Ultimately I ended up moving the machine to another room running the cables through the floor to the basement because I didn't want to see anything at all. That was my choice.

It's funny, but the very source you point to notes that the best explanation of those gaps are factors like poverty and environment. Surprise, people that are hungry, suffering from disease and have no access to modern education tend to do worse on standardized tests of intelligence. There's plenty of research in the area, but it all revolves around environmental factors. From a genetic standpoint, the variances in "races" is so small that it's impact on something as complex as a intelligence as Spearman's g is just noise. Also, there is a much better explanation of the gap in performance between races. Stereotype threat. It can be reproduced in any population, and study show that it can account for all the gap in performance in standardized tests. It's simple to do. Create a reminder that a group is expected to do worse on a test, and they will do worse because their are trying to compensate. The book Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To is a great summary of the work in this area.

That's why stick with using a safety razor and double edged blades. $10 for 100, that'll last me about a year. http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Do...

Ooch. I knew this was coming.

I have about 4-5 textbooks from college, and the one I enjoyed the most out of was this one http://www.amazon.com/CRIMINAL... though it's probably quite dated by now (published in 1981).

Otherwise, there's scads of both psychological and sociological journals with papers on it ... but they're all behind paywalls. For example, http://pss.sagepub.com/content... is a very recent study that says, basically, if they feel guilty, they'll be less likely to re-offend, but shaming makes it more likely: "Further mediational modeling showed that shame proneness positively predicted recidivism via its robust link to externalization of blame."

That shaming doesn't work is really well known.

In fact, we have a great deal of information about what does and does not work when it comes to crime and punishment, and largely, it's politically and emotionally charged individuals that ignore the scientific results. For example, 'nice' prisons don't affect recidivism rates vs. 'mean' prisons, within the same culture, but people point to say, a prison in america and a prison in norway and think that's a 1:1 comparison that only involves prison systems, when it's clearly ignoring important variables.

Really, the most cost effective way to deal with crime is to make sure it doesn't happen. That means promoting education, nuclear families, and work ethic, and there's statistics to back that. Educated, job-skill-having individuals with a stable home life tend to avoid criminal acts.

It's just not politically correct to say that, for a number of reasons, much less enforce that sort of policy change.

Here is a book you need to read: Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe. It is extensively footnoted so you can check out all the references if you desire. Lenin's benevolence was a myth created after his death. Hell, check out the Kronstadt Rebellion - people rebelled against the Communists in 1921. Lenin accused them of being imperialist stooges because they were starving and wanted to eat. He crushed them utterly, killing most and executing the rest.

Take up your fucking problem with the goddam Internet. It's a fucking modem whether it modulates/demodulates or stuff.

I've taken 3.5 disks apart but the goddam thing is still a fucking floppy disk.

Bite me.

"monolithic in architecture" - that means its a single binary with no dependencies [...]

No. Single binary with no dependencies means monolithic design.

For example Linux kernel : single binary with no external dependencies, but internally its architecture is still modular. And the implementation of modules in Linux is still largely "monolithic", since kernel are just pieces of the live kernel, not compatible between different kernel version, which reside on hard drive, not in memory. And when they are loaded into the memory they pretend to be an integral part of the kernel.

[...] which is wrong otherwise every single binary with depending on a library is a monolith. this smart-ass mis-definition of "monolith" is one used by detractors of any system they don't like.

You seem to fail to grasp the difference between design and architecture. Your CS education has failed you. Pick a copy of Booch's OOAD and read it up.

This ain't a cheap solution but I have my PC in my garage and have ethernet through my attic to my living area (about 60 ft). In my gaming PC I have a PCoIP host card installed. And in my living room I have a PCoIP Zero Client connecting to my wall mounted TV. My TV needed DVI to HDMI cable for video and stereo headphone cable for audio. I also needed an audio isolation transformer to eliminate a hiss/hum from the analog audio going into my TV.

The effect is this is good enough for watching movies and playing single player games including shooters but not games that aren't too rhythm precise. I can plug a USB mouse/keyboard/gamepad to the Zero Client no problem. I've had some luck with a USB bluetooth adapter but I don't really use it, just trying to get my Wii-mote to work. Last part for me is to find a way to let my existing universal remote control Plex when I have that running.

This ain't a cheap solution but I have my PC in my garage and have ethernet through my attic to my living area (about 60 ft). In my gaming PC I have a PCoIP host card installed. And in my living room I have a PCoIP Zero Client connecting to my wall mounted TV. My TV needed DVI to HDMI cable for video and stereo headphone cable for audio. I also needed an audio isolation transformer to eliminate a hiss/hum from the analog audio going into my TV.

The effect is this is good enough for watching movies and playing single player games including shooters but not games that aren't too rhythm precise. I can plug a USB mouse/keyboard/gamepad to the Zero Client no problem. I've had some luck with a USB bluetooth adapter but I don't really use it, just trying to get my Wii-mote to work. Last part for me is to find a way to let my existing universal remote control Plex when I have that running.

This ain't a cheap solution but I have my PC in my garage and have ethernet through my attic to my living area (about 60 ft). In my gaming PC I have a PCoIP host card installed. And in my living room I have a PCoIP Zero Client connecting to my wall mounted TV. My TV needed DVI to HDMI cable for video and stereo headphone cable for audio. I also needed an audio isolation transformer to eliminate a hiss/hum from the analog audio going into my TV.

The effect is this is good enough for watching movies and playing single player games including shooters but not games that aren't too rhythm precise. I can plug a USB mouse/keyboard/gamepad to the Zero Client no problem. I've had some luck with a USB bluetooth adapter but I don't really use it, just trying to get my Wii-mote to work. Last part for me is to find a way to let my existing universal remote control Plex when I have that running.

Came to say this. If you want a great build, include these:

An Asus Strix GTX 970
A Seasonic Platinum 1050w
A 120mm/140mm CPU cooler, at least a Hyper 212 Evo
A 4xxx Intel chip
A SSD
A case with lots of ventilation so you won't need extra fans. For maximum Wife Acceptance Factor, consider mini-ITX.

Noise? What noise? If your motherboard is willing to shut off your CPU fan at idle, you'll be at 0db (except for electrical noise). Even during heavy gaming the thing will barely make a whisper.

Need more help? SPCR has you covered.

There was a Doctor Who novel, I think this one, The Murder Game by Steve Lyons, where there was an "Assassination program"... a sophisticated malware package that just required to be configured with the victim's name, and it would search out means to physically kill them via computer-controlled objects.

I'm no expert, but even today it sounds almost possible. You need: (1) a way of tying victims to physical objects and locations (DMV records, toy purchases, planning permission applications, ... ), (2) hacks for physical objects (cars, street lights, Mindstorm Legos, home automation systems, ...), (3) a worm/virus base to spread the code to computer systems physically near the objects.

If that sounds like an implausible engineering effort, remember that malware packages are incrementally improved on and made more powerful over time... it would start out with some simple and unlikely-to-succeed algorithms, and evolve into something with a huge array of killing options.

(Maybe at that point people would start taking privacy seriously.)

I thought you were only willing to spend $100.

Get this: http://www.amazon.com/Hubsan-H...

Why not? Bleeding somebody with endless litigation is a time honored practice here in the United Corporate States of America, why do you think so many corps can get away with so much shit that Joe and Jane Average can't?

Hell we even have a word for it when corps do it to shut people up, its called a SLAPP and from what I hear it works quite well. Dotcom should feel lucky he only pissed off the corporate masters, because if he pissed off the 3 letter agencies he could have ended up like Assange, trapped in a tiny room for fear of getting a rendition ride.

Having said that, my ideal laptop would have oodles of storage but the drive would hardly ever need to "spin up" because almost everything I need would fit in the SSD. In "real terms" this would be at least a 128GB SSD plus at least 2TB of less expensive storage.

Try this on for size then. My current laptop has 3 x 1tb drives internal, but they only spin up when I need them to. My many OSs (several flavors of linux, 2 versions of windows, plus BSD) all run off of a single 480gb mSATA Crucial M500 SSD, attached to a cheap M-SATA-to-USB-3 adapter.

All the features you're looking for, plus the portability of being able to use your personal setup on any other computer just by plugging in to a USB port.

It's 2014, you can just run your backups to low cost cloud storage that is replicated across the world.
  And when an array dies and you need to load all 5 TB of data from backup, let us know what your boss says when you tell him it'll take a week to restore, assuming a 100Mbit internet connection.

1. he included keeping a local copy, so unless both the production RAID and the local backup system both failed, he'd just pull it from the local copy.

2. It won't take a week if you're using the right cloud thingy. Ex. Amazon Glacier has an Import/Export and they can ship around drives with your data: http://aws.amazon.com/importex...
They also have a Direct Connect option, so you could establish a high speed dedicated network connection from you to them, bypassing the internet at large, going up to 10 Gbps.

FWIW, I wouldn't rely on it as the only backup storage. However, based on your statement, I'm assuming you're restoring from local media as well, so all is equal there (he said he'd have a local copy). How well does your offsite deal with restores?

Disclaimer: I've yet to use Glacier. I just really like the design, pricing, and features, and I want to use it at some point. For my personal data, it's a non-starter because I have insufficient upstream bandwidth (sneaker net FTW, ugh). For work, we already have a bunch of data centers with fat dedicated pipes between them (I'm still hoping to move to Glacier to greatly reduce (not eliminate) the crap we have to maintain).

on how various sectors of the US work force did and did not protect itself from stuff like this.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Zebra-Classic-Seuss/dp/0394800842/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416926787&sr=8-1&keywords=on+beyond+zebra

It isn't just the right-wing media pundits who are climate deniers. Look no further than the new House Majority Leader from the great coal state of Kentucky, re-elected with money from the Koch Brothers, (who are kinda big on coal). Or the Frackin' State of Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, who disagrees with 800 actual scientists on the matter, since forever. In fact James Inhofe wrote a anti-science book, titled "The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future", and among other things he oversees the Environmental Protection Agency.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Grea...

http://stateimpact.npr.org/okl...

then insist they honor the contract?

Should they fail.... bring it to court

Who "they"?
Is "they" Amazon?

If so, from my personal experience in dealing with returns of damaged items and refunds for rather costly postage (more than the value of the items), your claim will be forwarded to their customer support somewhere in India.
Then it becomes a waiting and an e-mail game.
Then you get a refund.

I've actually had a case where they would refund me a wrong sum, first a completely unrelated smaller one to which I complained, then a complete sum they owed me.
Then I had to remind them that they've overpaid the return, to which they replied "Meh, just keep it."

All you have to do is be persistent and courteous. And you need to have a reason for your claim.

then insist they honor the contract?

Should they fail.... bring it to court

Who "they"?
Is "they" Amazon?

If so, from my personal experience in dealing with returns of damaged items and refunds for rather costly postage (more than the value of the items), your claim will be forwarded to their customer support somewhere in India.
Then it becomes a waiting and an e-mail game.
Then you get a refund.

I've actually had a case where they would refund me a wrong sum, first a completely unrelated smaller one to which I complained, then a complete sum they owed me.
Then I had to remind them that they've overpaid the return, to which they replied "Meh, just keep it."

All you have to do is be persistent and courteous. And you need to have a reason for your claim.

Why should the broadcasters get to say how I process the *over the air* signals they've so graciously provided?

They don't; so long as you're processing them in a manner that's consistent with your own personal use you can do anything you want with them under the Fair Use doctrine. Aereo wasn't doing this; they were piggybacking off those signals and selling them for a profit. I time shift and stream my OTA channels all the time, through a combination of one of these and one of these. Nobody cares. I'm pretty sure they would care if I started distributing my recordings to the masses for a monthly fee....