BAH. this is a duplicate post. I meant to reply to this originally but didn't realize I posted as a separate thread. My apologies to all. Looks weird out of context. So here goes...
>>The Monopoly Regional Telephone companies are being assholes.
*I completely agree.*
Our company had local Bell Atlantic lines and then had Bell Atlantic ADSL installed on one of them. Then some months after that, we had our lines transferred to another local phone company (Broadview in this case)
A few months after that, I called Bell Atlantic up to upgrade our DSL connection upto a higher speed. All this time, our DSL service was fine, and we were paying Bell Atlantic via monthly credit card charges.
Guess what? As soon as they realized that our DSL was running on a non Bell Atlantic line, they told me that they would have to disconnect it immediately!!! no if's, and's, or butts. It was a huge problem, as getting another DSL line would take another 5-6 weeks, and management would not tolerate that!
Why did they have to disconnect the DSL? I got dozens of reasons: FCC regulations, technical problems, Bell Atlantic regulations that the customer must have a Bell phone line, etc. One person tried to convince me that DSL was a feature like caller id and was thus in nature closely coupled to the local line. PATHETIC!
All BULLSHIT or ARBITRARY SET MONOPOLISTIC POLICIES!
After about a few weeks of waiting on hold and being transferred around, I finally got a supervisor who couldn't provide me any legal documentation supporting anything regarding FCC regulations and such.
Because I had been such a pain in the ass, they eventually relented and arranged for all our lines to be switched back over to Bell Atlantic without disrupting DSL.
THERE IS NO VALID REASON, BE IT TECHNICAL, LEGAL, OR OTHERWISE, THAT WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM PROVIDING DSL SERVICE TO NON-BELL ATLANTIC CUSTOMERS.
The fact that they force you back to Bell Atlantic sounds disgustingly monopolistic and illegal. I tried calling the FCC to get more info, but I gave up waiting on hold... blah.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY LEGAL AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STICK IT TO THEM, PLEASE POST'EM!
>>The Monopoly Regional Telephone companies are being assholes.
*I completely agree.*
Our company had local Bell Atlantic lines and then had Bell Atlantic ADSL installed on one of them. Then some months after that, we had our lines transferred to another local phone company (Broadview in this case)
A few months after that, I called Bell Atlantic up to upgrade our DSL connection upto a higher speed. All this time, our DSL service was fine, and we were paying Bell Atlantic via monthly credit card charges.
Guess what? As soon as they realized that our DSL was running on a non Bell Atlantic line, they told me that they would have to disconnect it immediately!!! no if's, and's, or butts. It was a huge problem, as getting another DSL line would take another 5-6 weeks, and management would not tolerate that!
Why did they have to disconnect the DSL? I got dozens of reasons: FCC regulations, technical problems, Bell Atlantic regulations that the customer must have a Bell phone line, etc. One person tried to convince me that DSL was a feature like caller id and was thus in nature closely coupled to the local line. PATHETIC!
All BULLSHIT or ARBITRARY SET MONOPOLISTIC POLICIES!
After about a few weeks of waiting on hold and being transferred around, I finally got a supervisor who couldn't provide me any legal documentation supporting anything regarding FCC regulations and such.
Because I had been such a pain in the ass, they eventually relented and arranged for all our lines to be switched back over to Bell Atlantic without disrupting DSL.
THERE IS NO VALID REASON, BE IT TECHNICAL, LEGAL, OR OTHERWISE, THAT WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM PROVIDING DSL SERVICE TO NON-BELL ATLANTIC CUSTOMERS.
The fact that they force you back to Bell Atlantic sounds disgustingly monopolistic and illegal. I tried calling the FCC to get more info, but I gave up waiting on hold... blah.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY LEGAL AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STICK IT TO THEM, PLEASE POST'EM!
I remember something to the effect that a court decided that medical procedures/technology cannot be patented since it potentially harms the patient. Does anyone know more?
Well, if the government has taken the position that patents harm the common patient, then why don't they see that it harms the common consumer?! How long before this whole debacle begins to eat our society like the malignant cancer it is?
The situation is truly sickening. Now there are companies that solely exist to purchase and retain patents. And then they go make money off of everyone else. Disgusting leeches.
I remember Carmack had something to say in an interview about patents that appealed to me. He does not believe in patents. Except he does believe in a copyright. That sounds like the "right" thing to do. Patents only hold the progression of our society and technological advancement back.
Since high school physics, i've held a similar view that the time doesn't really exist. I have this feeling time is an ad hoc mathematical attempt at relating the distance of particles of mass/energy, having no real significance of it's own.
Consider my Gedankun(sp?) [thought] experiment. Imagine if you will there is a closed volume of space light years away from here. Let's say it's a room. And in that volume of space, I was able to remotely create matter. And I chose to copy you. An exact copy of you. Every biological cell, every neuralnet, every molecule, everything. Down to the last quark. Including the watch that you are wearing. And let's suppose your super-duper-uber-swiss G-FORCE quartz watch said 11:27PM and 11 seconds.
But instead of creating your clone instantly, let's say that I decided to wait a few million years. And only then I created your perfect clone, which for the sake of argument is now you.
Although several million years has passed, the instant you have been created, your super-duper reliable watch will say 11:27PM and 11 seconds. Exactly. And in that new room light years away, all you will sense is that you have been teleported instantly, experiencing no passing of time.
I argue that there is no real or practical difference in terms of the time that you were here, or millions of years later and light years away, there. You can't distinguish or characterize anything about the time that has passed. Time is both meaningless in a universal sense to determine and irrelevant with respect to your own state.
Or how about this. This is my "VCR" theory reinterpreting the significance of time.
Imagine if you will that I have chosen to use THIS very instant as a reference point. Let's say it's 5AM Thursday precisely. Now we can let a few seconds pass, or few days, years, whatever. Now imagine that I had this magic VCR that could control everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
So, let's suppose I then chose to hit the REWIND button! The instant I hit the button, every single particle/quark/waveform in the universe literally starts moving backwards. Physically, chemically, etc. Somehow, every atom eventually makes it's way to exactly where it was 5AM Thursday, and the VCR starts to play again.
There is nothing that could ever be done to meaningfully represent or calculate the absolute time. We realize 5AM isn't really 5AM. But with respect to the universe, the distinction is utterly pointless and meaningless.
What defines the "instant" of time is the spatial relationship of every particle/waveform/quark making up our cells, our lungs, our watches.
In fact, how does one define/measure time? By using a moving physical event, whether it be the shadow of the sun, pendulum of a clock, or decay of an atom. And ultimately, time becomes only a representation of the spatial relations of moving particles. It is this "snap-shot" giving the position of matter/energy defining a given instance that is arbitrarily measured and named in "time."
I have many more twists and analyses of such situations, but I think I bored you guys enough! I'm not even sure im making sense anymore... but i still have a shitload more to say. Time to go do some homework, watch tv and look at porn...;)
there is no time. only matter. ergo time does not matter.:)
1. Does it bother you that everything you code and know becomes obsolete within a few years? You spend countless hours coding Quake, working around bugs, etc. Then everyone plays your game for a while, and then they move on to play the next Quake clone while your work becomes yesterday's newspaper. Doesn't it feel pointless?
2. I graduated with a degree in biochemistry with the intention of going to medical school, but I decided that I want to follow in your footsteps. Watching what you have done for the industry has inspired and motivated me. So, I am currently taking some programming classes, but is that enough? Should I go back to school for intensive math and computer graphics training? I am a reasonably quick learner, but am I going to be in over my head? What kind of mathematical topics (or courses) should I be learning? How do I follow the way of the Carmack?:)
3. Your love of cars is apparent, but why don't you write a racing game then?
4. I have a great respect for Tim Sweeney's Unreal engine. Would you ever consider collaborating with him to create the next ultimate 3D engine? Why or why not?
Does it bother you that 3 billion people live in poverty? Or do you shrug it off as you race off into the sunset in your Ferrari? Would you ever do anything to help those less fortunate?
I'm curious to learn about the compassionate and humane counterpart to your intellect.
Anyone have opinions on the programming track of the Columbia Computer and Technology Applications program? The CTA program seems to be a cross between a CS degree and a Chubbs Institute/Devry. Classes are not geared towards certifications (eg: MCSE, CNE, etc.), but they are not academically oriented (eg: writing a compiler, theory driven, etc).
My goal is to be a software developer. I'd love to follow the lines of Carmack, Sweeney, Denman et al. And I also would like to pursue the development of computer modeled neural networks and AI. But I need to get a job ASAP so I can stop mooching off my parents. So I thought that the programming track of the CTA program at Columbia would be the quickest and best way to get a job and support my interests.
Am I really at any disadvantage if I forgo the CS degree? I already have a degree in biochemistry, so I am not thrilled at the idea of investing more time and money on another degree. Although I may go to grad school to pursue cognitive/computational neuroscience one day.
I'm afraid of the "Devry Nightmare" that some of you have mentioned. Given the reputation of the college, I hope to learn a good amount and find a decent job. But will I find myself regretting a formal CS degree in the long run? Is there anyone here that has finished or familiar with the program? Thanks.
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I agree. And I'll even go as far as saying that everyone considered a "genius" falls under that category.
BAH. this is a duplicate post. I meant to reply to this originally but didn't realize I posted as a separate thread. My apologies to all. Looks weird out of context. So here goes...
>>The Monopoly Regional Telephone companies are being assholes.
*I completely agree.*
Our company had local Bell Atlantic lines and then had Bell Atlantic ADSL installed on one of them. Then some months after that, we had our lines transferred to another local phone company (Broadview in this case)
A few months after that, I called Bell Atlantic up to upgrade our DSL connection upto a higher speed. All this time, our DSL service was fine, and we were paying Bell Atlantic via monthly credit card charges.
Guess what? As soon as they realized that our DSL was running on a non Bell Atlantic line, they told me that they would have to disconnect it immediately!!! no if's, and's, or butts. It was a huge problem, as getting another DSL line would take another 5-6 weeks, and management would not tolerate that!
Why did they have to disconnect the DSL? I got dozens of reasons: FCC regulations, technical problems, Bell Atlantic regulations that the customer must have a Bell phone line, etc. One person tried to convince me that DSL was a feature like caller id and was thus in nature closely coupled to the local line. PATHETIC!
All BULLSHIT or ARBITRARY SET MONOPOLISTIC POLICIES!
After about a few weeks of waiting on hold and being transferred around, I finally got a supervisor who couldn't provide me any legal documentation supporting anything regarding FCC regulations and such.
Because I had been such a pain in the ass, they eventually relented and arranged for all our lines to be switched back over to Bell Atlantic without disrupting DSL.
THERE IS NO VALID REASON, BE IT TECHNICAL, LEGAL, OR OTHERWISE, THAT WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM PROVIDING DSL SERVICE TO NON-BELL ATLANTIC CUSTOMERS.
The fact that they force you back to Bell Atlantic sounds disgustingly monopolistic and illegal. I tried calling the FCC to get more info, but I gave up waiting on hold... blah.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY LEGAL AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STICK IT TO THEM, PLEASE POST'EM!
they have completely pissed me off.
>>The Monopoly Regional Telephone companies are being assholes.
*I completely agree.*
Our company had local Bell Atlantic lines and then had Bell Atlantic ADSL installed on one of them. Then some months after that, we had our lines transferred to another local phone company (Broadview in this case)
A few months after that, I called Bell Atlantic up to upgrade our DSL connection upto a higher speed. All this time, our DSL service was fine, and we were paying Bell Atlantic via monthly credit card charges.
Guess what? As soon as they realized that our DSL was running on a non Bell Atlantic line, they told me that they would have to disconnect it immediately!!! no if's, and's, or butts. It was a huge problem, as getting another DSL line would take another 5-6 weeks, and management would not tolerate that!
Why did they have to disconnect the DSL? I got dozens of reasons: FCC regulations, technical problems, Bell Atlantic regulations that the customer must have a Bell phone line, etc. One person tried to convince me that DSL was a feature like caller id and was thus in nature closely coupled to the local line. PATHETIC!
All BULLSHIT or ARBITRARY SET MONOPOLISTIC POLICIES!
After about a few weeks of waiting on hold and being transferred around, I finally got a supervisor who couldn't provide me any legal documentation supporting anything regarding FCC regulations and such.
Because I had been such a pain in the ass, they eventually relented and arranged for all our lines to be switched back over to Bell Atlantic without disrupting DSL.
THERE IS NO VALID REASON, BE IT TECHNICAL, LEGAL, OR OTHERWISE, THAT WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM PROVIDING DSL SERVICE TO NON-BELL ATLANTIC CUSTOMERS.
The fact that they force you back to Bell Atlantic sounds disgustingly monopolistic and illegal. I tried calling the FCC to get more info, but I gave up waiting on hold... blah.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY LEGAL AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STICK IT TO THEM, PLEASE POST'EM!
they have completely pissed me off.
Oh man. This made my day. ROFL!
As opposed to what? the anti-self-referential belief systems that comprise the internet or other search engines?
:P
:)
I think hot links would be an excellent complement to the number of search engines I use on a daily basis.
Stop torturing yourself with these incessant thoughts on psychosociological quandaries and get laid!
people are starving to death out there somewhere! obsessing over things like this seems to be a bit extreme...
I remember something to the effect that a court decided that medical procedures/technology cannot be patented since it potentially harms the patient. Does anyone know more?
Well, if the government has taken the position that patents harm the common patient, then why don't they see that it harms the common consumer?!
How long before this whole debacle begins to eat our society like the malignant cancer it is?
The situation is truly sickening. Now there are companies that solely exist to purchase and retain patents. And then they go make money off of everyone else. Disgusting leeches.
I remember Carmack had something to say in an interview about patents that appealed to me. He does not believe in patents. Except he does believe in a copyright. That sounds like the "right" thing to do. Patents only hold the progression of our society and technological advancement back.
Since high school physics, i've held a similar view that the time doesn't really exist. I have this feeling time is an ad hoc mathematical attempt at relating the distance of particles of mass/energy, having no real significance of it's own.
;)
:)
Consider my Gedankun(sp?) [thought] experiment. Imagine if you will there is a closed volume of space light years away from here. Let's say it's a room. And in that volume of space, I was able to remotely create matter. And I chose to copy you. An exact copy of you. Every biological cell, every neuralnet, every molecule, everything. Down to the last quark. Including the watch that you are wearing. And let's suppose your super-duper-uber-swiss G-FORCE quartz watch said 11:27PM and 11 seconds.
But instead of creating your clone instantly, let's say that I decided to wait a few million years. And only then I created your perfect clone, which for the sake of argument is now you.
Although several million years has passed, the instant you have been created, your super-duper reliable watch will say 11:27PM and 11 seconds. Exactly. And in that new room light years away, all you will sense is that you have been teleported instantly, experiencing no passing of time.
I argue that there is no real or practical difference in terms of the time that you were here, or millions of years later and light years away, there. You can't distinguish or characterize anything about the time that has passed. Time is both meaningless in a universal sense to determine and irrelevant with respect to your own state.
Or how about this. This is my "VCR" theory reinterpreting the significance of time.
Imagine if you will that I have chosen to use THIS very instant as a reference point. Let's say it's 5AM Thursday precisely. Now we can let a few seconds pass, or few days, years, whatever. Now imagine that I had this magic VCR that could control everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
So, let's suppose I then chose to hit the REWIND button! The instant I hit the button, every single particle/quark/waveform in the universe literally starts moving backwards. Physically, chemically, etc. Somehow, every atom eventually makes it's way to exactly where it was 5AM Thursday, and the VCR starts to play again.
There is nothing that could ever be done to meaningfully represent or calculate the absolute time. We realize 5AM isn't really 5AM. But with respect to the universe, the distinction is utterly pointless and meaningless.
What defines the "instant" of time is the spatial relationship of every particle/waveform/quark making up our cells, our lungs, our watches.
In fact, how does one define/measure time? By using a moving physical event, whether it be the shadow of the sun, pendulum of a clock, or decay of an atom. And ultimately, time becomes only a representation of the spatial relations of moving particles. It is this "snap-shot" giving the position of matter/energy defining a given instance that is arbitrarily measured and named in "time."
I have many more twists and analyses of such situations, but I think I bored you guys enough! I'm not even sure im making sense anymore... but i still have a shitload more to say. Time to go do some homework, watch tv and look at porn...
there is no time.
only matter.
ergo time does not matter.
1. Does it bother you that everything you code and know becomes obsolete within a few years? You spend countless hours coding Quake, working around bugs, etc. Then everyone plays your game for a while, and then they move on to play the next Quake clone while your work becomes yesterday's newspaper. Doesn't it feel pointless?
:)
2. I graduated with a degree in biochemistry with the intention of going to medical school, but I decided that I want to follow in your footsteps. Watching what you have done for the industry has inspired and motivated me.
So, I am currently taking some programming classes, but is that enough? Should I go back to school for intensive math and computer graphics training? I am a reasonably quick learner, but am I going to be in over my head? What kind of mathematical topics (or courses) should I be learning? How do I follow the way of the Carmack?
3. Your love of cars is apparent, but why don't you write a racing game then?
4. I have a great respect for Tim Sweeney's Unreal engine. Would you ever consider collaborating with him to create the next ultimate 3D engine? Why or why not?
Are you happy?
Does it bother you that 3 billion people live in poverty? Or do you shrug it off as you race off into the sunset in your Ferrari? Would you ever do anything to help those less fortunate?
I'm curious to learn about the compassionate and humane counterpart to your intellect.
Anyone have opinions on the programming track of the Columbia Computer and Technology Applications program? The CTA program seems to be a cross between a CS degree and a Chubbs Institute/Devry. Classes are not geared towards certifications (eg: MCSE, CNE, etc.), but they are not academically oriented (eg: writing a compiler, theory driven, etc).
My goal is to be a software developer. I'd love to follow the lines of Carmack, Sweeney, Denman et al. And I also would like to pursue the development of computer modeled neural networks and AI. But I need to get a job ASAP so I can stop mooching off my parents. So I thought that the programming track of the CTA program at Columbia would be the quickest and best way to get a job and support my interests.
Am I really at any disadvantage if I forgo the CS degree? I already have a degree in biochemistry, so I am not thrilled at the idea of investing more time and money on another degree. Although I may go to grad school to pursue cognitive/computational neuroscience one day.
I'm afraid of the "Devry Nightmare" that some of you have mentioned. Given the reputation of the college, I hope to learn a good amount and find a decent job. But will I find myself regretting a formal CS degree in the long run? Is there anyone here that has finished or familiar with the program? Thanks.