Slashdot Mirror
Virtual-U (SimUniversity) Now Available
Ben Sawyer writes "The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Virtual U project recently shipped a new version our university simulator. This software simulation game, available at www.virtual-u.org lets you play as president of a U.S. university. You choose how faculty spend time, allocate funds, and decide if you should give special admission to athletes. Version 2.0 improves the model, and adds new features. The product is supported through a grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The product runs on Windows 2000/XP/9X/ME. The software is being used by a number of university education programs, and is part of an overall project to improve thinking about how universities are managed." No word on if virtual-u features a "BSA attack" scenario.
Recently there has been some controversy over Slashdot's apparent disregard for browsers other than Konqueror or Netscape (*cough* IE *cough) ability to render the page, and some unfortunate crapfloods which would appear differently in different browsers.
The "editors" (I use the term loosely) of Slashdot appear to believe that Slashcode generates perfect HTML which any browser should render correctly, else the browser must be "buggy".
Slashcode's HTML Output
Just curious, I tried running the front page of Slashdot through the W3 validator to test this claim. The results were shocking.
Lets stick to the facts and drill down into the numbers. The W3 validator found HUNDREDS of errors on the very first page of Slashdot that you view every day. It terminated with the simple line Sorry, this document does not validate as HTML 3.2..
So, what is broken? Is it IE? Or is it the amateur garage-style open source code which is at fault? You be the judge.
Apparently, Slashcode follows the open source coding and testing ethic of "it worked for me". It's just too much to ask them to try to test their code for conformance and compliance, or even just try it on a variety of platforms.
Microsoft's HTML Output
Still curious, I tried running msn.com and microsoft.com through the validator. I was totally taken aback when the validator reported ZERO ERRORS in *either* of these pages.
Conculsion
1. It may benefit the coders to attempt to adapt to some kind of acceptable process for designing, writing, and testing their own code. Perhaps some professional experience would be beneficial here. Certainly an accountability for certain quality standards must be implemented.
2. Perhaps Slashdot should consider switching to IIS 5.0 or .NET server and rewriting their code using a stable, reliable platform like Visual C++ or .NET. Perhaps only then will the browser compatbility issues will be resolved.
These are just suggestions. I am here to help.
Thank goodness, you have my blessings !
Try running any
"The great thing about standards is there are so many to choose from" - A.non
Slashdot posting PR for closed-source windows-only games? This is truly a a new low. There are tons of open source graphics packages and frameworks they could have used.
by Veronique de Rugy
Veronique de Rugy, who left France to live in America, is a fiscal policy analyst at the Cato Institute.
Should we laugh or should we cry? The first round of the French presidential elections are over. For months, media and polling agencies predicted that Jacques Chirac (the supposedly conservative president) would face Lionel Jospin (the socialist prime minister) in the runoff for the French presidency next month. Voters, however, decided otherwise. Now the so-called extreme rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen will face Jacques Chirac. Yes, that's correct, the socialists didn't even make it to the second round of the elections. But that does not mean that a free market and a free society will now reign in France under Chirac or Le Pen. For both men are protectionists and neo-socialists in their economic and public policies.
I am, of course, delighted to see the Socialist Party humiliated and yet also shocked by the outcome of the elections. Equally delightful, France's main parties of the left are now calling on voters to vote for President Jacques Chirac in the second round of the presidential elections. Can you imagine Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, or Ralph Nader begging Americans to vote for Bush or Reagan? Certainly this is good news.
But the bad news is that this vote does not signify support for free markets and small government. Neither candidate (Chirac or Le pen) is "libertarian," or even "conservative" in the American sense of the term. Le Pen used to pay lip service to markets. But now he is best known for being an extremely nationalistic opponent of globalization. He also has an unpleasant reputation for being racist. And he got a lot of attention a few years ago for calling the Nazi gas chambers "a detail in history."
On the other hand, Jacques Chirac is hopeless. He was elected seven years ago sounding like the Republicans who took over Congress in 1994. But whereas the GOP at least made some positive steps, Chirac took France further in the wrong direction. The result of his statist policies and large tax increases is an all-time high unemployment rate. That incompetence put the socialists and the communists back in the French Assembly less than 2 years after Chirac's victory in 1995. This time around, Chirac swears that things will be different and that he will cut taxes. He is, however, a bit less daring about reforming France's social security and her 35-hour work week. As he says, "we still have to do things a la Francaise."
If Chirac is elected he will continue to promote big government programs, more regulation, high taxes, and bad policies across the board. That's what he has done for 30 years. And there is no reason for him to do any differently now, especially since at 70 years old he doesn't have a political future. This is why the socialists and communists apparently are comfortable in calling on voters to elect Chirac. They know from experience that Chirac represents no danger to the core values of socialism, and, besides, he won't be around much longer.
In addition to the two candidates chosen-Chirac and Le Pen-the action of French voters shows that they don't really want less government or sound economic policies. If you add the socialist votes, the communist votes, and the other leftist votes you realize that nothing has changed and the French people still overwhelmingly vote on the left side of the spectrum. There was a free-market candidate, Alain Madelin. But his campaign to "give men back liberty and responsibility, give them the chance to blossom and succeed," did not succeed. The 55-year old leader of the Liberal Democracy Party got 3 percent of the votes. The fact that few people voted for him demonstrates that the French still do not get it.
The French have no understanding of why the economic situation there is so bad. They don't realize that big government is why France fell from the fifth richest country in Europe to the twelfth richest country - just ahead of socialist Greece. The French still worship the government.
Voting for Le Pen last week means that people prefer to forget that globalization and free trade have made France the world's sixth biggest foreign trader. Nonetheless, given unemployment and other problems, the French apparently would rather blame immigration instead of years of socialist policies for the economic situation. Will French voters ever learn the importance of freedom and responsibility? There is reason to doubt.
BAN ME!!!
You so crazy anime freak, you are a legend, we are nothing. Pretty like a pony!
Why don't you take your geek shit and stick it up your ass cocknocker. Better yet, meet me on Putnam and Fresh Pond so I can beat your ass. Make sure you don't scuff my Timberlands either. I just got thrown out of Miami Bar again and I have nothing better to do than show some pennyweight bonesmuggler who's boss on this street.
Oh yeah, here's some crapflood material...
Whips & Kisses
Valentine's Day can be like a box of chocolates - cloying, stale, and predictable. Miranda St. Croix, PROPELLER's Counselor/Dominatrix In Residence, explains why.
Lately I've been completely exhausted, finding it strenuous to even keep my eyes open, much less write. But since I'm a masochist, and my id can no longer be controlled, here goes.
I've recently found myself pondering the month of February and with it, Valentine's Day. Now, I'm not going to go into the history of St. Valentine's Day and what it originally meant, even though by now we should all be aware that any holiday celebrated by the Western world, especially Americans, usually has Pagan roots. Valentine's Day (or, "VD" for the jaded) is no exception. It's based on a Pagan holiday celebrated by the Romans ever since Ovid had writer's block.
(Now, all you Christians out there, don't get your knickers in a bunch. Our little history lesson is over. On to the present.)
For me, Valentine's Day has always been a holiday of mixed emotions. When I didn't have a boyfriend, I felt it was just a profit-driven Hallmark holiday blown so out of proportion that men were going bankrupt buying trinkets to avoid hearing their girlfriends/wives/mistresses/boyfriends/whatevers rag on them until next February.
Then there were the years that I had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day.
Now how I felt about Valentine's Day during any given year depended on which boyfriend I had. If he was a high school sweetheart, I thought Valentine's Day was "mint", because as a teenager in the 80's in Staten Island, MOST things were "mint". Ah yes. Sweet memories of a sweet boyfriend from high school giving me a sweet gift. God knows, I couldn't name one of the Valentine's gifts I got back then, but I do remember being happy.
Later on, there were also the somewhat more casual relationships where it was nice to go to dinner with someone, or get some flowers, a card, some chocolate or whatever. Go home, have sex, have a cigarette, get annoyed, get out. Still, life was simple. And good.
Skip ahead to January 2002 (and cue the ominous music).
After seven long years of losing myself as a person to an unbearable, unbelievably ignorant mignon who actually thinks Howard Stern is serious about everything he says, I managed to escape a hellish relationship. This has inspired the typical Mardi Gras-like festivities. However, I've realized that I had fallen into the dreaded "where's my ring?" mentality.
Oh yes, you know what I'm talking about.
I remember a conversation with my ex's sister at the beginning of our relationship where she said, about her latest casualty, "I'll never get a ring out of him."
Actually, it was more like, "Ahh, Ah'll nevah getta rahng outta hemm", but I digress.
I remember being so surprised and confused to hear those words outside the context of a movie stereotyping the attitude of the "typical" Noo Yawk girl. My response was "How about getting the ring because he wants you to have it, not because you think you earned it?" I can't describe the looks I got from the two of them but I might as well have been speaking Ubangi. And now here I am thinking, "Seven goddamned years and now I'm never getting that ring. Didn't I earn it?!"
So yes, seven years is a long time to be in a relationship. And yes, not being in a relationship after seven years is a bit like having a divorce. It's a bit strange to not come home to him, but other than that bit of weirdness, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief. I can now have intelligent conversations with various people. I've learned that my friends love me for who I am, and don't attempt to stifle me because they're intimidated by my outspokenness. I'm starting to remember that I can be a lot of fun. And I can keep my place clean because I can pick things up when they fall down, or throw fast food containers away before they age into Dadaist masterpieces.
I'm becoming me again.
Most importantly, I'm starting to realize that Valentine's Day is a hell of a lot like that ring. They're meaningless tokens unless you're happy with who you're with, and more importantly, happy with yourself. So for those of you planning an engagement ring surprise on St. Valentine's Day, remember this, the Pagan gods don't really care, and neither should you.
Yes, Miranda St. Croix is a real person, although that's not quite her real name. Yes, she's a real psychological counselor as well as a practicing dominatrix. This is Miranda's first piece for PROPELLER. It's gonna be an interesting year.
--Mad propz to the homies cruisin the CVS parking lot.
What the heck. I typed in Rosebud and I typed in Klapacius and no extra money? Is the cheat broken or something :) Does anyone have a link to this cheat? Oh yeah and the one to tone down the overbearing Public Safety dept :)