warning government website, design will
make you cry
Actually, the INS website is pretty nice. Which makes me wonder when they said that my visa application would take so long to process because they were underfunded.
Nice idea. Makes sense. But if it's encrypted, how can you tell if the connection is ssh authentication and not password? And why would it matter anyway?
If I still had the mod points I had no use for yesterday, I'd give you a +1 interesting though
Not that what you did isn't cool or anything. But the guy did say that it was over 10 years ago and the Apple IIe probably places it in the early 80s.
I mean, I personally frequently find it hard to believe that it was 20 years ago that I got my first computer. I mean, *20 years*? It doesn't seem like that long ago that people who were 20 years old were "old".
For all that I do, I can't see cell phones as "becoming pretty
indispensible."
I understand what you're saying. Having a cell phone is one of those things that you don't realise what you're missing unless you've had one. Of course, there's a certain amount of lifestyle choice to throw into the equation but, for example, not having to go out to the store again because your wife forgot to put something on the list and called you on your cellphone is pretty useful. Or when she says "get x" and x comes in three brands in four different sizes or you're meeting someone somewhere and when you get there, you find out that there's a hundred places they could be or you're caught in a jam and going to be late somewhere or you're going to meet your friends at a pub but they're moving on to a different one.
Of course, none of these things is earth shatteringly important and certainly, it wouldn't be impossible to cope without a mobile but the convenience is there. I know that on at least one occasion, it's led to me having a good night out rather than having to give up, go home and watch TV.
Sounds good...please let me know when it happens, so I can stop spending severals per week on the
road just getting and and forth to my overcrowded office, ok?
I don't know what you mean. My morning commute consists of a trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth*. For some of us, it's already happening.
It seems many people think that we're at the end of the information revolution. Well, from my viewpoint, it's really only just warming up. I'm expecting to see it continue for at least the next fifty years and I wouldn't be surprised to see it lasting into two or more centuries (well, not personally. But perhaps?)
When was the last time you had to reboot your telephone?
A couple of months ago. A cordless I had began playing up, refusing to go on-hook when hung up. Had to pull the power on it to get it to behave again (until next time). It's since been replaced.
I'd agree that PCs weren't revolutionary. I mean heck, they were built from stock parts after all. There were micros before that even, it's just IBMs clout and cluelessness that made it the one to emulate.
And I'd say that the thing that makes the Internet innovative is not the protocol itself but the idea that "you have a network, I have a network, let's join them up". That really arises out of the environment of sharing (mostly) that the academic community provides (yes, I know the military invented it).
They still haven't changed my life at all - I have
yet to find a use for one in my life... unless the prices dramatically drop for service...
Move to Europe. There, everybody has cellphones (projected to reach ~125% saturation in the next couple of years) and they are becoming pretty indispensible. The lack of usefulness of cellphones in the US is a function of the marketing and service situation here rather than the utility cellphones provide.
In the UK, I carried a cellphone everywhere I went. Here, I just keep one of those tracphone things in the car for emergencies.
Two things need to happen for cellphone use to become ubiquitous in the US. First, drop charges for incoming calls. Secondly, improve coverage. You could really do with sumping analogue and going digital too (SMS is a killer app in the UK)
Hey, my government was founded on the basis that if you're rich and have lots of big swords, you can do whatever you want to the peasants. So it's not like it's hard to live up to that anyway.
The sad thing about the US government is that although it was supposed to be "by the people for the people", it seems that they're reverting into standard government practice. It will soon get to the point where USAns are no better off than if they hadn't bothered with the whole revolution thing.
They have an ad here in the US showing a pickup pulling the moon down to the earth with a large chain. I don't think that would work in real life.
In fact I have seen many ads here which seem to show things which just plain wouldn't happen. And quite a few with just plain outright lies. Coming from the UK, this was quite a shock to me as consumer protection is taken quite seriously there (for better or worse) and honesty in advertising is strictly enforced (an exception was made for Heineken as the claims in their adverts were considered as just too outlandish to apply (as I guess the pickup/moon could claim to be)
Of course, the US *would* put that kind of a spin on it. They were fierce competitors with the USSR after all.
The best way to look at it as that they were important milestones along the road. Unfortunately, it looks like we've all turned around and gone home and now just peak out the window from time to time.
With some of the legislation that's been passing recently (copyright extension, UCITA, DMCA etc), it seems as if that's exactly what you're government is trying to achieve.
Well, given a choice between reading about a hotshot young kid who invented, and then proved, a
theorem on his own [...] or
yet another high school student with an assault rifle and a terminally bad attitude, which would you
prefer?
If you don't have a poetic bone in your body I suppose.
The point is that it appears that information wants to replicate. The reproduction of DNA, perhaps the creation of matter itself and the piles of backups of information on computers all seem to evoke the idea that good information tends to get replicated. Therefore, information we experience tends to have gone through a replication phase so therefore it can appear that information has an impetus to replication and replication will tend to put information past any boundaries we tend to set for it.
It's not possible to judge the motivations and wants of entities outside of ourselves. I could make the observation that my little brother didn't want me to stop standing on his head, his crying and shouting were just a mechanical reaction to the stimulus. So we have the ability to externalise our own motivations. Get over it.
You don't seem to understand. "Information wants to be free" is an observation of a phenomena, not necessarily a statement that the person saying it supports all information being free. I could similarly say "objects want to fall towards the ground" without wanting rocks to fall on my head or "That dog wants to bite me" without wanting that myself either.
When I was a student in the UK, I used to temp for summer jobs. One of those jobs was to walk down the side of a motorway, picking up litter (we don't get our crims to do it for us). I was getting paid next to nothing but I calculated that at the rate I was picking them up, discarded cigarette butts (they don't biodegrade, they contain glass you know) was costing 1-2p (1.5-3c) per butt in my wages and since I was being paid through an agency, that's 2-4p (3-6c). I would imagine that when you get your crims to do it, they get paid even more than I was. And there were a *lot* of cigarette butts.
Think of that next time you complain about paying taxes.
Oh, not to mention making the countryside look fucking disgusting and ugly.
Resumable desktops? I can kill an vnc client here, go over there, start a new client and my desktop is exactly as I left it.
It has a few disadvantages too. It's flaky on windows (Can't hook into the graphics context so has to take screen snapshots) and a bandwidth hog but remember, the task is not to find the "best" way to implement a user interface to a computer but the one most suitable for the job (I've found it a godsend when debugging keyboardless kiosk applications)
Slashdot Mirror
"All your Jew are belong to us!"
Rich
Actually, the INS website is pretty nice. Which makes me wonder when they said that my visa application would take so long to process because they were underfunded.
Rich (in the USA now.)
If I still had the mod points I had no use for yesterday, I'd give you a +1 interesting though
Rich
I mean, I personally frequently find it hard to believe that it was 20 years ago that I got my first computer. I mean, *20 years*? It doesn't seem like that long ago that people who were 20 years old were "old".
Rich
"hyperexponential"? Michael, I think you are talking hyperbollocks.
Rich
I understand what you're saying. Having a cell phone is one of those things that you don't realise what you're missing unless you've had one. Of course, there's a certain amount of lifestyle choice to throw into the equation but, for example, not having to go out to the store again because your wife forgot to put something on the list and called you on your cellphone is pretty useful. Or when she says "get x" and x comes in three brands in four different sizes or you're meeting someone somewhere and when you get there, you find out that there's a hundred places they could be or you're caught in a jam and going to be late somewhere or you're going to meet your friends at a pub but they're moving on to a different one.
Of course, none of these things is earth shatteringly important and certainly, it wouldn't be impossible to cope without a mobile but the convenience is there. I know that on at least one occasion, it's led to me having a good night out rather than having to give up, go home and watch TV.
Rich
That's probably why it's not documented otherwise it would probably be a settable option (like command history)
Rich
*I do usually have a shower as well.
Rich
I don't know what you mean. My morning commute consists of a trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth*. For some of us, it's already happening.
It seems many people think that we're at the end of the information revolution. Well, from my viewpoint, it's really only just warming up. I'm expecting to see it continue for at least the next fifty years and I wouldn't be surprised to see it lasting into two or more centuries (well, not personally. But perhaps?)
Rich
A couple of months ago. A cordless I had began playing up, refusing to go on-hook when hung up. Had to pull the power on it to get it to behave again (until next time). It's since been replaced.
I'd agree that PCs weren't revolutionary. I mean heck, they were built from stock parts after all. There were micros before that even, it's just IBMs clout and cluelessness that made it the one to emulate.
And I'd say that the thing that makes the Internet innovative is not the protocol itself but the idea that "you have a network, I have a network, let's join them up". That really arises out of the environment of sharing (mostly) that the academic community provides (yes, I know the military invented it).
Rich
Move to Europe. There, everybody has cellphones (projected to reach ~125% saturation in the next couple of years) and they are becoming pretty indispensible. The lack of usefulness of cellphones in the US is a function of the marketing and service situation here rather than the utility cellphones provide.
In the UK, I carried a cellphone everywhere I went. Here, I just keep one of those tracphone things in the car for emergencies.
Two things need to happen for cellphone use to become ubiquitous in the US. First, drop charges for incoming calls. Secondly, improve coverage. You could really do with sumping analogue and going digital too (SMS is a killer app in the UK)
Rich
The sad thing about the US government is that although it was supposed to be "by the people for the people", it seems that they're reverting into standard government practice. It will soon get to the point where USAns are no better off than if they hadn't bothered with the whole revolution thing.
Rich
In fact I have seen many ads here which seem to show things which just plain wouldn't happen. And quite a few with just plain outright lies. Coming from the UK, this was quite a shock to me as consumer protection is taken quite seriously there (for better or worse) and honesty in advertising is strictly enforced (an exception was made for Heineken as the claims in their adverts were considered as just too outlandish to apply (as I guess the pickup/moon could claim to be)
Rich
The best way to look at it as that they were important milestones along the road. Unfortunately, it looks like we've all turned around and gone home and now just peak out the window from time to time.
Rich
And who would have believed that he'd later go on to play "The Fonz" opposite Ron Howard?
Rich
With some of the legislation that's been passing recently (copyright extension, UCITA, DMCA etc), it seems as if that's exactly what you're government is trying to achieve.
Rich
Well, what kind of assault rifle?
Rich ;)
The point is that it appears that information wants to replicate. The reproduction of DNA, perhaps the creation of matter itself and the piles of backups of information on computers all seem to evoke the idea that good information tends to get replicated. Therefore, information we experience tends to have gone through a replication phase so therefore it can appear that information has an impetus to replication and replication will tend to put information past any boundaries we tend to set for it.
It's not possible to judge the motivations and wants of entities outside of ourselves. I could make the observation that my little brother didn't want me to stop standing on his head, his crying and shouting were just a mechanical reaction to the stimulus. So we have the ability to externalise our own motivations. Get over it.
Rich
And yes, it's anthropomorphization. So what?
Rich
Remember that the next time you come over and fancy some cheap gum.
Rich
Hey, wow. Finally typing "override all security" would work just like it does in the movies.
Rich
When I was a student in the UK, I used to temp for summer jobs. One of those jobs was to walk down the side of a motorway, picking up litter (we don't get our crims to do it for us). I was getting paid next to nothing but I calculated that at the rate I was picking them up, discarded cigarette butts (they don't biodegrade, they contain glass you know) was costing 1-2p (1.5-3c) per butt in my wages and since I was being paid through an agency, that's 2-4p (3-6c). I would imagine that when you get your crims to do it, they get paid even more than I was. And there were a *lot* of cigarette butts.
Think of that next time you complain about paying taxes.
Oh, not to mention making the countryside look fucking disgusting and ugly.
(Assholes)
Rich
Rich
It has a few disadvantages too. It's flaky on windows (Can't hook into the graphics context so has to take screen snapshots) and a bandwidth hog but remember, the task is not to find the "best" way to implement a user interface to a computer but the one most suitable for the job (I've found it a godsend when debugging keyboardless kiosk applications)
Rich