The difference is that there are times that there are things I enjoy and should be concentrating on. Worst case scenario is sex. (And this should trigger some +5 Funny's at my expense) But there are some times where my mind is jumping to what is that noise downstairs, did I switch over the laundry, what am I having for dinner, etc. And trust me, it's not fun.
Not being able to concentrate on things you are interested in is an important symptom and something most non-afflicted people just don't understand. The sex thing (and good for you to mention it) can bring incredible suffering for people. I've known both men and women who simply cannot achieve orgasm if anything happens to distract them, including some random thought, during the act. Once it happens they have to "start over from the beginning"... and then have that happen over and over again. It ruins a fundamental part of life, it ruins relationships - it's truly tragic.
I don't think it is just the late teens and early twenties. Someone with ADHD is going to continually and for the rest of their life be making different depending on what, if any, medication regime, including self-medication, they practice. Some people think children are being drugged willy-nilly just for being rambunctious and I tend to agree. That doesn't mean ADHD isn't real and it doesn't mean that people with ADHD don't benefit from medication - far better prescribed and monitored stimulants than continuous caffeine intake coupled with a pack-a-day smoking habits both of which are common self-medicating responses to untreated ADHD. And non-stimulant treatments are now appearing.
Uh... Didn't I write that I would not like to have heard that line in a funeral about my dad? It was nothing about you, just about my own personal feeling uncomfortable if that ever happened to me.
Ummm yes you did and I acknowledged that in my very first line and then again at the beginning of the 2nd last paragraph where I stated that my comments weren't directed at you... so I'm not sure what the problem is, if there is one...
In any case thank you for the kind words in the rest of your message - I appreciate them along with all the kind words of those who have responded in a positive way.
Thanks, I knew domesticated animals have thinner skulls than their wild counterparts, as do humans compared to our ancestors, but it's interesting that the shape is different as well. As to not being wary of humans I'd have to dispute that. I spent some time in a small town in the Yukon that had a lot of people camping there in the summer while they worked in nearby mines. A lot of them got pups when they arrived in the spring and then just left them behind (if any was offered "set them free" was the usual rationalization) at the end of the fall. Then the townspeople had to go out and shoot the dogs because if they didn't then not only were they wary of humans but they formed packs and hunted the humans.
Makes you wonder what adulthood means for humans though.
What exactly do you mean by "permanent puppyhood - domestic dogs don't become adults, we've bred that out of them somehow"?
how their dogs could "have" our wolves easily
Then they are idiots; pound for pound no dog can take a wolf. It's interesting to see how weak domestication makes animals. Dogs are physically weaker with more fragile skeletal structure than wolves, but humans have been domesticated longer than dogs and are relatively much weaker than dogs - not less dangerous but certainly weaker and more fragile.
I think dogs are generally more relaxed than humans. I have a big dog and he would play with all sorts of dogs big and small. He would also, bless his heart, protect the smaller dogs if they were being attacked by a bigger dog. When he was younger my dog loved playing with puppies - he'd let them charge him and would sort of knock them over gently with his muzzle and then eventually he would (I kid you not) fall over and roll on his back and let them pile on and "win" the fight.
So he didn't have any problem with little guys, but there was this one little terrier on our morning walk that was very loud and aggressive. Normally my dog takes the attitude that these kind of yappy dogs are just insane and should be avoided. The terrier bit my dog a couple of different days - the second time on the end of the nose; his owner never had him on a leash or attempted to control him and seemed to think this was funny. This was stupid of both the owner and the dog - mine could have almost swallowed this thing in two bites - he could certainly have killed him with one bite. The third time the terrier tried it my dog just put his jaws around him and pushed him onto the ground and gave a gentle squeeze. The guy didn't think it was so funny anymore but his dog stopped being aggressive - guess he was smarter than his owner.
If you're going to start comparing the behavior of dogs to that of people you're going to get very disappointed in people. If the average person behaved half as well as the average dog it would be a big improvement. Now, time to go out for a nice game of "I've got the stiiiick, you have to chase me... hahahahah":)
That last sentence, was just not something I would like to hear at a funeral.
I can understand why you feel you would not want to hear that. The lady (and she was) certainly knew my sister wouldn't be able to handle it but somehow figured out that I would enjoy hearing it. Perhaps it was that I had flown in from several thousand miles away and she knew we would almost certainly never meet again. Perhaps it was because she was in shock - too long a story to explain why but she only found out about his death and funeral the day before the service - and grieving and it helped her cope with that grief to be able to share it.
I think she knew it would help me. My father had grown up in the Great Depression (and anybody who thinks the current situation is anywhere near as bad as that is deluded). His father died before he was 10. He fought on the ground in WWII and saw things he would never discuss with me or anyone else. In action his back was injured and he suffered chronic pain and reduced mobility for the next 30 years. His fighter pilot brother crashed and burned somewhere over Europe during WWII. As a result his mother killed herself. He was in a loveless and painful marriage to my mother and stayed in it until my sister and I were both out of the home. He supported his family by working in a job he literally came to hate long before he could leave it when my sister and I were gone. Mom had worked once my sister and I were in school, and was fully capable of supporting herself, but when he left her he gave up everything - house, furniture, car etc. - and paid Mom support in order to make sure Mom didn't go without - all without a court or lawyer forcing him. Medicine had advanced and he got his back fixed and at age 55 started over with nothing.
A lot of what that means you don't get until you are older and can really start to understand. One of my favorite sayings goes something like "When I was a teenager I was always embarrassed at how completely ignorant and stupid my father was. In my late twenties I was shocked to see how much smarter he had become." Despite all that he lived through Dad was a gentle and scrupulously honest man who thought about right and wrong and tried to live his life by that. Hundreds of people came to his funeral including people he had worked with and mentored 30 years before.
I was really glad to see my Dad able to find some happiness and joy in the latter part of his life. If anyone deserved it he sure did and I had been telling his girlfriend this because she had been worried how the family might react to finding out about her. I think part of why she told me what she did was to let me know what he had found with her. And what's the big deal? They'd had sex. They were naked. He got on his hands and knees to pick something up and spur of the moment she playfully got on his back. They played and they had fun... hearing about that made me happy.
I understand your desire not to hear that and it is certainly your right and nothing wrong with that at all. So none of this is aimed at you but some of the other reactions involving knives and "brain bleach" betray a serious problem - with age, with sex, with parents... I don't know which - maybe all. But the people saying stuff like that really ought to examine why they have such reactions. It's said nobody likes to think of their parents or teachers as having sex. Why? They are, after all, completely human. Even if they are gaspold.
Many people here think nothing of saying things like "put it in retard mode for the senior citizens" and other similar comments. The bigotry aimed at age is no more acceptable than if it was aimed at race. If anything it is worse because those old people have lived and experienced far more than the bigots and they deserve respect. They used to get it in our society and it's ugly that that has, for some reason, changed.
Running around doing crazy shit is a young person's thing; a story where the cast is middle-aged should have the plot that involves the drama that a middle aged person gets involved in -- kids, grandkids, getting old, missed opportunities, rectifying relationships, taking on responsibilities, coming to terms with your life, etc.
Wow you need to know some different old people. In his 60's my Dad was travelling the world. Malaysia, Australia, The Alps, India... at his funeral (in his 70's) my sister and I found out he had three girlfriends at the time he died (no, that wasn't the cause:). At one point one of them took me aside and told me how while taking a break during sex she had ridden him naked around the living room and patio...
I think a big part of the problem was that the show was supposed to be about Sarah Connor. It worked for T1 and so-so for T2. It's an ok idea right up to the point where John Connor is old enough to start thinking and deciding for himself - which he had obviously started to do by this series. So by definition Sarah Connor can no longer be the main character in a show that in some way, shape or form pretty much has to be about the guy who saves the world from killer robots.
As for Fox and Summer Glau... well Sarah Connor is left behind to die from cancer and from the "I'm sorry John" messages on the screen it seems Cameron's software has been downloaded into the AI hardware at the company so John Henry can use the chip for himself... surely Cameron can figure out a way to run the company while growing a new body from cells harvested from the discarded Cameron bot's outer covering and then download herself into a fully biological terminator who uses her new body to fight Skynet et al in the past.... Terminator: The Summer Glau Chronicles.
I develop Java desktop applications as well and judging by the content of the local JUG mailing list that makes us both members of a tiny minority. Some of your complaints have been addressed by some vendors for some platforms, OTTOMH for many years Borland's IDE has been able to generate a windows clickable.exe out of a Java app. Most of your complaints should have solutions that some vendor, or motivated group, could implement relatively easily. The exception is the graphics. I agree the UI designers that I have used are a PITA and the results not so good as far as blending in with native apps.
I guess the question is, how does it stack up against other desktop languages? I haven't done any C++ for quite a while now - what's the state there? Is there a single Windows/Mac/Linux development system that generates executables with a homogeneous installation and use experience on all platforms along with good native look and feel on each of those platforms? And a good, easy to use, reliable and predictable UI designer as part of the IDE? If so then there's no reason it couldn't have been done for Java, and if not there's still no reason why it can't be done for Java, putting it far ahead of the rest. And either way you're right, Sun could have done better by Java.
So, is it too late for Java on the desktop to succeed?
That's interesting because in the province where I live there was an organized "anti-bullying" day for, iirc, high-school students. But the official way of stating you were anti-bullying was to wear a pink t-shirt. Made me wonder why the females organizing the event would do something that would clearly have an exclusionary effect on males.
I sense a lot of bafflegab. I don't think you know what Quantum mechanics is. For one thing QM says things are not purely deterministic which is the opposite of what you claim.
You seem to be arguing that things are deterministic. The response to that is "Quantum Mechanics."
And "If omnipotency exists thus the power to control time also exists" only makes sense if there is such a thing as time, rather than, say, time being an illusion.
Eh, you know I feel like I've already got enough stuff to carry around without adding one more little trinket. What I want is for my phone to act as my flash drive. Connect to my laptop (or whatever) with WiFi, Bluetooth, IR... whatever works. Smartphone with 16-32GB would be fine, running linux would be nice.... hmmm, Android phone with a big flash drive would do it for me.
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The difference is that there are times that there are things I enjoy and should be concentrating on. Worst case scenario is sex. (And this should trigger some +5 Funny's at my expense) But there are some times where my mind is jumping to what is that noise downstairs, did I switch over the laundry, what am I having for dinner, etc. And trust me, it's not fun.
Not being able to concentrate on things you are interested in is an important symptom and something most non-afflicted people just don't understand. The sex thing (and good for you to mention it) can bring incredible suffering for people. I've known both men and women who simply cannot achieve orgasm if anything happens to distract them, including some random thought, during the act. Once it happens they have to "start over from the beginning"... and then have that happen over and over again. It ruins a fundamental part of life, it ruins relationships - it's truly tragic.
I don't think it is just the late teens and early twenties. Someone with ADHD is going to continually and for the rest of their life be making different depending on what, if any, medication regime, including self-medication, they practice. Some people think children are being drugged willy-nilly just for being rambunctious and I tend to agree. That doesn't mean ADHD isn't real and it doesn't mean that people with ADHD don't benefit from medication - far better prescribed and monitored stimulants than continuous caffeine intake coupled with a pack-a-day smoking habits both of which are common self-medicating responses to untreated ADHD. And non-stimulant treatments are now appearing.
I thought real programmers used interns or work-study slaves...
Uh... Didn't I write that I would not like to have heard that line in a funeral about my dad? It was nothing about you, just about my own personal feeling uncomfortable if that ever happened to me.
Ummm yes you did and I acknowledged that in my very first line and then again at the beginning of the 2nd last paragraph where I stated that my comments weren't directed at you... so I'm not sure what the problem is, if there is one...
In any case thank you for the kind words in the rest of your message - I appreciate them along with all the kind words of those who have responded in a positive way.
Thanks for the pointer, that was interesting. Although I think comparing toy dogs to fetal wolves is insulting to fetal wolves.
Thanks, I knew domesticated animals have thinner skulls than their wild counterparts, as do humans compared to our ancestors, but it's interesting that the shape is different as well. As to not being wary of humans I'd have to dispute that. I spent some time in a small town in the Yukon that had a lot of people camping there in the summer while they worked in nearby mines. A lot of them got pups when they arrived in the spring and then just left them behind (if any was offered "set them free" was the usual rationalization) at the end of the fall. Then the townspeople had to go out and shoot the dogs because if they didn't then not only were they wary of humans but they formed packs and hunted the humans.
Makes you wonder what adulthood means for humans though.
Thank you very much - I appreciate that!
You're very welcome - I'm glad you could see it that way :)
The problem isn't finding cats that could lead blind people - it's finding cats that wouldn't deliberately lead them into traffic.
That's one of the nicer things about dogs - they don't generally play with their food before killing it.
What exactly do you mean by "permanent puppyhood - domestic dogs don't become adults, we've bred that out of them somehow"?
how their dogs could "have" our wolves easily
Then they are idiots; pound for pound no dog can take a wolf. It's interesting to see how weak domestication makes animals. Dogs are physically weaker with more fragile skeletal structure than wolves, but humans have been domesticated longer than dogs and are relatively much weaker than dogs - not less dangerous but certainly weaker and more fragile.
I think dogs are generally more relaxed than humans. I have a big dog and he would play with all sorts of dogs big and small. He would also, bless his heart, protect the smaller dogs if they were being attacked by a bigger dog. When he was younger my dog loved playing with puppies - he'd let them charge him and would sort of knock them over gently with his muzzle and then eventually he would (I kid you not) fall over and roll on his back and let them pile on and "win" the fight.
So he didn't have any problem with little guys, but there was this one little terrier on our morning walk that was very loud and aggressive. Normally my dog takes the attitude that these kind of yappy dogs are just insane and should be avoided. The terrier bit my dog a couple of different days - the second time on the end of the nose; his owner never had him on a leash or attempted to control him and seemed to think this was funny. This was stupid of both the owner and the dog - mine could have almost swallowed this thing in two bites - he could certainly have killed him with one bite. The third time the terrier tried it my dog just put his jaws around him and pushed him onto the ground and gave a gentle squeeze. The guy didn't think it was so funny anymore but his dog stopped being aggressive - guess he was smarter than his owner.
If you're going to start comparing the behavior of dogs to that of people you're going to get very disappointed in people. If the average person behaved half as well as the average dog it would be a big improvement. Now, time to go out for a nice game of "I've got the stiiiick, you have to chase me... hahahahah" :)
That last sentence, was just not something I would like to hear at a funeral.
I can understand why you feel you would not want to hear that. The lady (and she was) certainly knew my sister wouldn't be able to handle it but somehow figured out that I would enjoy hearing it. Perhaps it was that I had flown in from several thousand miles away and she knew we would almost certainly never meet again. Perhaps it was because she was in shock - too long a story to explain why but she only found out about his death and funeral the day before the service - and grieving and it helped her cope with that grief to be able to share it.
I think she knew it would help me. My father had grown up in the Great Depression (and anybody who thinks the current situation is anywhere near as bad as that is deluded). His father died before he was 10. He fought on the ground in WWII and saw things he would never discuss with me or anyone else. In action his back was injured and he suffered chronic pain and reduced mobility for the next 30 years. His fighter pilot brother crashed and burned somewhere over Europe during WWII. As a result his mother killed herself. He was in a loveless and painful marriage to my mother and stayed in it until my sister and I were both out of the home. He supported his family by working in a job he literally came to hate long before he could leave it when my sister and I were gone. Mom had worked once my sister and I were in school, and was fully capable of supporting herself, but when he left her he gave up everything - house, furniture, car etc. - and paid Mom support in order to make sure Mom didn't go without - all without a court or lawyer forcing him. Medicine had advanced and he got his back fixed and at age 55 started over with nothing.
A lot of what that means you don't get until you are older and can really start to understand. One of my favorite sayings goes something like "When I was a teenager I was always embarrassed at how completely ignorant and stupid my father was. In my late twenties I was shocked to see how much smarter he had become." Despite all that he lived through Dad was a gentle and scrupulously honest man who thought about right and wrong and tried to live his life by that. Hundreds of people came to his funeral including people he had worked with and mentored 30 years before.
I was really glad to see my Dad able to find some happiness and joy in the latter part of his life. If anyone deserved it he sure did and I had been telling his girlfriend this because she had been worried how the family might react to finding out about her. I think part of why she told me what she did was to let me know what he had found with her. And what's the big deal? They'd had sex. They were naked. He got on his hands and knees to pick something up and spur of the moment she playfully got on his back. They played and they had fun... hearing about that made me happy.
I understand your desire not to hear that and it is certainly your right and nothing wrong with that at all. So none of this is aimed at you but some of the other reactions involving knives and "brain bleach" betray a serious problem - with age, with sex, with parents... I don't know which - maybe all. But the people saying stuff like that really ought to examine why they have such reactions. It's said nobody likes to think of their parents or teachers as having sex. Why? They are, after all, completely human. Even if they are gasp old.
Many people here think nothing of saying things like "put it in retard mode for the senior citizens" and other similar comments. The bigotry aimed at age is no more acceptable than if it was aimed at race. If anything it is worse because those old people have lived and experienced far more than the bigots and they deserve respect. They used to get it in our society and it's ugly that that has, for some reason, changed.
Running around doing crazy shit is a young person's thing; a story where the cast is middle-aged should have the plot that involves the drama that a middle aged person gets involved in -- kids, grandkids, getting old, missed opportunities, rectifying relationships, taking on responsibilities, coming to terms with your life, etc.
Wow you need to know some different old people. In his 60's my Dad was travelling the world. Malaysia, Australia, The Alps, India... at his funeral (in his 70's) my sister and I found out he had three girlfriends at the time he died (no, that wasn't the cause :). At one point one of them took me aside and told me how while taking a break during sex she had ridden him naked around the living room and patio...
I think a big part of the problem was that the show was supposed to be about Sarah Connor. It worked for T1 and so-so for T2. It's an ok idea right up to the point where John Connor is old enough to start thinking and deciding for himself - which he had obviously started to do by this series. So by definition Sarah Connor can no longer be the main character in a show that in some way, shape or form pretty much has to be about the guy who saves the world from killer robots.
As for Fox and Summer Glau... well Sarah Connor is left behind to die from cancer and from the "I'm sorry John" messages on the screen it seems Cameron's software has been downloaded into the AI hardware at the company so John Henry can use the chip for himself... surely Cameron can figure out a way to run the company while growing a new body from cells harvested from the discarded Cameron bot's outer covering and then download herself into a fully biological terminator who uses her new body to fight Skynet et al in the past.... Terminator: The Summer Glau Chronicles.
I develop Java desktop applications as well and judging by the content of the local JUG mailing list that makes us both members of a tiny minority. Some of your complaints have been addressed by some vendors for some platforms, OTTOMH for many years Borland's IDE has been able to generate a windows clickable .exe out of a Java app. Most of your complaints should have solutions that some vendor, or motivated group, could implement relatively easily. The exception is the graphics. I agree the UI designers that I have used are a PITA and the results not so good as far as blending in with native apps.
I guess the question is, how does it stack up against other desktop languages? I haven't done any C++ for quite a while now - what's the state there? Is there a single Windows/Mac/Linux development system that generates executables with a homogeneous installation and use experience on all platforms along with good native look and feel on each of those platforms? And a good, easy to use, reliable and predictable UI designer as part of the IDE? If so then there's no reason it couldn't have been done for Java, and if not there's still no reason why it can't be done for Java, putting it far ahead of the rest. And either way you're right, Sun could have done better by Java.
So, is it too late for Java on the desktop to succeed?
So... you're saying a 2-4 of beer is bad for you?
yeah... because someone who managed to survive 96 years couldn't possibly figure out something that a 20-year-old can.
That's interesting because in the province where I live there was an organized "anti-bullying" day for, iirc, high-school students. But the official way of stating you were anti-bullying was to wear a pink t-shirt. Made me wonder why the females organizing the event would do something that would clearly have an exclusionary effect on males.
Analytical solutions? Bah! We knew the solution was 42. Unless it was a Wednesday, then it was 12.
The very sad thing is that he was modded insightful 3.
I sense a lot of bafflegab. I don't think you know what Quantum mechanics is. For one thing QM says things are not purely deterministic which is the opposite of what you claim.
You seem to be arguing that things are deterministic. The response to that is "Quantum Mechanics."
And "If omnipotency exists thus the power to control time also exists" only makes sense if there is such a thing as time, rather than, say, time being an illusion.
Eh, you know I feel like I've already got enough stuff to carry around without adding one more little trinket. What I want is for my phone to act as my flash drive. Connect to my laptop (or whatever) with WiFi, Bluetooth, IR... whatever works. Smartphone with 16-32GB would be fine, running linux would be nice.... hmmm, Android phone with a big flash drive would do it for me.
How callous can you be! Won't someone please think of the mistresses!