I was in Belgrade, Serbia (long forsaken motherland) this summer and was quite impressed (but only briefly) that there was a downtown district called the Silicone Valley! The locals even proudly pronounced it in English: 'Da Silikon Voli!'. I thought GREAT, finally there are some BIG signs of upward turns in economy that has been ravaged in the last 15 war torn years. But Serbs being Serbs...
Yes, there were some HUGHE silicone installations in the district, but it had absolutely nothing to do with tech, although the hourly fees were very comparable to the ones charged by the best of north american silicone researchers.
I'm surprised this isn't in Belgrade's tourist brochures as it should be. Secondly, I propose some kind of a talent exchange between the two valleys: It would be a win-win. Are you a libertarian tech wiz who hates the invasive governments? Come to Serbia where a gun is stomped into your passport as you enter, and where free market is so free you can LITERALLY exterminate your competition without any nanny state nags.
When I first tried quitting smoking at age of 9 back in mid eighties, my mother took me to a doctor, and he says 'son, you need a better hobby than smoking sticks'. Since I'm not good at nothing, mom goes and buys me an atari, so I'm running around as this gobble gobble yellow thing in dark corridors munching pills and listening to this weird electronic music, and by age 18 I'm attending every rave party in town while always being popped up on E.
Second time I try quitting smoking I'm 19 and it's early nineties my mom buys me ninendo (since I'm still not good at nothing). I play it night and day stomping them fuzzy things and throwing fireballs at turtles in Mario. Soon after that I'm running around the neighborhood stomping on lawn ornaments and setting local cats on fire.
Fast forward to today, I'm all grown up, have the whole basement to myself, and haven't had a smoke in forever. I play a lot of Grand theft Auto and WoW. The former gives me incredible urge to go out and destroy stuff or just plain hurt people but since I'm morbidly obese, it's been quite a challenge.
Some things just work themselves out.
I predict next decade will bring us games which will not even let us tell the difference if we are playing a game or not. Just like I hope what this life really is. I'm hoping to wake up and PROCLAIM "iSIMS - 90's obesity epidemic expansion pack" IS THE WORST GAME. EVER.
I just bought a russian made transmitter (runs of rancid potatoes) in order to broadcast my own free channel about cats. C E T network. I'm having difficulties with selecting a stable frequency (russian letters are funny), so anything goes... (usually everybody's cell phone reception within a mile of the transmitter). The FCC doesn't like me having freedoms, and have been hot on my tail, so I installed the device on top of a garbage truck that does the neighborhood rounds daily.
I just wish the government would stay away from my private business. All they want is to protect monopoly of OLD moneys. Back in early '90s I set up my own beeper service, but got violently shut down. Apparently I was 'interfering' with aeroplanes and police business communications. Assholes. I think it's about high time to have airwave anarchy. Let the strongest signal win! Bring it on PBS! You may win elsewhere, but on my block it's gonna be all cats, all the time!
"so-called "70/70" rule -- 70% of US households passed by cable and 70% of those with access to cable service subscribing to it."
so only 30% of US household were NOT passed by cable, and have access to it. And of those 30% who can access cable, only 70% chose to subscribe to it. In conclusion:
70% of households can't have cable
21% of households pay for cable
10**% of households STEAL cable
(**=3% statistical margin of error)
Go tell mom! You heard it first on slashdot. The whole industry has been a miserable failure. The size of tubes required to carry high definition content is so large, the raw materials required for such tubes would strip 4 feet of entire Alaskan top soil. This is why I can only get television through my phone line. I only get one channel. In mono. With no moving pictures.
That was the worst definition of so-called anything. Even by slashdot standards.
Thanks for the reading recommendation! I'll definitively try to find a copy. The topic, the way you described it, is very intriguing...
I otherwise agree with everything you have said, but only as far as it relates to capitalism as a social model (individual rights and so on...) When we talk about capitalism as an economic model, you can not go too deep into the discussion before discussing the concept of competition.
In social model, yes we may be competing for jobs, real estate , and other tangible goods, but it is in our outermost interest to coexist together. It is a social network after all. In economic model, there is a predatory instinct to reject coexistence. With limited resources (as you have well stated) harmony with stagnant capital gains is suicide. The only way up is to eliminate competition.
AOL stock first started losing value at the news that they were not growing fast enough. They subscribed to a model that required them to reach 100% market share, or fail. Beyond 100% is stuff of classic monopoly tales... As a laissez faire fan yourself, you'd be OK with that. To me free market concept is truly an illusion, but let us talk about that one in another tread:)
Back to the original topic at hand: stealing AP as a criminal offense. I can't see ISPs not loving this idea. I can however see them being active at supporting it. Your libertarian leanings should be against such a thing, as it clearly serves more as an economic regulation than any privacy protection law.
I wish people shared in the name of capitalism. The first kind, not the other one...
thanks for the mod! Even if you want it back now:( Perhaps there is no need to go into political idealisms in this tread, but since I went there first...
To take your idea that root of capitalism is right to ownership and free commerce, we must also assume the establishment of various laws protecting such rights. These laws become fairly complex in a mature society. My right to sell knockoff iPhones is taken away from me, for example. My ability to purchase internet service and then further distribute it for free currently falls into a gray area. I certainly can't do that with cable TV...
Right to "sell stuff" is a lovely right to have, unless your definition of 'sell' and 'stuff' differs from mine. In my original example, I think ISPs would disagree that they sold me any 'stuff' to begin with (it's a service), so I clearly can't re-sell it. If they had their way, me giving it away for free would also be considered theft: I would be depriving them of their full ownership of service.
I am not knocking capitalism. I am saying that sometimes free exchange (beer or freedom) flies directly in conflict with spirit of capitalism. Try defining the term 'ownership' with the following perimeters in mind: value=0, worth=0, price=0.
Users are confused (and dumb), so give'm dumb terminals, if that. Speaking as an employee of an 8 person (non IT) consulting company, it is a great freedom to be able to do remote work from anywhere. PC anywhere can be a bit of a pain, but complete off-line work has been bulletproof so far.
Perhaps this whole topic is only meant to deal with large corporations. If that's the case I only have one observation: in companies I worked for that required dedicated IT support staff, employees acted like completely computer illiterate babies. In companies small enough that couldn't afford support, everyone was encouraged to input suggestions to any given technological problem. Perhaps you should consider your professional existence as an excuse to end user idiocy. The way you speak of your clients is indicative. I can't blame you.
To make this post somewhat less useless, please consider the following: some of your 'clients' are extremely intelligent people. They may not know basic html commands, but that is inconsequential. If you explain to them the benefits, issues, and dangers of their newly issued toy, the whole matter may become a non issue.
Linksys can be set up is such a way that it is fully protected from abuse, yet accessible to any end user. Perhaps being a Mac and an occasional Linux admin, I feel snug about security... God knows linksys routers are nearly impossible to configure from anything non Windows, I'd be truly impressed if anyone could get into my network , since I can barely communicate with the router myself.
Your point is valid though. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any technological breakthroughs that will allow your scenario to occur. It would be counter-profitable.
hah! Great post. I was going to moderate this discussion (unfortunately the topic seems to be flying over most of poster's heads, including mine, and we are left with 90% attempts at humor), so I feel inclined to replying to your post instead.
I am not religious, or spiritual, or even an existentialist. I like poetry though! I find limitations to life expectancy to be the ultimate poetic fuck you by the otherwise perfectly logical universe. ALL OF IT will makes perfect sense if you study and think about it for long enough. Except it's a timed game! Oh, you are one of the only 6 people alive who truly understands what E+mc2 means. Well, you just died. Fuck you!
Imagine if Newton, Tesla, or Einstein were still alive... we'd have toilet stall partitions going all the way down to the ground (since everything else would have been solved by now). Instead your participation in any current technology involves being a 7 lb blob that needs to be potty trained before you can even start learning the known scientific understandings of yesteryear. Good luck with the next frontier.
Life. You motherfucker. You cruel sneak preview to a movie I'll never be allowed to see
Off to moderating in another topic. Life is short, after all.
I can see over 50 wireless networks from my Brooklyn apartment (very high density population here). Almost all of the networks are protected. My own router would crap out every once in a while, and my only point of access was this network called 'Salvation'. Salvation indeed! Whoever ran this, I assume, did it as public service. I took the idea and ran with it. My open network was called 'freebeer!!!', and I kept the router next to the window. I'd have about 5 people logged in at any given point. Never felt a performance hit on my end.
The netgear router eventually died, and my linksys replacement is also run unprotected, except it's named after my band's name. Only rarely do I see people logged on to the network. They know the music sucks without even listening to it!
That being said, as someone who willingly shares his network connection, I have no issues logging onto any available wi-fi point I can find: regardless if it's open intentionally or not. My only complaint is that most people choose to have their networks closed off. I guess to most users it is only an issue of security. Spirit of sharing? blah. Even though you are paying for something that you only ever use sporadically, sharing is a no-no. IPs must be very happy about how human nature interprets this particular topic.
Imagine is EVERYONE shared? ha! We'd have a full blown democracy! Or communism, if you are a pure capitalist.
Here is a list of world's casinos according to Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_casinos I am sure the list is incomplete, but it does show US domination in gambling over other western nations. I am not going to go into the nature of what makes gambling so fascinating to human psyche. It is, however, scary to see how quickly the industry has grown in this country. I did some technical consulting on a casino project last year, and there are two humongous casinos I'm currently working on. They are being built everywhere. Just 20 years ago, most states that currently have casinos had laws against them. Where are these new gamblers coming from? Have we always been this way, but found different ways to meet our need to gamble, or is this a generational thing? The entitlement age... Money for nothing... you just gotta have a little luck...
I used to hate gambling, but the feeling went away with age. I still don't gamble on anything, but I respect your right to do so. You should also respect my opinion on your ability to make rational decisions.
ps. the biggest casino in US is still found on Wall Street. Guarded by men with machine guns.
In MIT case, the dead giveaway is mold. This happens when dew point occurs on the wrong side of the air/vapor barrier within the given building envelope. Which side is the wrong side depends on climate. I have a feeling that Gehry might have recycled wall cavity details from his west coast projects. Seems like a dumb oversight, but possible. As far as water leakage, all buildings will leak eventually. There are limited warranties for waterproofing materials (5-25 years typ.). Manufacturers of such products are also supposed to approve architect's details...
I would hardly only blame the Architect if his flawed designs are being allowed to be mindlessly copied without a rigorous technical analysis by other members of the building profession.
I may be a dick, but a dick who knows too much about Wright and Mies. I don't like Mies' philosophy, and I don't care for Wright's intentional fuck ups with scale (he was a very short man). Your post contains many correct observations about Wright's shortcomings (ha!) as a eccentric designer. Pointing this out would be same as negating all of Tesla's achievements because he spent the later years of his life working on death ray guns.
Both Mies and Wright have left (for better or worse) an architectural legacy unparalleled by any other 20th century master (maybe LeCorbusier). The grandparent post called both of them incompetent. I called the grandparent a dick. Maybe I should have used a different word then.
Great reply. I agree with everything you say. A few notes on your comments:
-There is nothing preventing the client from writing his own front end of design manual. AIA documents are just there as a recommendation (with the protection of Architect in mind). I worked on plenty of projects where owners have their own customized "Conditions of the Contract".
-Poorly documented buildings can be a cause for errors, delays, and cost overruns. I too have seen horrific details that made it into CD stage. This should never happen, yet it does.(see end of my post for why)
-Most of building components are modular in nature. Custom elements are getting more rare. If a designer in your project takes a standard item and modifies it to a point of being outside of scope of original manufacturer, you should classify it as a custom fabrication, and deal with it accordingly.
-Architects hate writing specs. In the example you use, I agree with you 100%. Luckily you read the spec and had intelligent follow up questions. Your further investigation into the matter has revealed that architects (small a) are also just ordinary people who need to take daily shits to survive (and make mistakes).
I will disagree with your very last sentence. I don't think there are any monuments being built for either architect's egos or Owner's businesses. Forget the Gehrys of this world for a minute, and we are left with fairly mediocre structures which speak of nothing but our ability to logically compile pre-assembled elements into barely cohesive monuments to absolutely nothing. Architecture hasn't had a cohesive ideology in many decades now. Since introduction of AutoCAD. Coincidence?
My old boss used to say: Fast, Accurate, Cheap. You can only have 2 of the 3, that's it. Perhaps majority of the issues you've had with Architectural profession stems from projects that try to achieve all 3 of those.
Wright and Mies were PIONEER modernists. There was a lot of trial and error back in their day. For instance, in today's construction marketplace, we have dozens of different roofing systems that deal with flat roofs: Hot-applied fluid systems, Thermoplastics, Rolled fiberglass reinforced with welded seams, vegetation layers, etc.... When those guys were starting out, they kind of had to invent the whole thing. The industry has perfected the approach since.
In Gehry's case, the verdict is still out. It may come down to a few really iffy details (the point where 8 different things come together is the Achilles heel of any building design), or it could come down to bad workmanship. The architect could be held liable for the both, depending on scope of responsibility. In cases where there is a Superstar Architect involved, there is typically a local architect hired to do the construction drawings. That may also be the weakest link...
btw. The Fountainhead is universally hated by every single Architect that I know. A fun fluff read nonetheless.
Bingo! GC- general contractor. From my experience, in these kinds of lawsuit cases the plaintiff names everyone involved, down to the smallest of consultants. Let God err.. courts sort it all out. Having personally seen Gehry's office construction details for other projects, I'd definitively say that there is plenty of thought placed at avoiding the issues that are currently plaguing the project. The field execution of said details may be another issue, but there are plenty of safety measures (mock-ups, water pressure tests, etc) to ensure the quality of built components. It will ultimately come down to the front end (Conditions of The Contract) of the design manual to figure out who is in charge of quality control. In this particular case, Gehry's design is not that much unlike other projects he's previously constructed. If it was a fundamental flaw in design, then his other projects should exhibit similar problems.
On a related subject, I am an Architect who currently works as a technical design consultant, and I am very disappointed at what I've read in this tread so far. "It's schools fault for wanting a design design"? "KISS"??? "There is a reason why buildings need to look boring"? Truly depressing... Some of my old school pals are slaving away in 'starchitect' offices, rarely getting a weekend off; trying to innovate; to improve on the built environment around us. I sometimes ask them do they know who they are doing this for? Have they ever seen their ultimate end user? Even your end user who may know how write perfect computer code written on just a roll of toilet paper is probably likely to dismiss years of your work in a heartbeat.
Most people just don't care. I am amazed that buildings such as Gehry's ever get built. It's especially demoralizing here in North America... It's burger and fries baby for life...
Mod parent way down... for stating the painfully obvious. Take your logic elsewhere sir. Your version of truth has no protagonists in it, for fuck's sake. All corporations prescribing to most profitable business models? Depressing...
The only thing I can add to your simple, yet accurate analysis is that big Pharma has managed to achieve something that has alluded the computer world. Subscription models... Death on the installment plan... Microsoft tried to move towards the 'subscriber for life' business model and failed miserably to the chorus of boos by pitchfork wielding fanatics. Google may be more successful, since they are only asking for indirect money in exchange for a lifetime loyalty. Heck, even in the open source world subscription-based-support seems to be the only realistic way of making a living out of it.
We want one definite solution to cancer, but we are not so vocal about asking for one final definite version of Photoshop, the one that has been perfected for what it's supposed to do. No more new versions. You guys nailed it! Now go try to make money at something else.
If we can even entertain the possibility that the computer industry is ultimately looking for a final solution to all of our computing needs, only then can we blame big Pharma for not trying to do the same. Yes, the two industries have much differing repercussions in their actions, but ultimately it comes down to establishing a sustainable business model.
On Apple's spec page for mac-mini, the operational limit is listed at 10,000 ft. What the hell? The thing is made out of laptop parts. If I modded a mini into some kind of a Russian looking laptop (an LCD screen glued on top of it, and a whole thing bolted to a car battery) would this thing explode as soon as we reached the cruising altitude (provided they'd let me on a plane in the first place)?
If laptops are rated at least 15,000 ft, what happened to the other 5,oooft? Does this mean I can go deep diving, or at least snorkeling with a mini?
The answer to THAT will determine if I snap one up or save a couple of months for an iMac.
No matter how hard I try to read your words in healthy mindset, I can't help but think of you as a really fat guy trying to eliminate the very last need for any kind of movement for hours at a time.
A bluetooth trackball with a scroll wheel???? I guess the reason why trackball manufacturers don't bother with doing the most obvious interface design change is because users (such as yourself) aren't asking for it.
I recently switched back from a Logitech Marble Trackball to a Mighty Mouse. I love trackballs, but the deal breaker was the tiny nipple on the later that allows you to scroll through documents in 360-degrees (and I do scroll around a lot).
My ideal trackball would have 3 buttons. The third one would (when held down) turn the ball into a multi-directional scroll wheel. Why isn't this available on any trackball device? Is it too obvious? Trackballs with scroll wheels are the most redundant things since A:/ abort/fail/retry mindfuck.
Bluetooth feature would be a distant second place finisher in what I'd like to see.
Hey, I posted this through Pine program that's run through dosbox running on XP installed in Virtual PC, run through rosetta, on x86 version of os X, that somehow got successfully installed on a Dell built in 1998, you insensitive clod.
Still more reliable than FF.
It pains me to say, but on a PCC mac, FF is a bloated piece of shit. It feels like playing Mario 3, running in a nintendo emulator that's run through dosbox running on XP installed in Virtual PC, run through rosetta, on x86 version of os X, that got successfully installed on a Dell from 1998.
I tried Safari, FF, Camino and Shiira for my old G4 mac (1.5GHz, 1.75 GB ram). All I want is a reasonably fast rendering engine, and ability to block images as I choose. There are no winners in this sorry bunch. I end up using safari as it renders the fastest, but generally I try not to use this machine for web use. The machine still performs admirably as part of a recording studio setup. Photoshop runs at the same speed as it does through rosetta on a core 2 duo mac. Yet surfing it will not do.
It makes sense for Apple Entertainment to start treating PPC macs like diseased old dogs at some point. It's a shame that open source community is doing the same.
Slashdot Mirror
I was in Belgrade, Serbia (long forsaken motherland) this summer and was quite impressed (but only briefly) that there was a downtown district called the Silicone Valley! The locals even proudly pronounced it in English: 'Da Silikon Voli!'. I thought GREAT, finally there are some BIG signs of upward turns in economy that has been ravaged in the last 15 war torn years. But Serbs being Serbs...
Yes, there were some HUGHE silicone installations in the district, but it had absolutely nothing to do with tech, although the hourly fees were very comparable to the ones charged by the best of north american silicone researchers.
I'm surprised this isn't in Belgrade's tourist brochures as it should be. Secondly, I propose some kind of a talent exchange between the two valleys: It would be a win-win. Are you a libertarian tech wiz who hates the invasive governments? Come to Serbia where a gun is stomped into your passport as you enter, and where free market is so free you can LITERALLY exterminate your competition without any nanny state nags.
the 80s and 90s were different man!
When I first tried quitting smoking at age of 9 back in mid eighties, my mother took me to a doctor, and he says 'son, you need a better hobby than smoking sticks'. Since I'm not good at nothing, mom goes and buys me an atari, so I'm running around as this gobble gobble yellow thing in dark corridors munching pills and listening to this weird electronic music, and by age 18 I'm attending every rave party in town while always being popped up on E.
Second time I try quitting smoking I'm 19 and it's early nineties my mom buys me ninendo (since I'm still not good at nothing). I play it night and day stomping them fuzzy things and throwing fireballs at turtles in Mario. Soon after that I'm running around the neighborhood stomping on lawn ornaments and setting local cats on fire.
Fast forward to today, I'm all grown up, have the whole basement to myself, and haven't had a smoke in forever. I play a lot of Grand theft Auto and WoW. The former gives me incredible urge to go out and destroy stuff or just plain hurt people but since I'm morbidly obese, it's been quite a challenge.
Some things just work themselves out.
I predict next decade will bring us games which will not even let us tell the difference if we are playing a game or not. Just like I hope what this life really is. I'm hoping to wake up and PROCLAIM "iSIMS - 90's obesity epidemic expansion pack" IS THE WORST GAME. EVER.
YA!!! Fuck the FCC!!
I just bought a russian made transmitter (runs of rancid potatoes) in order to broadcast my own free channel about cats. C E T network. I'm having difficulties with selecting a stable frequency (russian letters are funny), so anything goes... (usually everybody's cell phone reception within a mile of the transmitter). The FCC doesn't like me having freedoms, and have been hot on my tail, so I installed the device on top of a garbage truck that does the neighborhood rounds daily.
I just wish the government would stay away from my private business. All they want is to protect monopoly of OLD moneys. Back in early '90s I set up my own beeper service, but got violently shut down. Apparently I was 'interfering' with aeroplanes and police business communications. Assholes. I think it's about high time to have airwave anarchy. Let the strongest signal win! Bring it on PBS! You may win elsewhere, but on my block it's gonna be all cats, all the time!
"so-called "70/70" rule -- 70% of US households passed by cable and 70% of those with access to cable service subscribing to it."
so only 30% of US household were NOT passed by cable, and have access to it. And of those 30% who can access cable, only 70% chose to subscribe to it. In conclusion:
70% of households can't have cable
21% of households pay for cable
10**% of households STEAL cable
(**=3% statistical margin of error)
Go tell mom! You heard it first on slashdot. The whole industry has been a miserable failure. The size of tubes required to carry high definition content is so large, the raw materials required for such tubes would strip 4 feet of entire Alaskan top soil. This is why I can only get television through my phone line. I only get one channel. In mono. With no moving pictures.
That was the worst definition of so-called anything. Even by slashdot standards.
Thanks for the reading recommendation! I'll definitively try to find a copy. The topic, the way you described it, is very intriguing...
:)
I otherwise agree with everything you have said, but only as far as it relates to capitalism as a social model (individual rights and so on...) When we talk about capitalism as an economic model, you can not go too deep into the discussion before discussing the concept of competition.
In social model, yes we may be competing for jobs, real estate , and other tangible goods, but it is in our outermost interest to coexist together. It is a social network after all. In economic model, there is a predatory instinct to reject coexistence. With limited resources (as you have well stated) harmony with stagnant capital gains is suicide. The only way up is to eliminate competition.
AOL stock first started losing value at the news that they were not growing fast enough. They subscribed to a model that required them to reach 100% market share, or fail. Beyond 100% is stuff of classic monopoly tales... As a laissez faire fan yourself, you'd be OK with that. To me free market concept is truly an illusion, but let us talk about that one in another tread
Back to the original topic at hand: stealing AP as a criminal offense. I can't see ISPs not loving this idea. I can however see them being active at supporting it. Your libertarian leanings should be against such a thing, as it clearly serves more as an economic regulation than any privacy protection law.
I wish people shared in the name of capitalism. The first kind, not the other one...
thanks for the mod! Even if you want it back now :( Perhaps there is no need to go into political idealisms in this tread, but since I went there first...
To take your idea that root of capitalism is right to ownership and free commerce, we must also assume the establishment of various laws protecting such rights. These laws become fairly complex in a mature society. My right to sell knockoff iPhones is taken away from me, for example. My ability to purchase internet service and then further distribute it for free currently falls into a gray area. I certainly can't do that with cable TV...
Right to "sell stuff" is a lovely right to have, unless your definition of 'sell' and 'stuff' differs from mine. In my original example, I think ISPs would disagree that they sold me any 'stuff' to begin with (it's a service), so I clearly can't re-sell it. If they had their way, me giving it away for free would also be considered theft: I would be depriving them of their full ownership of service.
I am not knocking capitalism. I am saying that sometimes free exchange (beer or freedom) flies directly in conflict with spirit of capitalism. Try defining the term 'ownership' with the following perimeters in mind: value=0, worth=0, price=0.
BOOOORING!!!
Users are confused (and dumb), so give'm dumb terminals, if that. Speaking as an employee of an 8 person (non IT) consulting company, it is a great freedom to be able to do remote work from anywhere. PC anywhere can be a bit of a pain, but complete off-line work has been bulletproof so far.
Perhaps this whole topic is only meant to deal with large corporations. If that's the case I only have one observation: in companies I worked for that required dedicated IT support staff, employees acted like completely computer illiterate babies. In companies small enough that couldn't afford support, everyone was encouraged to input suggestions to any given technological problem. Perhaps you should consider your professional existence as an excuse to end user idiocy. The way you speak of your clients is indicative. I can't blame you.
To make this post somewhat less useless, please consider the following: some of your 'clients' are extremely intelligent people. They may not know basic html commands, but that is inconsequential. If you explain to them the benefits, issues, and dangers of their newly issued toy, the whole matter may become a non issue.
Just like this story is.
Linksys can be set up is such a way that it is fully protected from abuse, yet accessible to any end user. Perhaps being a Mac and an occasional Linux admin, I feel snug about security... God knows linksys routers are nearly impossible to configure from anything non Windows, I'd be truly impressed if anyone could get into my network , since I can barely communicate with the router myself.
Your point is valid though. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any technological breakthroughs that will allow your scenario to occur. It would be counter-profitable.
A leap of faith has worked for me so far...
hah! Great post. I was going to moderate this discussion (unfortunately the topic seems to be flying over most of poster's heads, including mine, and we are left with 90% attempts at humor), so I feel inclined to replying to your post instead.
I am not religious, or spiritual, or even an existentialist. I like poetry though! I find limitations to life expectancy to be the ultimate poetic fuck you by the otherwise perfectly logical universe. ALL OF IT will makes perfect sense if you study and think about it for long enough. Except it's a timed game! Oh, you are one of the only 6 people alive who truly understands what E+mc2 means. Well, you just died. Fuck you!
Imagine if Newton, Tesla, or Einstein were still alive... we'd have toilet stall partitions going all the way down to the ground (since everything else would have been solved by now). Instead your participation in any current technology involves being a 7 lb blob that needs to be potty trained before you can even start learning the known scientific understandings of yesteryear. Good luck with the next frontier.
Life. You motherfucker. You cruel sneak preview to a movie I'll never be allowed to see
Off to moderating in another topic. Life is short, after all.
I can see over 50 wireless networks from my Brooklyn apartment (very high density population here). Almost all of the networks are protected. My own router would crap out every once in a while, and my only point of access was this network called 'Salvation'. Salvation indeed! Whoever ran this, I assume, did it as public service. I took the idea and ran with it. My open network was called 'freebeer!!!', and I kept the router next to the window. I'd have about 5 people logged in at any given point. Never felt a performance hit on my end.
The netgear router eventually died, and my linksys replacement is also run unprotected, except it's named after my band's name. Only rarely do I see people logged on to the network. They know the music sucks without even listening to it!
That being said, as someone who willingly shares his network connection, I have no issues logging onto any available wi-fi point I can find: regardless if it's open intentionally or not. My only complaint is that most people choose to have their networks closed off. I guess to most users it is only an issue of security. Spirit of sharing? blah. Even though you are paying for something that you only ever use sporadically, sharing is a no-no. IPs must be very happy about how human nature interprets this particular topic.
Imagine is EVERYONE shared? ha! We'd have a full blown democracy! Or communism, if you are a pure capitalist.
Here is a list of world's casinos according to Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_casinos I am sure the list is incomplete, but it does show US domination in gambling over other western nations. I am not going to go into the nature of what makes gambling so fascinating to human psyche. It is, however, scary to see how quickly the industry has grown in this country. I did some technical consulting on a casino project last year, and there are two humongous casinos I'm currently working on. They are being built everywhere. Just 20 years ago, most states that currently have casinos had laws against them. Where are these new gamblers coming from? Have we always been this way, but found different ways to meet our need to gamble, or is this a generational thing? The entitlement age... Money for nothing... you just gotta have a little luck...
I used to hate gambling, but the feeling went away with age. I still don't gamble on anything, but I respect your right to do so. You should also respect my opinion on your ability to make rational decisions.
ps. the biggest casino in US is still found on Wall Street. Guarded by men with machine guns.
In MIT case, the dead giveaway is mold. This happens when dew point occurs on the wrong side of the air/vapor barrier within the given building envelope. Which side is the wrong side depends on climate. I have a feeling that Gehry might have recycled wall cavity details from his west coast projects. Seems like a dumb oversight, but possible. As far as water leakage, all buildings will leak eventually. There are limited warranties for waterproofing materials (5-25 years typ.). Manufacturers of such products are also supposed to approve architect's details...
I would hardly only blame the Architect if his flawed designs are being allowed to be mindlessly copied without a rigorous technical analysis by other members of the building profession.
I may be a dick, but a dick who knows too much about Wright and Mies. I don't like Mies' philosophy, and I don't care for Wright's intentional fuck ups with scale (he was a very short man). Your post contains many correct observations about Wright's shortcomings (ha!) as a eccentric designer. Pointing this out would be same as negating all of Tesla's achievements because he spent the later years of his life working on death ray guns.
Both Mies and Wright have left (for better or worse) an architectural legacy unparalleled by any other 20th century master (maybe LeCorbusier). The grandparent post called both of them incompetent. I called the grandparent a dick. Maybe I should have used a different word then.
Great reply. I agree with everything you say. A few notes on your comments:
-There is nothing preventing the client from writing his own front end of design manual. AIA documents are just there as a recommendation (with the protection of Architect in mind). I worked on plenty of projects where owners have their own customized "Conditions of the Contract".
-Poorly documented buildings can be a cause for errors, delays, and cost overruns. I too have seen horrific details that made it into CD stage. This should never happen, yet it does.(see end of my post for why)
-Most of building components are modular in nature. Custom elements are getting more rare. If a designer in your project takes a standard item and modifies it to a point of being outside of scope of original manufacturer, you should classify it as a custom fabrication, and deal with it accordingly.
-Architects hate writing specs. In the example you use, I agree with you 100%. Luckily you read the spec and had intelligent follow up questions. Your further investigation into the matter has revealed that architects (small a) are also just ordinary people who need to take daily shits to survive (and make mistakes).
I will disagree with your very last sentence. I don't think there are any monuments being built for either architect's egos or Owner's businesses. Forget the Gehrys of this world for a minute, and we are left with fairly mediocre structures which speak of nothing but our ability to logically compile pre-assembled elements into barely cohesive monuments to absolutely nothing. Architecture hasn't had a cohesive ideology in many decades now. Since introduction of AutoCAD. Coincidence?
My old boss used to say: Fast, Accurate, Cheap. You can only have 2 of the 3, that's it. Perhaps majority of the issues you've had with Architectural profession stems from projects that try to achieve all 3 of those.
IAAArchitect, and I get confused too...
Wright and Mies were PIONEER modernists. There was a lot of trial and error back in their day. For instance, in today's construction marketplace, we have dozens of different roofing systems that deal with flat roofs: Hot-applied fluid systems, Thermoplastics, Rolled fiberglass reinforced with welded seams, vegetation layers, etc.... When those guys were starting out, they kind of had to invent the whole thing. The industry has perfected the approach since.
In Gehry's case, the verdict is still out. It may come down to a few really iffy details (the point where 8 different things come together is the Achilles heel of any building design), or it could come down to bad workmanship. The architect could be held liable for the both, depending on scope of responsibility. In cases where there is a Superstar Architect involved, there is typically a local architect hired to do the construction drawings. That may also be the weakest link...
btw. The Fountainhead is universally hated by every single Architect that I know. A fun fluff read nonetheless.
Thanks for such a lovely peanut gallery Mr. Taylor. F.L Wright and Mies were incompetent architects. Good to know.
What kind of cereal should I eat in the morning? Can you recommend something competent for my family? Dick.
Bingo! GC- general contractor. From my experience, in these kinds of lawsuit cases the plaintiff names everyone involved, down to the smallest of consultants. Let God err.. courts sort it all out. Having personally seen Gehry's office construction details for other projects, I'd definitively say that there is plenty of thought placed at avoiding the issues that are currently plaguing the project. The field execution of said details may be another issue, but there are plenty of safety measures (mock-ups, water pressure tests, etc) to ensure the quality of built components. It will ultimately come down to the front end (Conditions of The Contract) of the design manual to figure out who is in charge of quality control. In this particular case, Gehry's design is not that much unlike other projects he's previously constructed. If it was a fundamental flaw in design, then his other projects should exhibit similar problems.
On a related subject, I am an Architect who currently works as a technical design consultant, and I am very disappointed at what I've read in this tread so far. "It's schools fault for wanting a design design"? "KISS"??? "There is a reason why buildings need to look boring"?
Truly depressing... Some of my old school pals are slaving away in 'starchitect' offices, rarely getting a weekend off; trying to innovate; to improve on the built environment around us. I sometimes ask them do they know who they are doing this for? Have they ever seen their ultimate end user? Even your end user who may know how write perfect computer code written on just a roll of toilet paper is probably likely to dismiss years of your work in a heartbeat.
Most people just don't care. I am amazed that buildings such as Gehry's ever get built. It's especially demoralizing here in North America... It's burger and fries baby for life...
Mod parent way down... for stating the painfully obvious. Take your logic elsewhere sir. Your version of truth has no protagonists in it, for fuck's sake. All corporations prescribing to most profitable business models? Depressing...
The only thing I can add to your simple, yet accurate analysis is that big Pharma has managed to achieve something that has alluded the computer world. Subscription models... Death on the installment plan... Microsoft tried to move towards the 'subscriber for life' business model and failed miserably to the chorus of boos by pitchfork wielding fanatics. Google may be more successful, since they are only asking for indirect money in exchange for a lifetime loyalty. Heck, even in the open source world subscription-based-support seems to be the only realistic way of making a living out of it.
We want one definite solution to cancer, but we are not so vocal about asking for one final definite version of Photoshop, the one that has been perfected for what it's supposed to do. No more new versions. You guys nailed it! Now go try to make money at something else.
If we can even entertain the possibility that the computer industry is ultimately looking for a final solution to all of our computing needs, only then can we blame big Pharma for not trying to do the same. Yes, the two industries have much differing repercussions in their actions, but ultimately it comes down to establishing a sustainable business model.
On Apple's spec page for mac-mini, the operational limit is listed at 10,000 ft. What the hell? The thing is made out of laptop parts. If I modded a mini into some kind of a Russian looking laptop (an LCD screen glued on top of it, and a whole thing bolted to a car battery) would this thing explode as soon as we reached the cruising altitude (provided they'd let me on a plane in the first place)?
If laptops are rated at least 15,000 ft, what happened to the other 5,oooft? Does this mean I can go deep diving, or at least snorkeling with a mini?
The answer to THAT will determine if I snap one up or save a couple of months for an iMac.
10-Yes, I do know Who actually wrote it
20- So who did?
30- Yes!
40-I don't think that was a 'yes' song.
50- I wasn't. It was Who.
60-Who?
70-Yes.
80-You're a dick. Do I have to guess who did it?
90-'Guess Who' didn't do it.
100-Who?
110-Yes!
120-What? You said it wasn't them!
130-It definitively wasn't 'Them'.
140-So, who was it?
150-Correct.
160-you actually don't know who wrote that song!
170-go to 10
No matter how hard I try to read your words in healthy mindset, I can't help but think of you as a really fat guy trying to eliminate the very last need for any kind of movement for hours at a time.
A bluetooth trackball with a scroll wheel???? I guess the reason why trackball manufacturers don't bother with doing the most obvious interface design change is because users (such as yourself) aren't asking for it.
I recently switched back from a Logitech Marble Trackball to a Mighty Mouse. I love trackballs, but the deal breaker was the tiny nipple on the later that allows you to scroll through documents in 360-degrees (and I do scroll around a lot).
My ideal trackball would have 3 buttons. The third one would (when held down) turn the ball into a multi-directional scroll wheel. Why isn't this available on any trackball device? Is it too obvious? Trackballs with scroll wheels are the most redundant things since A:/ abort/fail/retry mindfuck.
Bluetooth feature would be a distant second place finisher in what I'd like to see.
PMS... Physical Management Security...
Now that's a plug you'd want your device to stay away from.
Hey, I posted this through Pine program that's run through dosbox running on XP installed in Virtual PC, run through rosetta, on x86 version of os X, that somehow got successfully installed on a Dell built in 1998, you insensitive clod. Still more reliable than FF.
It pains me to say, but on a PCC mac, FF is a bloated piece of shit. It feels like playing Mario 3, running in a nintendo emulator that's run through dosbox running on XP installed in Virtual PC, run through rosetta, on x86 version of os X, that got successfully installed on a Dell from 1998.
I tried Safari, FF, Camino and Shiira for my old G4 mac (1.5GHz, 1.75 GB ram). All I want is a reasonably fast rendering engine, and ability to block images as I choose. There are no winners in this sorry bunch. I end up using safari as it renders the fastest, but generally I try not to use this machine for web use. The machine still performs admirably as part of a recording studio setup. Photoshop runs at the same speed as it does through rosetta on a core 2 duo mac. Yet surfing it will not do.
It makes sense for Apple Entertainment to start treating PPC macs like diseased old dogs at some point. It's a shame that open source community is doing the same.