That's why kids should get Meccano, if it hasn't been completely dumbed down by now, at the earliest age possible. Also Bayko (if they still make it) and Lego and Tinker Toys.
Learning this as a young man was a sad awakening for me. Most people who rail against the "evil doers" are really motivated by a lust for power - it isn't that they really disapprove of the "evil doers" excessive power it just that they want to be the ones to wield the power and they will become every bit as brutal and oppressive if and when they get the chance. Communism and Feminism are two very good examples of this.
Often when you confront groups likes this they will excuse their desires/actions with something along the line of "but they were bad and we aren't so it's ok for us to do these things" and most of the time they actually believe what they are saying. The will follow it up with something that boils down to "After all bad people must know that they are bad and just keep on being bad, but we are good people and so we will never use our excessive power to do bad things - we couldn't do that, because we are good."
I hope you plan on being with your kids 24/7/365 then. And having thorough checks made into the parents of their friends and any other person whose care they are left in. After all if your child goes to play at little Timmy's house and Timmy's parents allow programs you wouldn't then you have to do something.
Nonsense. You can have it connected to every computer system in the world and it will still be secure - see "The Forbin Project" for details on how to achieve real computer security!
Umm... I don't think there's a comment in this thread that says that. What I did say was
Well you said:
The good news - it's treatable, and done right, you will live as long, or longer, than your peers since you'll HAVE to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
First, it is not treatable, it is manageable and it is progressive.
Second you clearly claim one would live longer than their peers because one would be "forced" to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Obviously, for your sentence to make sense, the peers are not being forced to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Therefore the peers do not have Diabetes Type II or they too would be just as "forced". Now you know nothing about the peers, their age, health, habits etc. but you are claiming the person who tries to manage their Diabetes will outlive those non-diabetic people. You don't claim they will outlive some of their peers (which would also be unsupportable) but blanket state they will outlive their peers which is at best unsupportable and at worst completely misleading.
Who do you think provides better hardware & software Linux support for GPU programming of non-graphics applications that require double precision calculations?
Strange... I have no idea why anyone would want anything other than an office with a door. If I need to talk to someone I get up, open the door and walk over to them and talk to them. Then I go back to my office, close the door and am once again somewhere I can work without distraction and even *gasp* scratch my balls if I want... all without being on display to anyone who cares to watch. Why anyone would want anything less is beyond me. If you want camaraderie and team spirit go for a beer after work or eat lunch together. But for work - go away and leave me in peace.
I was contracting for a while at a startup that did this. It was superficially more justifiable than your situation because there were few projects and some level of collaboration for a portion of the workers. The big difference though was that the CTO actually kept his desk out with the rest - where he could watch everybody, see who went out for smoke/pee breaks and how often etc. Maybe its just me but it was the absolute worst environment for any kind of productivity more sophisticated than typing (and I believe old style typing pools are where this idea originally came from). I got out of there as fast as I possibly could.
The comment I was responding to made it sound like the effects of Type II Diabetes could be reduced to 0. They can't. No matter what you do, all other things being equal, your lifespan and quality of life will be reduced compared to someone who does not have Diabetes.
The good news - it's treatable, and done right, you will live as long, or longer, than your peers
I talked to a neurologist about this. He told me that even though much of the effects of type II can be controlled by diet and exercise once Diabetes has begun there is neurological and vascular damage that will continue to occur no matter how much you improve your diet and exercise.
I really enjoyed Star Wars when it came out... was right in there with a theatre full of screaming cheering kids. It was very nicely done from a directorial to a technical point of view - but it wasn't original. The disaffected youth who saves the day? The mercenary with a heart of gold? A Princess motivating them? The "little guys" beating the "evil giants" - or underdogs beating the favorites if you prefer? That was all pretty unoriginal, going right back to the Bible, including the way in which those elements were woven together. It didn't stop it from being really entertaining though.
And The Matrix, while also well executed, was hardly original either.
As for why Hollywood isn't doing better (assuming it has the capacity and I doubt there is much of that)... it is interesting to read the comments about Stargate Universe that are made on http://www.episodeworld.com/ .
Let me summarize: "there's too much character development, too much drama [style of content, not emotional hyperbole], too much about human relationships, too much about ideas" and "why aren't there aliens being blasted???? There should be space battles and bug-eyed monsters". I think SU has its problems but it is also one of the more interesting SF shows in quite a while. There are plot holes you could throw a shuttle through but otherwise it is pretty well done - especially for a TV show (as opposed to movie).
I think the SF audience isn't interested in "interesting, original and daring movie ideas"... so Hollywood doesn't make them. Assuming that they could that is. But I agree - the stream of remakes - some with word for word copying of dialogue are a bit tiresome.
My experiences with UPS were all frustrating and eventually I decided that if UPS were the only way I could get something then I wouldn't get it. I've used Fedex ground and air a fair bit and never had a problem with either of them except for packages coming from the US to Canada where they pulled this: the package arrives, all cleared through customs (because they never asked if you wanted them to broker it for you) then 5 weeks(!) after the delivery comes a bill for brokerage - about $60 on a $110 item. As long as you have the sender mark it clearly that you want to self-broker it isn't a problem and other than that I've been happy with their services.
I get what you're saying but unfortunately most people already have time horizons, and going in the other direction memories, far shorter than their current lifespans permit. That's how politicians are able to get re-elected.
You know even if you live forever you might never "fully understand current mathematics" (whatever that actually means) etc. Just because your lifespan increases doesn't mean your cognitive abilities increase too. And I wonder how many people have jobs they would simply refuse to do if they thought it was going to go on indefinitely... right now many people stay in jobs they don't like because they can't afford to change or "retirement" is dangling in front of them and is sufficiently attractive to keep them doing the job.
Over many years I have spent much more time with various lawyers than I ever wanted. One of the most valuable things I learned is that when a lawyer sends you a letter saying something like "In our opinion XYZ..." you should pay very close attnetion.
XYZ usually involves some sort of claim to back up a demand and not only is XYZ frequently untrue but it would be almost impossible for a practising lawyer to believe XYZ is true. That is why it is presented as an opinion rather than as a fact from an expert [the lawyer]... so that when Mr. ABC goes before a judge he can't say "Boondoggle and Co. claimed it was illegal for me to not pay them..." then Boondoggle can defend themselves with "that was just our opinion at the time, we made no claims as to its accuracy and Mr. ABC is responsible for obtaining his own legal advice." Boondoggle and Co. are simply hoping that Mr. ABC will assume a lawyer would not outright lie or that he can't afford a lawyer of his own, or both, and will pay up without determining the truth.
This just sounds like more in the same vein but they stumbled a wee bit far over the line - smarter lawyers would have done it in such a way as to be beyond meaningful discipline.
Yes this is something that used to piss me off when, as a student, I worked as a researcher for a faculty member. We would agree on the very broad outline of what I would do, i.e. the general goal, and then I went away and with no other contact came back later - usually months later - having refined the problem, designed the solution, implemented the solution and frequently having redefined the problem definition itself since the original formulation was flawed or inadequate in some way.
But he talked to others as if it was his work. Hey he paid for it and coming up with money in academia is certainly a necessity and can be hard. But that made him an enabler not the creator. It's pretty simple if you hire an artist and tell him/her that you want an oil painting that shows animals coming out of a barn and the artist goes away and comes back with their painting... who is the painter? Who is the artist? Who signs the painting - the guy who commissioned it or the guy who painted it?
I think it really all needs to be in there whether it be a CS degree of a "Software Engineering" degree. Really, every software developer should understand how the hardware works and how to program it at a low level even if it just an idealized machine run as a simulator, what computational complexity is and have at least some idea of what P and NP are about, basic calculus (just 'cause), linear algebra etc., logic (formal, theorem proving & hardware), and so on and so on. One of the very first CS courses I took had us programming a universal Turing machine emulator... actually very educational in general, then it turned out to make it easier to understand functional languages like Scheme and really set the stage for computational complexity in later years.
In 4 years it shouldn't be hard to get all that in along with programming languages, software design, graphics, AI, OS, simulation, system design, compilers and the rest. 4 years is a very long time.
I wouldn't go so far as to say most (I haven't met >50%) but it can be amazing what some don't know. I recall one recent graduate of a software engineering program (actual engineering program, not a CS degree, at a fairly prestigious school)) who had no idea what the stack was used for, how to use a stack trace in debugging etc. etc. It has been a few years since that encounter but somehow I doubt it is any better.
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That's why kids should get Meccano, if it hasn't been completely dumbed down by now, at the earliest age possible. Also Bayko (if they still make it) and Lego and Tinker Toys.
Learning this as a young man was a sad awakening for me. Most people who rail against the "evil doers" are really motivated by a lust for power - it isn't that they really disapprove of the "evil doers" excessive power it just that they want to be the ones to wield the power and they will become every bit as brutal and oppressive if and when they get the chance. Communism and Feminism are two very good examples of this.
Often when you confront groups likes this they will excuse their desires/actions with something along the line of "but they were bad and we aren't so it's ok for us to do these things" and most of the time they actually believe what they are saying. The will follow it up with something that boils down to "After all bad people must know that they are bad and just keep on being bad, but we are good people and so we will never use our excessive power to do bad things - we couldn't do that, because we are good."
I hope you plan on being with your kids 24/7/365 then. And having thorough checks made into the parents of their friends and any other person whose care they are left in. After all if your child goes to play at little Timmy's house and Timmy's parents allow programs you wouldn't then you have to do something.
Nonsense. You can have it connected to every computer system in the world and it will still be secure - see "The Forbin Project" for details on how to achieve real computer security!
Well you said:
First, it is not treatable, it is manageable and it is progressive.
Second you clearly claim one would live longer than their peers because one would be "forced" to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Obviously, for your sentence to make sense, the peers are not being forced to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Therefore the peers do not have Diabetes Type II or they too would be just as "forced". Now you know nothing about the peers, their age, health, habits etc. but you are claiming the person who tries to manage their Diabetes will outlive those non-diabetic people. You don't claim they will outlive some of their peers (which would also be unsupportable) but blanket state they will outlive their peers which is at best unsupportable and at worst completely misleading.
Who do you think provides better hardware & software Linux support for GPU programming of non-graphics applications that require double precision calculations?
Strange... I have no idea why anyone would want anything other than an office with a door. If I need to talk to someone I get up, open the door and walk over to them and talk to them. Then I go back to my office, close the door and am once again somewhere I can work without distraction and even *gasp* scratch my balls if I want... all without being on display to anyone who cares to watch. Why anyone would want anything less is beyond me. If you want camaraderie and team spirit go for a beer after work or eat lunch together. But for work - go away and leave me in peace.
I was contracting for a while at a startup that did this. It was superficially more justifiable than your situation because there were few projects and some level of collaboration for a portion of the workers. The big difference though was that the CTO actually kept his desk out with the rest - where he could watch everybody, see who went out for smoke/pee breaks and how often etc. Maybe its just me but it was the absolute worst environment for any kind of productivity more sophisticated than typing (and I believe old style typing pools are where this idea originally came from). I got out of there as fast as I possibly could.
The comment I was responding to made it sound like the effects of Type II Diabetes could be reduced to 0. They can't. No matter what you do, all other things being equal, your lifespan and quality of life will be reduced compared to someone who does not have Diabetes.
I talked to a neurologist about this. He told me that even though much of the effects of type II can be controlled by diet and exercise once Diabetes has begun there is neurological and vascular damage that will continue to occur no matter how much you improve your diet and exercise.
I really enjoyed Star Wars when it came out... was right in there with a theatre full of screaming cheering kids. It was very nicely done from a directorial to a technical point of view - but it wasn't original. The disaffected youth who saves the day? The mercenary with a heart of gold? A Princess motivating them? The "little guys" beating the "evil giants" - or underdogs beating the favorites if you prefer? That was all pretty unoriginal, going right back to the Bible, including the way in which those elements were woven together. It didn't stop it from being really entertaining though.
And The Matrix, while also well executed, was hardly original either.
As for why Hollywood isn't doing better (assuming it has the capacity and I doubt there is much of that)... it is interesting to read the comments about Stargate Universe that are made on http://www.episodeworld.com/ .
Let me summarize: "there's too much character development, too much drama [style of content, not emotional hyperbole], too much about human relationships, too much about ideas" and "why aren't there aliens being blasted???? There should be space battles and bug-eyed monsters". I think SU has its problems but it is also one of the more interesting SF shows in quite a while. There are plot holes you could throw a shuttle through but otherwise it is pretty well done - especially for a TV show (as opposed to movie).
I think the SF audience isn't interested in "interesting, original and daring movie ideas"... so Hollywood doesn't make them. Assuming that they could that is. But I agree - the stream of remakes - some with word for word copying of dialogue are a bit tiresome.
My experiences with UPS were all frustrating and eventually I decided that if UPS were the only way I could get something then I wouldn't get it. I've used Fedex ground and air a fair bit and never had a problem with either of them except for packages coming from the US to Canada where they pulled this: the package arrives, all cleared through customs (because they never asked if you wanted them to broker it for you) then 5 weeks(!) after the delivery comes a bill for brokerage - about $60 on a $110 item. As long as you have the sender mark it clearly that you want to self-broker it isn't a problem and other than that I've been happy with their services.
Thanks for all the laughs you crazy Canuck... you made my life better!
I get what you're saying but unfortunately most people already have time horizons, and going in the other direction memories, far shorter than their current lifespans permit. That's how politicians are able to get re-elected.
You know even if you live forever you might never "fully understand current mathematics" (whatever that actually means) etc. Just because your lifespan increases doesn't mean your cognitive abilities increase too. And I wonder how many people have jobs they would simply refuse to do if they thought it was going to go on indefinitely... right now many people stay in jobs they don't like because they can't afford to change or "retirement" is dangling in front of them and is sufficiently attractive to keep them doing the job.
Over many years I have spent much more time with various lawyers than I ever wanted. One of the most valuable things I learned is that when a lawyer sends you a letter saying something like "In our opinion XYZ..." you should pay very close attnetion.
XYZ usually involves some sort of claim to back up a demand and not only is XYZ frequently untrue but it would be almost impossible for a practising lawyer to believe XYZ is true. That is why it is presented as an opinion rather than as a fact from an expert [the lawyer] ... so that when Mr. ABC goes before a judge he can't say "Boondoggle and Co. claimed it was illegal for me to not pay them..." then Boondoggle can defend themselves with "that was just our opinion at the time, we made no claims as to its accuracy and Mr. ABC is responsible for obtaining his own legal advice." Boondoggle and Co. are simply hoping that Mr. ABC will assume a lawyer would not outright lie or that he can't afford a lawyer of his own, or both, and will pay up without determining the truth.
This just sounds like more in the same vein but they stumbled a wee bit far over the line - smarter lawyers would have done it in such a way as to be beyond meaningful discipline.
No one? Hmmm can you prove that negative?
Build me an FTL ship. Here's a barrel of cash. Oh and put the drive near the rear of the ship....
Hey look! I invented FTL travel!
Yes, and none of that is invention.
I'm pretty sure Ayn Rand would have said the opposite.
Yes this is something that used to piss me off when, as a student, I worked as a researcher for a faculty member. We would agree on the very broad outline of what I would do, i.e. the general goal, and then I went away and with no other contact came back later - usually months later - having refined the problem, designed the solution, implemented the solution and frequently having redefined the problem definition itself since the original formulation was flawed or inadequate in some way.
But he talked to others as if it was his work. Hey he paid for it and coming up with money in academia is certainly a necessity and can be hard. But that made him an enabler not the creator. It's pretty simple if you hire an artist and tell him/her that you want an oil painting that shows animals coming out of a barn and the artist goes away and comes back with their painting... who is the painter? Who is the artist? Who signs the painting - the guy who commissioned it or the guy who painted it?
I think it really all needs to be in there whether it be a CS degree of a "Software Engineering" degree. Really, every software developer should understand how the hardware works and how to program it at a low level even if it just an idealized machine run as a simulator, what computational complexity is and have at least some idea of what P and NP are about, basic calculus (just 'cause), linear algebra etc., logic (formal, theorem proving & hardware), and so on and so on. One of the very first CS courses I took had us programming a universal Turing machine emulator... actually very educational in general, then it turned out to make it easier to understand functional languages like Scheme and really set the stage for computational complexity in later years.
In 4 years it shouldn't be hard to get all that in along with programming languages, software design, graphics, AI, OS, simulation, system design, compilers and the rest. 4 years is a very long time.
Reminds me of the song lyric "if loving you is wrong then I don't want to be right" LOL
Maybe they could start with movie theatres first though. I go to theatres (or used to) more often than I fly.
I wouldn't go so far as to say most (I haven't met >50%) but it can be amazing what some don't know. I recall one recent graduate of a software engineering program (actual engineering program, not a CS degree, at a fairly prestigious school)) who had no idea what the stack was used for, how to use a stack trace in debugging etc. etc. It has been a few years since that encounter but somehow I doubt it is any better.
That's how it worked for me :)