This battle appears to play out like some kind of political battle between the US and some piddly island nation...
US: "You look so defenseless...here, take this crate of pistols to defend yourselves with in case of attacks by opposing islands. In return, you can export to us some of your coffee beans."
PIN: "Thank you. You've been so kind."
[ Two weeks later, after receiving said shipment of arms]
PIN: "We are all powerful now. Ha ha ha. With our vast amounts of deadly weaponry, we will conquer the United States!"
[ PIN army stands on beach & fires bullets across sea in general direction of US ]
US: "Oh no. Ouch. Stop that. Please."
PIN: "Ha ha! We got you now! Surrender and pay us billions of dollars, or we will destroy you!"
US: "Uh...yea. Surrender. Give us a sec to plan the surrender..."
[ Two hours pass ]
CNN News Correspondent: "This just in: United States bombers were deployed two hours ago, droping bombs on and destroying the The Piddly Island Nation...wait, what the hell is Piddly Island Nation?"
Co-Anchor: "No clue. Isn't it funny that there are all these countries in the world that you never even knew existed until they're destroyed by the US?"
The parent poster points to one of the few well-developed Mathematics textbook series that offer students a braod understanding of mathematics. If you are looking for a textbook series that actually let's you understand why the math works the way it does instead of just accepting it as truth, then I have one of two suggestions. Both of these series were actually rated as exemplary by the Untied States Department of Education.
IMP: Integrated Mathematics Program. IMP (as the parent poster said) takes all the mathematics taught in high school and blends it together in a format which is VERY GOOD at showing how mathematics develops logically. Subjects are not isolated lessons which involve repeated "practice of skills." Each lesson involves only two or three (at most) complex math problems which are set up specifically for students to do so that they can learn why math works. The only thing you may want to consider though is that this textbook series does not specifically say how the math works; only by actually doing the lessons does one gain an understanding of the math involved. If you're looking for a more direct detailing of the math, I would suggest this next series.
CPM: College Prep. Math. This textbook series is divivided into the traditional "Alg. I, Alg. II, Geom/Trig, Calc" classes, though it too does a very good job of making each lesson a logical progression of the last two or three (in fact, it actually gives a "guide bar" at the end of each chapter showing how much each "portion" of Alg / Trig / whatever has been conceptually developed). The biggest difference compared to IMP however is that it explains what the mathematics is doing as it develops in the textbook. Also, there are a lot more practice problems. One drawback is that the book is not the most reader-friendly...many of the text pages are rather cluttered, plus the book is only printed in black & white.
By the way, avoid the Saxon series like the plague. If you want to know why, or if you want to discuss anything else about what I've mentioned, just drop me an email.
(And if you're wondering, I am a Math teacher...this isn't just another geeks advice that you're getting.)
Let me put it this way: let's say that you were a friend of mine. I walk up to you and say,
"I am currently a university student and have a major problem: I'm a heroin addict. I can set aside a day at a time to break the habit, and I will be lucky to have an hour go by before my next hit. The only time I can actually go without a hit seems to be after midnight under a lot of pressure. This has led to too many 5 a.m. nights where I'm so strung out that I shake in bed while having vivid dreams even though I'm wide awake. I have tried reading self-help books, and am currently seeing what Heroin Addicts Anon does for me. No matter where I put it, the needle is always within reach when I need a hit. Can you please give advice on how to overcome this problem, be it a little trick, medication, or anything else?"
Tricks can't cure you. Meds might make you change, but only while you're on the meds. Procrastination is a part of you, and I say this because I'm a procrastinator myself (though not nearly as serious as one). Procrastination is brought about from a lack of intrinsic motivation, which means that you're stuck with it until you find something which will be overwhelming enough to change you on the inside (or influence you enough to make up for your lack of intrinsic motivation)...ex: you fail a class outright because that 15-pager you saved for five hours before it was due never came through, and the prof is anal enough to say that there's no way to make it up, forcing you to take summer school to finish the credit before you graduate. And even then, your motivation will only last until you finish the class.
Sorry, buddy, but if you're a procrastinator by the time you reach college, there ain't no simple snake oil that'll fix you up. Believe me, even if you try to cure your ways, I can promise you that you'll be playing the "one more hit to quit" game..."I'll get to it just one hour later...gotta see what's on/. right now."
Two kids are sitting at a computer. They are both listening to the CD. One says to the other, "Hey, that's a real cool CD." The other says, "Say, if you have a blank CD-R, I can burn you a copy." They put the CD-R into the machine. Suddenly...
Some black rapper reject from the PJ's jumps out onto the desktop screen and starts to rap. "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy!...uh, I mean CD!"...
For anyone who doesn't get the joke, there was a video released back in 1992 by (I think) the SIAA titled "Don't copy that floppy." It is the funniest 8 minute public service announcement video you will ever seen in your life. A rapper does this rap chanting "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy" after two kids try and use a Mac to copy a "cool game" onto another floppy disk. You just have to see it to believe it. You can watch a.wma video of it at http://static.hugi.is/video/fyndin/dctf-1.wmv (dial-up user warning: it's a 15MB download).
For you and anybody else who feels like holding a First Amendment Rights parade in front of the front steps of the Supreme Court, quit preaching from the pulpit about your FA rights. They don't exist in this case.
The Supreme Court made a good decision. Maybe I can explain it to you in a way that won't make your head hurt.
Libraries are federally funded.
That means, plain and simple, that the government has every right to say, "You can have this money, if..." They Supremem Court has made it crystal clear that the government can stipulate almost anything when it comes to funding. From the court's decision:
Within broad limits, when the Government appropriates public funds to establish a program it is entitled to define the limits of that program. Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U. S. 173, 194 (1991)...The Government [was] not denying a benefit to anyone, but [was] instead simply insisting that public funds be spent for the purposes for which they were authorized. Ibid
And here's the best part about it all: They aren't preventing Public Libraries from providing unfiltered content. Hell, any library has the right to have pornography on its shelf...hell, they could sponsor a midnight orgy session if they wanted to...but the government wouldn't pay for it. And since money's so important for funding, don't expect it to happen (unless Hugh Heffner decides to open his own public library).
From the decision:
CIPA does not penalize libraries that choose not to install such software, or deny them the right to provide their patrons with unfiltered Internet access. Rather, CIPA simply reflects Congress decision not to subsidize their doing so... [A] legislature's decision not to subsidize the exercise of a fundamental right does not infringe the right.
So QUIT COMPLAINING! Your First Amendment rights are not being taken away. The First Amendment stops the government from limiting YOUR freedom of speech, not THE GOVERNMENT's freedom of speech ("Government entities do not have First Amendment rights...The First Amendment protects the press from governmental interference; it confers no analogous protection on the government.") Feel free to log into your own internet and look at whatever the hell you want. Feel free to walk down to your privately-owned bookstore and purchase either the latest Harry Potter or some S&M erotica novel. Just understand that the government has chosen not to PROVIDE you everything that you have the right to do.
And will somebody PLEASE stop calling posts like this parent post insightful!?!
It's a small miracle that the battery drain if the car isn't driven every day....
No, but I know a few people who have gone through more than one starter motor each year. Most drivers don't understand that if they leave everything on in their viechle, the starter motor has to really crank itself to death to push out those amps for the AC & GPS & Stereo system & every other luxury in their viechle. Starter motors were never designed to have to supply that much current when it starts up.
Do your car a favor. Turn everything off before you get out of your car.
Future additions may include temperature and moisture sensors to increase the accuracy of remote diagnosis of problems, and as part of a drive to make the aircraft's environment react intelligently to the needs of the passenger.
Considering some of the flights that I've been on, I could just imagine what would happen with these "future additions" in case the plane hits an air pocket & drops a few hundred feet...
"Oh my gosh! According to the seat sensors, we have about 50 terrorists on board!"
"Nah...they just all pissed their pants after that last air pocket. Grab some TP and follow me..."
...during one of the meetup talks, we got to talking about HDTV & legacy TV. One of the guys at our table worked for the cable company. He scoffed at the idea that the FCC would take back the legacy frequencies. Simply put, there will be a ton of Chicago Cubs fans pissed off at WGN if they ever cut their broadcast of WGN on anything other than HDTV.
I'm sure the exact same thing holds true for millions of television viewers around the country.
39% of people who demand (stated that they want to or will buy or who actually buy) software didn't buy a copy. They're assuming that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE is a pirate.
If that's the case, then why don't we try something new..."slashdot" the piracy rate.
Does anybody know exactly where we can indicate to the software companies that we "will buy", oh, say, Adobe Photoshop? Then, let's just flood them with bogus demands and boost the piracy rate to 99.999%. That might get people thinking!
But, then again, if they're anything like the RIAA, those goons might try to showcase such a number as accurate...
there are plenty of non-locally-owned radio and television stations that are staffed at all times, and can break into local programming with news flashes, even if most of their operations are centrally controlled.
Yea. Too bad none of them are owned by ClearChannel.
And, as this poster said, there is only one full-time employee manning those six stations. But I'm sure that ClearChannel is responsible enough that they have that one employee man those stations 24-7.
...the Golden Rule. You know...he who has the gold makes the rules.
It's rather sad, really. Here's a good example why: My home state is North Dakota. When Grand Forks and Fargo had a three-day ice storm during the winter of '96-'97, there was a radio station in town which 24-7 covered every single piece of news or announcement related to the event. Even with the phone lines down, our high school speech team was able to use the radio to tell everybody back home that we were alright.
On the other hand, a little more than a year ago, Minot (town of about 38,000 people in central North Dakota) had a train carrying anhydrous ammonia (cheap fertilizer) that derailed in the town early in the morning. Everybody instinctively turned on the radio (either after hearing the crash, seeing a huge white cloud of ammonia coming their way, or feeling the smoke burn their lungs) to find out what was going on, only to hear music. Six of the seven radio stations in Minot are owned by ClearChannel. Afterwards, when asked for a comment, ClearChannel said that they were in the business of playing music and selling advertising, not 24-7 local news coverage.
There's two things that college students are doing with music that piss of the record companies:
1) Download music for free 2) Distribute music to others
So, these kids could then legally fill up gigs and gigs of MP3s until they feel all warm and cuddly inside, but how will this stop them from sharing it with others? All it takes is a few students to have Kazaa running in the background, and piracy still reigns on campus.
It sounds as if the president of the college wants to try and wash his hands clean of all liability, but I doubt that this will stop the RIAA from wanting to tar and feather him.
It doesn't matter what kind of aliens they bring to the TV show. They could bring a species that is all-female who have breasts as big as Dolly Parton. They're going to fail at their present rate of speed. Granted, you could come up with any excuse you want, but the real reason why is because the storylines suck. Even if the stories are half-descent, the endings are downright horrible.
Seriously...I have found maybe two episodes that had a semi-descent ending this season. Maybe. But most endings I would equate to Shakespeare ending his play Julius Caesar by having Cleopatra's priests raise Julius from the dead so that he can take his revenge out on Brutus.
I could be wrong, but it feels as if each conflict is resolved in less than a minute at the very end of the show. Good example: the episode with Trip and Malcolm are stuck in a shuttle for fourty minutes of the show, and then in the final two minutes of the show, they micraculously reappear on Enterprise, already rescued by the crew. It has made me more and more frustrated each and every time I watch an episode, almost to the point where I don't want to be let down one more time.
someone loses the necessary paperwork, someone forgets to fill it out, someone is too lazy, etc...
This is what really pisses me off about mail-in rebates. My first rebate that I got stiffed on was for RAM. The Best Buy guy said that I get a rebate for each stick of RAM I purchased (limit of two, so I bought two). We swung by the rebate rack of coupons to pick up the one we needed (this was before the rebates were printed at the register), only to find out that the rebate needed wasn't there. Long story short, I eventually got a rebate slip in the mail, filled it out with all the additional necessities, and mailed it in. Three months later, I got a check for half of what I was expecting...they gave me a rebate for one stick of RAM instead of two. I called up their "rebate department" to complain. The representative told me that I needed to fill out a rebate form for each stick of RAM. I told her that the rebate form specifically had a line that said "# of units purchased", and that two UPC labels were sent in with the rebate that proved it. Her response was basically this: Be happy with what you got, because it's too late to do anything more, and our office doesn't do anything about complaints other than document them.
My brother got stiffed on a hard drive mail-in rebate as well. He cut the UPC from the box (I know...big no-no, but when he saw that instructions to include the "UPC label", he did exactly that), put it in the envelope with all the other info junk, and mailed it in. He got a letter a month later saying that "insufficient information was provided"...specifically, the UPC label wasn't there. I knew that that was a load of crap, since I saw him actually put it in the envelope. He called up the company and was as terse as possible with them until he found an operator who told him that he could still get the rebate if he provided the hard drive serial number. So, that information was mailed back in with the original returned letter, rebate form, & receipt. A month later, he got back another letter saying that the "rebate was expired." He called them up and was told that there was nothing more that the company could do.
These rebate "offers" really bug me, because they're not fraudulent as long as companies "in good faith" offer rebates. But it feels to me for some of these companies, they'll try and hit their consumers up on any technicality they can find.
I think that it would be better to call this article "Where Programming is headed" rather than "The Hundred-Year Language". He tries to justify how he can predict the language 100 years into the future...
It may seem presumptuous to think anyone can predict what any technology will look like in a hundred years...Looking forward a hundred years is a graspable idea when we consider how slowly languages have evolved in the past fifty.
Hmm...funny, fifty years ago, if I remember my history (since I wasn't alive back then), those relay computers needed rolls and rolls of ticker-taped punch holes to compute math. The language was so-low-level...even x86 Assembly would have been a godsend to them. And he considers something like Object-Oriented Programming a slow evolution?
All he's doing in the article is predicting what languages will be dead in the future, and which languages won't be. For example, he says Java will be dead...
Cobol, for all its sometime popularity, does not seem to have any intellectual descendants. It is an evolutionary dead-end-- a Neanderthal language...I predict a similar fate for Java.
I'll not go there, because predicting the demise of Java is opening another can of worms. But let's just say that he really doesn't support his argument with anything other than anecdotal opinion.
I say read his article in jest, but don't look too deep into it.
You're a consultant. You're being paid to provide information. If you get hired and do what you're paid to do, only to be told (directly or indirectly) by the management, "I don't want your opinion. I want yes-man," then tell them to hire a yes-man.
There's never a guarantee as to what management is looking for when they hire a consultant. There's management who already have their idea of what needs to be done, and the only information they're looking for is how to do it. There's also management who's looking to make an informed decision and want expert advice. Any consultant who complains about management not listening to them should have asked what they were being hired to do before they accepted the contract.
Of course, a lot of consultants also do not understand that just because they are experts with software / networking / etc., does not mean that they are being paid to make business decisions. Just because you think that spending $20,000 on new Cisco routers to help ease bandwidth congestion does not mean it is the best decision for the business.
"This is the post that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friends. Ol' Taco started posting it, not knowing what it was, And he'll continue posting it forever just because,
This is the post that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friends..."
And for those of you who are absolutely hopeless, well, there is always Coincidence Designs...
I've already gotten 12 emails from gals today who want to meet me at their website and make hot love to me! I don't need any guides to dating...I'm a chic magnet!
Listen, it's this simple: you can throw a trillion dollars at the NASA budget, but it will never make space travel 100% safe. NASA knows that. Astronauts know that. I would venture to guess that the majority of/. readers know that as well. But Congress only appears to see NASA as either pass or fail. People live: pass. People die: fail.
if (!deadAstronauts)
nasaMoney += moreMoney;// Personal note -- yes, moreMoney can be a negative value else
nasaMoney = 0;
But, looking at the situation, it's about as logical as having Congress make air travel illegal after 9-11.
But no, instead Congress desides to throw gobs of money at national security to prevent terrorism, and yet they think that it's wise to pull funding from a program which does a much better job of uniting the word together.
What Congress should do is pay NASA $20 million dollars (I think their current budget is about that much) to paste a big warning sticker on the entrance door of each shuttle saying "You fly at your own risk." That way, they state their beliefs, the world has a chance to unite people from around the globe once again, and NASA gets extra funding. Problem solved.
I read the article. And I was saying clear cut that Kazaa can't win with that argument.
What part of the Sklyarov / Abode E-books thing did you miss? You are already falling under US jurisdiction if you do a portion of your business with US customers.
Kazaa was not a "business" until a business bought the software. Sure, Sklyarov was punished because he was extradited. There are a lot of countries who will not hand over criminals to the US. But for a business just to waltz right into the US, thinking that they can somehow not play by its legal rules...now that's silly. What I said before, and I'll say again, is that it's much easier for the RIAA to sue a business than a single man on the run.
If you had read the article, you would know that they are suing not for the right to illegally distribute content, but that they are suing because the RIAA had illegally prevented Kazaa from licensing content.
I read the article. I'm also reading exactly what you're saying. And you know what? What you're saying is a joke. I mean, it's actually hilarious. How much sense does it make for me to sue, say, KMart for not providing enough Handicap parking spaces when I'm not even handicapped? Why is Kazaa suing the recording industry for not licensing online content to them when, even if the RIAA DID grant them, almost all the music running through their network would still be pirated?
Because of the special status afforded music in this culture, and the blanket licensing terms for radio and other playback, there are certain circumstances under which a company cannot legally refuse to license music.
Yes, but licensing music to an organization which plans on proliferating said music to the millions without giving any compensation back in return is not one of those circumstances.
Seriously. Get down from your "Internet supersedes Copyright Law" pedistal and look at the simple details. The RIAA will not license music to anyone who does not plan on paying for the license. Kazaa is not going to pay hundreds of millions in royalties just to give away music. And they're certainly not going to win a lawsuit when their only argument boils down to, "We should be able to distribute music for free because the music industry isn't letting us do it for free."
In a lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, Sharman claims that major entertainment companies have colluded to drive potential online rivals out of business.
Please. No legal leg to stand on. You want the legal protection of being considered a "business entity" under United States Law, you need to have no blood on your hands. Anotherwards, your business can't be illegal. You will not be awarded jack shit in court if you can't prove that your business is legal.
So, question: Is Kazaa (as a business) legal?
The conduct should preclude the industry from being able to defend its copyrights in court, at least until the behavior is corrected, Sharman contends.
Again: this is makes no sense whatsoever. Anyone who owns a copyright is entitled under copyright law to legally defend that copyright, music (monopoly) / industry included...especially if the distributor doesn't legally have permission (from the copyright owner) to distribute the music...permission would include ownership of the distributed media or rights granted by the owner to distribute the copyrighted material. Neither case exists for Kazaa.
"What the industry is incapable of doing is realizing that Kazaa is different," said Sharman attorney Rod Dorman. "Now (they) have got to face the legal consequences."
Different in what way? That you've established yourself in at least six different countries?
Kazaa made two crucial mistake:
1) Establishing itself (at least in part...even a part as small as an office building) as a business in the United States.
2) Suing the recording industry. I mean, a corporation can get sued and move all its operatios to Morocco to protect its dubious legality and continue operations. You sue in the United States, you're a legal target in the United States, plain and simple.
The facts in this case are the same as in Napster / AudioGalaxy / et. al.:
1) Your software is being used to distribute music without the permission of the copyright owner (doesn't matter if 1% or 99% of it is legal, at least not to the RIAA).
2) You admit that your software is being used to distribute such music.
So, let's take bids now on the remaining lifetime of Kazaa. I say: 9 months.
After who knows how much time spent on planning and building the project, he finally gets it working, much to his delight:...these antennae from the start looked as if they meant business, and indeed they did, because as soon as they were installed and properly aimed, they produced a 2Mbps signal at 1km distance. Hurrah! Me do download at home quicky-quicky now!
But, like a true geek,
Future mods:
I am beginning to suspect that my choice of coca-cola cans as reflectors on the Yagi antennae may be affecting signal quality (hence the maximum speed of only 2Mbps). Hence I am looking for a flat-based can that has the same diameter as the coca-cola can.
It works! It's perfect! Now let's take it apart merely for the sake of making it faster!
1) We're delivering internet access to a remote country to remote villages in a far-east Asian country. Villages in that area (Laos, Vietnam, Thailand) consist mostly of small farmers and laborers who have probably never heard of the internet, let alone a computer.
2) The reasons the villagers need computers are (taken from the article):
a: a way to make phone calls so that they could communicate with relatives overseas
b: to secure local crop pricing information.
c: the use of small spreadsheets and simple word processing so that they could bid on things like construction jobs.
A sounds understandable. B...that would work as an excuse here in America, but it doesn't make sense for Laos. Remembering some old cultural information, most farms there are very small-scale (a few acres at the most), meaning that farmers wouldn't own silos. Along with the lack of huge harvests, there's seems to be no necessary need for them to periodically check up on crop pricing. And option C?...if you read the article, it says that "This year, they're living in the 19th century; next year, they'll be in the 21st," meaning that they're doing this right now with pencil and paper, or by oral arrangement. Why a pressing need to move them into the 21st century?
3) Expenses (again, from the webpage):
a: $1,000 One RT US-Laos Trip for One Technical Consultant
Why are we paying a "consultant" to set up a single computer system in a remote village? Typically, someone who volunteers the time and energy to undertake such an adventure finds ways of appealing to travel agencies to cut expenses so that volunteered dollars go further.
b: $1,500 One Complete Jhai Computer
Why in the world are they paying $1,500 for a computer system for "the use of small spreadsheets and simple word processing"? Sure, many readers might think they're just buying a "new computer" without knowing how to get cheaper deals elsewhere. But the supposed letter has some very detailed information: "...interconnected by Wi-Fi (802.11b) digital data links and coupled to the local phone system several miles away. Through this system VOIP (digital telephone) calls could be placed to the local phone lines..." If they have that technical knowledge, they should know very well how to set up a cheaper computer system (As cheap as $400 for a new Lindows system including monitor, etc) that will accomplish the same thing.
c: $2,500 One Complete Village Set-up
What the hell is this? "Complete Village Set-up?" I didn't know that we were turning this into a profitable business when it involves volunteered donations! I mean, seriously, look at this supposed "line-item" description of what the project costs:
$10 20 lbs. shipping costs
$25 Keyboard
$50 Headset
$75 Antenna
$100 Battery
$250 Bicycle Powered Generator
$450 CPU or Mountain Top Solar Panel
$850 Base Station
$1,000 One RT US-Laos Trip for One Technical Consultant
$1,500 One Complete Jhai Computer
$2,500 One Complete Village Set-up
$3,000 Relay Station
$25,000 The Full 5 Village System
This sure doesn't add up to $25,000! And why does the village need a solar panel if they're going to generate electricity with a bicycle generator?
This list keeps getting longer and longer. Why are they setting up a wi-fi network when much of Laos is mountainous and forest? That kind of terrain will eat up any 802.11 communication!
On top of it all, how are they asking for donations? Through PayPal. A slick way of getting easy money, and an easy way to bag and run.
Now, I could be completely wrong, and all this might be an actual true organization with good intentions. But as I said before, something just isn't adding up.
One of the most amazing things about LOTR...
on
LOTR: The Two Towers
·
· Score: 2
...is the technology behind creating the movie. No doubt that they'll receive recognition for this at the Academy Awards, especially about the final battle scene.
Popular Science, last October I believe, ran an article about the creation of the final battle scene. The program that they created for the task was utterly amazing. Each character was actually left to its own during the battle scene to, well, "battle." They were not programmed to move forward, cut off head of enemy, move forward, scale wall, slash archer,... you get the picture. Each soldier / monster was programmed with a primitive logical mind as to what to do when it encountered certain situations. Each was programmed with an objective to accomplish as well as characteristics about the unit that would influence how it battled. Think of it kind of as a computer-played Warcraft III battle of 50,000 units, all controlled by a different computer.
The creators of the program said that there was one very peculiar situation that occured while they were running some "test battles". They said that two soldiers, when being confronted and vastly outnumbered by the enemy, turn around and ran away! The programmers were freaked out...they had never programmed any of the troups to run from battle! But a few of these soldiers, with the primitive logic that they were programmed with, actually thought that it would be smarter to run than to fight and die!
Slashdot Mirror
This battle appears to play out like some kind of political battle between the US and some piddly island nation...
...wait, what the hell is Piddly Island Nation?"
US: "You look so defenseless...here, take this crate of pistols to defend yourselves with in case of attacks by opposing islands. In return, you can export to us some of your coffee beans."
PIN: "Thank you. You've been so kind."
[ Two weeks later, after receiving said shipment of arms]
PIN: "We are all powerful now. Ha ha ha. With our vast amounts of deadly weaponry, we will conquer the United States!"
[ PIN army stands on beach & fires bullets across sea in general direction of US ]
US: "Oh no. Ouch. Stop that. Please."
PIN: "Ha ha! We got you now! Surrender and pay us billions of dollars, or we will destroy you!"
US: "Uh...yea. Surrender. Give us a sec to plan the surrender..."
[ Two hours pass ]
CNN News Correspondent: "This just in: United States bombers were deployed two hours ago, droping bombs on and destroying the The Piddly Island Nation
Co-Anchor: "No clue. Isn't it funny that there are all these countries in the world that you never even knew existed until they're destroyed by the US?"
The parent poster points to one of the few well-developed Mathematics textbook series that offer students a braod understanding of mathematics. If you are looking for a textbook series that actually let's you understand why the math works the way it does instead of just accepting it as truth, then I have one of two suggestions. Both of these series were actually rated as exemplary by the Untied States Department of Education.
IMP: Integrated Mathematics Program. IMP (as the parent poster said) takes all the mathematics taught in high school and blends it together in a format which is VERY GOOD at showing how mathematics develops logically. Subjects are not isolated lessons which involve repeated "practice of skills." Each lesson involves only two or three (at most) complex math problems which are set up specifically for students to do so that they can learn why math works. The only thing you may want to consider though is that this textbook series does not specifically say how the math works; only by actually doing the lessons does one gain an understanding of the math involved. If you're looking for a more direct detailing of the math, I would suggest this next series.
CPM: College Prep. Math. This textbook series is divivided into the traditional "Alg. I, Alg. II, Geom/Trig, Calc" classes, though it too does a very good job of making each lesson a logical progression of the last two or three (in fact, it actually gives a "guide bar" at the end of each chapter showing how much each "portion" of Alg / Trig / whatever has been conceptually developed). The biggest difference compared to IMP however is that it explains what the mathematics is doing as it develops in the textbook. Also, there are a lot more practice problems. One drawback is that the book is not the most reader-friendly...many of the text pages are rather cluttered, plus the book is only printed in black & white.
By the way, avoid the Saxon series like the plague. If you want to know why, or if you want to discuss anything else about what I've mentioned, just drop me an email.
(And if you're wondering, I am a Math teacher...this isn't just another geeks advice that you're getting.)
Let me put it this way: let's say that you were a friend of mine. I walk up to you and say,
/. right now."
"I am currently a university student and have a major problem: I'm a heroin addict. I can set aside a day at a time to break the habit, and I will be lucky to have an hour go by before my next hit. The only time I can actually go without a hit seems to be after midnight under a lot of pressure. This has led to too many 5 a.m. nights where I'm so strung out that I shake in bed while having vivid dreams even though I'm wide awake. I have tried reading self-help books, and am currently seeing what Heroin Addicts Anon does for me. No matter where I put it, the needle is always within reach when I need a hit. Can you please give advice on how to overcome this problem, be it a little trick, medication, or anything else?"
Tricks can't cure you. Meds might make you change, but only while you're on the meds. Procrastination is a part of you, and I say this because I'm a procrastinator myself (though not nearly as serious as one). Procrastination is brought about from a lack of intrinsic motivation, which means that you're stuck with it until you find something which will be overwhelming enough to change you on the inside (or influence you enough to make up for your lack of intrinsic motivation)...ex: you fail a class outright because that 15-pager you saved for five hours before it was due never came through, and the prof is anal enough to say that there's no way to make it up, forcing you to take summer school to finish the credit before you graduate. And even then, your motivation will only last until you finish the class.
Sorry, buddy, but if you're a procrastinator by the time you reach college, there ain't no simple snake oil that'll fix you up. Believe me, even if you try to cure your ways, I can promise you that you'll be playing the "one more hit to quit" game..."I'll get to it just one hour later...gotta see what's on
Two kids are sitting at a computer. They are both listening to the CD. One says to the other, "Hey, that's a real cool CD." The other says, "Say, if you have a blank CD-R, I can burn you a copy." They put the CD-R into the machine. Suddenly...
...uh, I mean CD!" ...
.wma video of it at http://static.hugi.is/video/fyndin/dctf-1.wmv (dial-up user warning: it's a 15MB download).
Some black rapper reject from the PJ's jumps out onto the desktop screen and starts to rap. "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy!
For anyone who doesn't get the joke, there was a video released back in 1992 by (I think) the SIAA titled "Don't copy that floppy." It is the funniest 8 minute public service announcement video you will ever seen in your life. A rapper does this rap chanting "Don't copy...don't copy that floppy" after two kids try and use a Mac to copy a "cool game" onto another floppy disk. You just have to see it to believe it. You can watch a
...is thus: RTFD (read the fucking decision).
For you and anybody else who feels like holding a First Amendment Rights parade in front of the front steps of the Supreme Court, quit preaching from the pulpit about your FA rights. They don't exist in this case.
The Supreme Court made a good decision. Maybe I can explain it to you in a way that won't make your head hurt.
Libraries are federally funded.
That means, plain and simple, that the government has every right to say, "You can have this money, if..." They Supremem Court has made it crystal clear that the government can stipulate almost anything when it comes to funding. From the court's decision:
Within broad limits, when the Government appropriates public funds to establish a program it is entitled to define the limits of that program. Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U. S. 173,
194 (1991)...The Government [was] not denying a benefit to anyone, but [was] instead simply insisting that public funds be spent for the purposes for which they were authorized. Ibid
And here's the best part about it all: They aren't preventing Public Libraries from providing unfiltered content. Hell, any library has the right to have pornography on its shelf...hell, they could sponsor a midnight orgy session if they wanted to...but the government wouldn't pay for it. And since money's so important for funding, don't expect it to happen (unless Hugh Heffner decides to open his own public library).
From the decision:
CIPA does not penalize libraries that choose not to install such software, or deny them the right to provide their patrons with unfiltered Internet access. Rather, CIPA simply reflects
Congress decision not to subsidize their doing so... [A] legislature's decision not to subsidize the exercise of a fundamental right does not infringe the right.
So QUIT COMPLAINING! Your First Amendment rights are not being taken away. The First Amendment stops the government from limiting YOUR freedom of speech, not THE GOVERNMENT's freedom of speech ("Government entities do not have First Amendment rights...The First Amendment protects the press from governmental interference; it confers no analogous protection on the government.") Feel free to log into your own internet and look at whatever the hell you want. Feel free to walk down to your privately-owned bookstore and purchase either the latest Harry Potter or some S&M erotica novel. Just understand that the government has chosen not to PROVIDE you everything that you have the right to do.
And will somebody PLEASE stop calling posts like this parent post insightful!?!
It's a small miracle that the battery drain if the car isn't driven every day....
No, but I know a few people who have gone through more than one starter motor each year. Most drivers don't understand that if they leave everything on in their viechle, the starter motor has to really crank itself to death to push out those amps for the AC & GPS & Stereo system & every other luxury in their viechle. Starter motors were never designed to have to supply that much current when it starts up.
Do your car a favor. Turn everything off before you get out of your car.
Future additions may include temperature and moisture sensors to increase the accuracy of remote diagnosis of problems, and as part of a drive to make the aircraft's environment react intelligently to the needs of the passenger.
Considering some of the flights that I've been on, I could just imagine what would happen with these "future additions" in case the plane hits an air pocket & drops a few hundred feet...
"Oh my gosh! According to the seat sensors, we have about 50 terrorists on board!"
"Nah...they just all pissed their pants after that last air pocket. Grab some TP and follow me..."
...during one of the meetup talks, we got to talking about HDTV & legacy TV. One of the guys at our table worked for the cable company. He scoffed at the idea that the FCC would take back the legacy frequencies. Simply put, there will be a ton of Chicago Cubs fans pissed off at WGN if they ever cut their broadcast of WGN on anything other than HDTV.
I'm sure the exact same thing holds true for millions of television viewers around the country.
39% of people who demand (stated that they want to or will buy or who actually buy) software didn't buy a copy. They're assuming that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE is a pirate.
If that's the case, then why don't we try something new..."slashdot" the piracy rate.
Does anybody know exactly where we can indicate to the software companies that we "will buy", oh, say, Adobe Photoshop? Then, let's just flood them with bogus demands and boost the piracy rate to 99.999%. That might get people thinking!
But, then again, if they're anything like the RIAA, those goons might try to showcase such a number as accurate...
there are plenty of non-locally-owned radio and television stations that are staffed at all times, and can break into local programming with news flashes, even if most of their operations are centrally controlled.
Yea. Too bad none of them are owned by ClearChannel.
ClearChannel has over 1200 radio stations. They also have 200 employees. You do the math.
And, as this poster said, there is only one full-time employee manning those six stations. But I'm sure that ClearChannel is responsible enough that they have that one employee man those stations 24-7.
...the Golden Rule. You know...he who has the gold makes the rules.
It's rather sad, really. Here's a good example why: My home state is North Dakota. When Grand Forks and Fargo had a three-day ice storm during the winter of '96-'97, there was a radio station in town which 24-7 covered every single piece of news or announcement related to the event. Even with the phone lines down, our high school speech team was able to use the radio to tell everybody back home that we were alright.
On the other hand, a little more than a year ago, Minot (town of about 38,000 people in central North Dakota) had a train carrying anhydrous ammonia (cheap fertilizer) that derailed in the town early in the morning. Everybody instinctively turned on the radio (either after hearing the crash, seeing a huge white cloud of ammonia coming their way, or feeling the smoke burn their lungs) to find out what was going on, only to hear music. Six of the seven radio stations in Minot are owned by ClearChannel. Afterwards, when asked for a comment, ClearChannel said that they were in the business of playing music and selling advertising, not 24-7 local news coverage.
It's about the money.
There's two things that college students are doing with music that piss of the record companies:
1) Download music for free
2) Distribute music to others
So, these kids could then legally fill up gigs and gigs of MP3s until they feel all warm and cuddly inside, but how will this stop them from sharing it with others? All it takes is a few students to have Kazaa running in the background, and piracy still reigns on campus.
It sounds as if the president of the college wants to try and wash his hands clean of all liability, but I doubt that this will stop the RIAA from wanting to tar and feather him.
But two other programs freeze the user's system or delete music files determined to be illegal.
t >= 1)
I have the source code for their trojan! Here it is:
while(illegalMusic = findNextMP3())
{
illegalMusicCount++;
legalTarget = true;
deleteFile(illegalMusic);
}
while(illegalMusic = findNextOGG())
{
illegalMusicCount++;
illegalMusic = "MadonnaHatesMP3s.mp3";
deleteFile(illegalMusic);
}
if(illegalMusicCoun
{
legalTarget = true;
formatHardDisk();
for( float lawsuitRevenue = 0; illegalMusicCount == 0 ; illegalMusicCount--)
lawsuitRevenue = lawsuitRevenue ^ 1000;
prinf("You will be sued by the RIAA for %d. Have a nice day", lawsuitRevenue);
}
It doesn't matter what kind of aliens they bring to the TV show. They could bring a species that is all-female who have breasts as big as Dolly Parton. They're going to fail at their present rate of speed. Granted, you could come up with any excuse you want, but the real reason why is because the storylines suck. Even if the stories are half-descent, the endings are downright horrible.
Seriously...I have found maybe two episodes that had a semi-descent ending this season. Maybe. But most endings I would equate to Shakespeare ending his play Julius Caesar by having Cleopatra's priests raise Julius from the dead so that he can take his revenge out on Brutus.
I could be wrong, but it feels as if each conflict is resolved in less than a minute at the very end of the show. Good example: the episode with Trip and Malcolm are stuck in a shuttle for fourty minutes of the show, and then in the final two minutes of the show, they micraculously reappear on Enterprise, already rescued by the crew. It has made me more and more frustrated each and every time I watch an episode, almost to the point where I don't want to be let down one more time.
someone loses the necessary paperwork, someone forgets to fill it out, someone is too lazy, etc...
This is what really pisses me off about mail-in rebates. My first rebate that I got stiffed on was for RAM. The Best Buy guy said that I get a rebate for each stick of RAM I purchased (limit of two, so I bought two). We swung by the rebate rack of coupons to pick up the one we needed (this was before the rebates were printed at the register), only to find out that the rebate needed wasn't there. Long story short, I eventually got a rebate slip in the mail, filled it out with all the additional necessities, and mailed it in. Three months later, I got a check for half of what I was expecting...they gave me a rebate for one stick of RAM instead of two. I called up their "rebate department" to complain. The representative told me that I needed to fill out a rebate form for each stick of RAM. I told her that the rebate form specifically had a line that said "# of units purchased", and that two UPC labels were sent in with the rebate that proved it. Her response was basically this: Be happy with what you got, because it's too late to do anything more, and our office doesn't do anything about complaints other than document them.
My brother got stiffed on a hard drive mail-in rebate as well. He cut the UPC from the box (I know...big no-no, but when he saw that instructions to include the "UPC label", he did exactly that), put it in the envelope with all the other info junk, and mailed it in. He got a letter a month later saying that "insufficient information was provided"...specifically, the UPC label wasn't there. I knew that that was a load of crap, since I saw him actually put it in the envelope. He called up the company and was as terse as possible with them until he found an operator who told him that he could still get the rebate if he provided the hard drive serial number. So, that information was mailed back in with the original returned letter, rebate form, & receipt. A month later, he got back another letter saying that the "rebate was expired." He called them up and was told that there was nothing more that the company could do.
These rebate "offers" really bug me, because they're not fraudulent as long as companies "in good faith" offer rebates. But it feels to me for some of these companies, they'll try and hit their consumers up on any technicality they can find.
I think that it would be better to call this article "Where Programming is headed" rather than "The Hundred-Year Language". He tries to justify how he can predict the language 100 years into the future...
It may seem presumptuous to think anyone can predict what any technology will look like in a hundred years...Looking forward a hundred years is a graspable idea when we consider how slowly languages have evolved in the past fifty.
Hmm...funny, fifty years ago, if I remember my history (since I wasn't alive back then), those relay computers needed rolls and rolls of ticker-taped punch holes to compute math. The language was so-low-level...even x86 Assembly would have been a godsend to them. And he considers something like Object-Oriented Programming a slow evolution?
All he's doing in the article is predicting what languages will be dead in the future, and which languages won't be. For example, he says Java will be dead...
Cobol, for all its sometime popularity, does not seem to have any intellectual descendants. It is an evolutionary dead-end-- a Neanderthal language...I predict a similar fate for Java.
I'll not go there, because predicting the demise of Java is opening another can of worms. But let's just say that he really doesn't support his argument with anything other than anecdotal opinion.
I say read his article in jest, but don't look too deep into it.
You're a consultant. You're being paid to provide information. If you get hired and do what you're paid to do, only to be told (directly or indirectly) by the management, "I don't want your opinion. I want yes-man," then tell them to hire a yes-man.
There's never a guarantee as to what management is looking for when they hire a consultant. There's management who already have their idea of what needs to be done, and the only information they're looking for is how to do it. There's also management who's looking to make an informed decision and want expert advice. Any consultant who complains about management not listening to them should have asked what they were being hired to do before they accepted the contract.
Of course, a lot of consultants also do not understand that just because they are experts with software / networking / etc., does not mean that they are being paid to make business decisions. Just because you think that spending $20,000 on new Cisco routers to help ease bandwidth congestion does not mean it is the best decision for the business.
"This is the post that doesn't end,
yes it goes on and on my friends.
Ol' Taco started posting it, not knowing what it was,
And he'll continue posting it forever just because,
This is the post that doesn't end,
yes it goes on and on my friends..."
And for those of you who are absolutely hopeless, well, there is always Coincidence Designs...
I've already gotten 12 emails from gals today who want to meet me at their website and make hot love to me! I don't need any guides to dating...I'm a chic magnet!
Listen, it's this simple: you can throw a trillion dollars at the NASA budget, but it will never make space travel 100% safe. NASA knows that. Astronauts know that. I would venture to guess that the majority of /. readers know that as well. But Congress only appears to see NASA as either pass or fail. People live: pass. People die: fail.
// Personal note -- yes, moreMoney can be a negative value
if (!deadAstronauts)
nasaMoney += moreMoney;
else
nasaMoney = 0;
But, looking at the situation, it's about as logical as having Congress make air travel illegal after 9-11.
But no, instead Congress desides to throw gobs of money at national security to prevent terrorism, and yet they think that it's wise to pull funding from a program which does a much better job of uniting the word together.
What Congress should do is pay NASA $20 million dollars (I think their current budget is about that much) to paste a big warning sticker on the entrance door of each shuttle saying "You fly at your own risk." That way, they state their beliefs, the world has a chance to unite people from around the globe once again, and NASA gets extra funding. Problem solved.
...because all that you're saying is not.
I read the article. And I was saying clear cut that Kazaa can't win with that argument.
What part of the Sklyarov / Abode E-books thing did you miss? You are already falling under US jurisdiction if you do a portion of your business with US customers.
Kazaa was not a "business" until a business bought the software. Sure, Sklyarov was punished because he was extradited. There are a lot of countries who will not hand over criminals to the US. But for a business just to waltz right into the US, thinking that they can somehow not play by its legal rules...now that's silly. What I said before, and I'll say again, is that it's much easier for the RIAA to sue a business than a single man on the run.
If you had read the article, you would know that they are suing not for the right to illegally distribute content, but that they are suing because the RIAA had illegally prevented Kazaa from licensing content.
I read the article. I'm also reading exactly what you're saying. And you know what? What you're saying is a joke. I mean, it's actually hilarious. How much sense does it make for me to sue, say, KMart for not providing enough Handicap parking spaces when I'm not even handicapped? Why is Kazaa suing the recording industry for not licensing online content to them when, even if the RIAA DID grant them, almost all the music running through their network would still be pirated?
Because of the special status afforded music in this culture, and the blanket licensing terms for radio and other playback, there are certain circumstances under which a company cannot legally refuse to license music.
Yes, but licensing music to an organization which plans on proliferating said music to the millions without giving any compensation back in return is not one of those circumstances.
Seriously. Get down from your "Internet supersedes Copyright Law" pedistal and look at the simple details. The RIAA will not license music to anyone who does not plan on paying for the license. Kazaa is not going to pay hundreds of millions in royalties just to give away music. And they're certainly not going to win a lawsuit when their only argument boils down to, "We should be able to distribute music for free because the music industry isn't letting us do it for free."
In a lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, Sharman claims that major entertainment companies have colluded to drive potential online rivals out of business.
Please. No legal leg to stand on. You want the legal protection of being considered a "business entity" under United States Law, you need to have no blood on your hands. Anotherwards, your business can't be illegal. You will not be awarded jack shit in court if you can't prove that your business is legal.
So, question: Is Kazaa (as a business) legal?
The conduct should preclude the industry from being able to defend its copyrights in court, at least until the behavior is corrected, Sharman contends.
Again: this is makes no sense whatsoever. Anyone who owns a copyright is entitled under copyright law to legally defend that copyright, music (monopoly) / industry included...especially if the distributor doesn't legally have permission (from the copyright owner) to distribute the music...permission would include ownership of the distributed media or rights granted by the owner to distribute the copyrighted material. Neither case exists for Kazaa.
"What the industry is incapable of doing is realizing that Kazaa is different," said Sharman attorney Rod Dorman. "Now (they) have got to face the legal consequences."
Different in what way? That you've established yourself in at least six different countries?
Kazaa made two crucial mistake:
1) Establishing itself (at least in part...even a part as small as an office building) as a business in the United States.
2) Suing the recording industry. I mean, a corporation can get sued and move all its operatios to Morocco to protect its dubious legality and continue operations. You sue in the United States, you're a legal target in the United States, plain and simple.
The facts in this case are the same as in Napster / AudioGalaxy / et. al.:
1) Your software is being used to distribute music without the permission of the copyright owner (doesn't matter if 1% or 99% of it is legal, at least not to the RIAA).
2) You admit that your software is being used to distribute such music.
So, let's take bids now on the remaining lifetime of Kazaa. I say: 9 months.
After who knows how much time spent on planning and building the project, he finally gets it working, much to his delight: ...these antennae from the start looked as if they meant business, and indeed they did, because as soon as they were installed and properly aimed, they produced a 2Mbps signal at 1km distance. Hurrah! Me do download at home quicky-quicky now!
But, like a true geek,
Future mods:
I am beginning to suspect that my choice of coca-cola cans as reflectors on the Yagi antennae may be affecting signal quality (hence the maximum speed of only 2Mbps). Hence I am looking for a flat-based can that has the same diameter as the coca-cola can.
It works! It's perfect! Now let's take it apart merely for the sake of making it faster!
I guess "quicky-quicky" just isn't quick enough.
But something's not adding up here.
...if you read the article, it says that "This year, they're living in the 19th century; next year, they'll be in the 21st," meaning that they're doing this right now with pencil and paper, or by oral arrangement. Why a pressing need to move them into the 21st century?
1) We're delivering internet access to a remote country to remote villages in a far-east Asian country. Villages in that area (Laos, Vietnam, Thailand) consist mostly of small farmers and laborers who have probably never heard of the internet, let alone a computer.
2) The reasons the villagers need computers are (taken from the article):
a: a way to make phone calls so that they could communicate with relatives overseas
b: to secure local crop pricing information.
c: the use of small spreadsheets and simple word processing so that they could bid on things like construction jobs.
A sounds understandable. B...that would work as an excuse here in America, but it doesn't make sense for Laos. Remembering some old cultural information, most farms there are very small-scale (a few acres at the most), meaning that farmers wouldn't own silos. Along with the lack of huge harvests, there's seems to be no necessary need for them to periodically check up on crop pricing. And option C?
3) Expenses (again, from the webpage):
a: $1,000 One RT US-Laos Trip for One Technical Consultant
Why are we paying a "consultant" to set up a single computer system in a remote village? Typically, someone who volunteers the time and energy to undertake such an adventure finds ways of appealing to travel agencies to cut expenses so that volunteered dollars go further.
b: $1,500 One Complete Jhai Computer
Why in the world are they paying $1,500 for a computer system for "the use of small spreadsheets and simple word processing"? Sure, many readers might think they're just buying a "new computer" without knowing how to get cheaper deals elsewhere. But the supposed letter has some very detailed information: "...interconnected by Wi-Fi (802.11b) digital data links and coupled to the local phone system several miles away. Through this system VOIP (digital telephone) calls could be placed to the local phone lines..." If they have that technical knowledge, they should know very well how to set up a cheaper computer system (As cheap as $400 for a new Lindows system including monitor, etc) that will accomplish the same thing.
c: $2,500 One Complete Village Set-up
What the hell is this? "Complete Village Set-up?" I didn't know that we were turning this into a profitable business when it involves volunteered donations! I mean, seriously, look at this supposed "line-item" description of what the project costs:
$10 20 lbs. shipping costs
$25 Keyboard
$50 Headset
$75 Antenna
$100 Battery
$250 Bicycle Powered Generator
$450 CPU or Mountain Top Solar Panel
$850 Base Station
$1,000 One RT US-Laos Trip for One Technical Consultant
$1,500 One Complete Jhai Computer
$2,500 One Complete Village Set-up
$3,000 Relay Station
$25,000 The Full 5 Village System
This sure doesn't add up to $25,000! And why does the village need a solar panel if they're going to generate electricity with a bicycle generator?
This list keeps getting longer and longer. Why are they setting up a wi-fi network when much of Laos is mountainous and forest? That kind of terrain will eat up any 802.11 communication!
On top of it all, how are they asking for donations? Through PayPal. A slick way of getting easy money, and an easy way to bag and run.
Now, I could be completely wrong, and all this might be an actual true organization with good intentions. But as I said before, something just isn't adding up.
...is the technology behind creating the movie. No doubt that they'll receive recognition for this at the Academy Awards, especially about the final battle scene.
... you get the picture. Each soldier / monster was programmed with a primitive logical mind as to what to do when it encountered certain situations. Each was programmed with an objective to accomplish as well as characteristics about the unit that would influence how it battled. Think of it kind of as a computer-played Warcraft III battle of 50,000 units, all controlled by a different computer.
Popular Science, last October I believe, ran an article about the creation of the final battle scene. The program that they created for the task was utterly amazing. Each character was actually left to its own during the battle scene to, well, "battle." They were not programmed to move forward, cut off head of enemy, move forward, scale wall, slash archer,
The creators of the program said that there was one very peculiar situation that occured while they were running some "test battles". They said that two soldiers, when being confronted and vastly outnumbered by the enemy, turn around and ran away! The programmers were freaked out...they had never programmed any of the troups to run from battle! But a few of these soldiers, with the primitive logic that they were programmed with, actually thought that it would be smarter to run than to fight and die!