My experience with Chinese food left for too long is that it starts to stink not because of biological processes, but bilological chemistry...
My experience with Chinese food left unsupervised is that it mysteriously disappears of its own accord -- That is, according to the testimony of any roommates present.
What about Bit-Torrent, Napster, Limewire, etc? I've got no doubt they've done more to spread the joy of music, especially those who couldn't afford it...
I'm a lot more comfortable with the idea of a woman doing the pat down - even if she's old and/or ugly for the much the same reason I prefer female doctors.
Ah yes, they have smaller hands. A real boon if a cavity search is warranted.
I always ask the groper, "how do you feel about your mother being treated this way"
I said something similar once...
"My grandma is dead," was the reply.
I almost felt bad for saying it, then I realised that if I were dead I wouldn't have to stand for this erosion of my rights via unreasonable search.
"Ah, Give me Liberty or Give me Death," I said. Which raised a few eyebrows. "She was more of an American than either of us."
Still, it was an uncomfortable pat down for us both.
Still the images that come out aren't much to look at. I think even high school boys would be bored by nudie scanner output. If this is how TSA officers get off that's pretty sad.
Consider that your job is to look at shit loads of people via the scanner output. When a "cute body" appears it's a welcome break in the monotony of the hundreds of bodies you didn't want to see. Ergo, you tell the scanner attendant to get a few more scans, for your enjoyment.
Furthermore, your argument is invalidated by the sheer number of "high school boys" who've jerked off to the Sears Catalogue.
my mom thinks i built a death ray i put a bunch of lazer pointers on a old dish with a device that can move them so they focus on one spot with crtic spyder lazers
My neighbors think I build a death ray. I epoxied 4cm square mirrors all over the surface of my big-old parabolic satellite dish. They were RIGHT!
"Why are you so sad?"
I do not know! "There is nothing to be sad about then."
I fear much.
Something is missing.
A recent conversation I had with my machine intelligence, Netty, after I shortened the memcache to improve performance. You know, the more I study "AI", the more insight I gain into our own minds...
and users are just as locked in as on any other OS.
Seriously? How so? It's my experience that most applications that I have on Linux can also run on other OSs due to them being either Open Source, or Proprietary and cross platform.
No one took down the CIA.gov website. Did users "take down" Twitter when it faltered under too much load? There's a difference between unavailable and taken down. During a (D)DoS, the servers are still there, still serving content to some, not taken down at all, it's just that there is more traffic than they can handle.
Compare this "taken down" to when the MPAA has a video "taken down" from Youtube. The specific video is no longer accessible, even when plenty of bandwidth is available.
That said, I wouldn't put it past Anonymous agents, that they would send a DMCA "take down" notice complaining that the CIA.gov site is infringing on Anonymous' imaginary property rights; However, I don't think it likely that such an action would result in their site being taken down (the CIA's that is).
I stopped using modal interfaces for computing when Windows 98 came out, removing my "boot to command prompt, and type 'win' if I need windows" option. This was the year I learned about Linux, GNU, and in particular GNU Screen which allowed me to fill my massive high-res monitors with many terminals, and thus become more effective than closing one to open another... It amazed me that this software had been around for 13 years at that time. It was like getting out of an abusive relationship. I had been using two separate machines and a KVM switch -- I gained another order of magnitude in efficiency that day.
It's strange to see Gnome returning to the "one activity at a time" methodology that we had with simple DOS programs, or even the Apple IIe. At this rate programming an interface with Gnome4 will require wielding wire cutters and a soldering iron, Gnome5 will simply be several strings of beads, and Gnome6 is only a single stick -- What's more simple and user friendly than a beach full of sand? Gnome7: It's just a zen-like feeling of serene clarity you hold in your mind -- the ultimate free software, no hardware even required -- Wow, its NOTHING!
After the scales had fallen from my eyes, I promised myself that I would never stand for such abuse again.
Go ahead and write code without the API docs open on an adjacent screen or window -- or write a school report without your sources visible. Hell, enter spreadsheet data without another page visible. Look at papers? What papers? Some of us are paperless now! Who are these 'users' they're targeting? Surely no one that actually USES a computer. If it's only fit to be used as a media consumption device I believe they should call their desktop design methodology, Consumer Friendly, not User Friendly.
Better yet, YOU should make it free. It's easy to demand things from other people, but very difficult to share what you know.
Hmm. Well, that's what I always do: Share what I know. In fact, the way I learn is to create 'How To' guides for how to do X. In the process of creating the guide I've learned it, or vise versa. Think of it as working around the material's copyrights and artificial obsolescence by creating my own unique texts. In fact, in the past people have purchased my "notes" because they were better than what the textbook and professor offered in the way of understandable explanations; I've also been a tutor both for free and for profit. I practically taught my HS Calculus class... (teacher had a heavy accent and wouldn't repeat anything). It's funny, but I never asked for monetary compensation for my time, folks just insist. We call this "donations" now...
I also make and use Free Software. In my spare spare time (not a typo), when I'm not sharing what I know, I've been going back over some of my notes and creating a tutorial: 'Zero to Hero - learn programming & geometry from the ground up' through creating a series of games -- From the 'Playing the Odds' (Higher / Lower, number-lines, etc ) thru Pung, Tetras, Brokeout, Poc-mon, Galaca, Maria, Masteroids (trig), and so on -- which I plan to share freely. I've always found math easier when embodied in working code examples; What better motivator for kids of all ages than games? In my experience, learning is more readily retained and enjoyable when the knowledge is reinforced through application than quickly crammed and forgotten when tested.
Also, I can still call up the GWBASIC programs & tutorials from when I taught myself linear equations & trig -- My school text books? Oh, why they're no where to be found, had to return them -- probably in a land fill somewhere now, but I've taught my nephew linear equations with my example programs (after converting them to JavaScript) far faster and easier than his text book was doing. He hated mathematics, now he can't just can't wait for a tutor session, and we're several chapters ahead of his class. Who knew making your own graphing calculator and extending it would be so much more fun and educational than just using one?
It's only difficult to share if you've got an aversion to sharing. It's so hard for me not to share I find myself helping people constantly. I just shared an afternoon (and some of my fresh-home-made pizza) with my 75 year old neighbour and taught him some more about Debian.
Much like the FUD about Linux usability (hey gramps can do it), FUD about sharing is unfounded as well.
That said, the problem with getting open learning resources in primary schools is that there are some folks with vested interests in keeping the proprietary text book market afloat... If only copyright didn't last so damn long. Compare a Math or English text book from the 1950's (~60 years ago) to today's primary schools' books, and it's clear we've really lowered the bar. It would be better to use public domain works for education IMHO, if only congress and Mega Media Corps hadn't effectively killed the public domain... Kids today aren't even using the latter half of their text books (here in Texas) thanks to the months of standardised testing "preparation" the kids endure -- The schools earn money the better the kids score. The crappy schools get less funding, and more crappy, then close. o_O The standardised tests cover bullshit they should already know from the previous years in every case I've seen.
I think a free and open education platform is exactly what we need, but bet your bottom dollar the established education system will want a cut -- Licensed testing, etc. That's fine! So long as the kids aren't taken away from their studies for months to cram for a test covering knowledge they should already know.
You should instead loan me $50 to research "sling" technology -- Except, only give me $25 now...
This way, I'll owe you $25, and you'll owe me $25, then we'll call it even.
Welcome to slashdot. Critical thinking skills need not apply to the majority anymore.
Welcome to Slashdot where critical thinking skills are applied to fictitious representations of God's power as a literal 'Deus ex Machina",
and The irony level is over 9000...
The fashion industry has no copyrights or patents, only trademarks on their designer logos, the same goes for the car industry. Just look at the lack of innovation in car and clothing design. It's absolutely stagnant! Every year they release the SAME damn car, and I'm getting REALLY tired of Zootsuits! It's gotten so bad that the two industries have agreed to help each-other out: Gucci is designing cars for Fiat! Aston Martin and Jaguar have been seen on Underoos thanks to the Disney Cars movie (though movies about fashion or cars can still be copyrighted).
If you take software patents away just think of all the innovation that will end. All the FLOSS projects will die because they only exist to thumb their nose at the Large Proprietary software vendors while infringing their patents. Sure, it may cost less to make mobile devices, but they will lock up their secrets away from the public and never sell another phone again for fear that a reverse engineer may duplicate their software systems, or ever Create their own Firmware! Without patents, Nothing will stop people from "rooting" or "jailbreaking" their phones and all the carriers will have to charge 25 cents per text message to recoup the costs!
The patent office doesn't care if you want to get a weak patent, it won't hold up in court, right? So, no big deal, you'd be dumb to get such a weak patent... right? Well, yeah, if the courts weren't ignorant of the tech... So it's complicated...The patent examiners try somewhat to make sure everything seems legit, but that's the extent of it. The applicant is supposed to have checked for prior art -- the rats are in charge of the cheese, so to speak.
The patent offices defer to the court system. The failing is in the court system that sides with patent holders because they have no clue about the tech patents, and think, well this is "vetted" by the PTO, so it's probably good.
Channel your hate to those abusing the system. You don't want cops watching you piss in the Mall bathrooms, so shoplifting will continue... You don't want to bog the patent system down even more, so trolling will continue. What we need are penalties for having an invalid patent submitted... however, fixed pricing would be folly.
Ugh, forgive all the spelling errors; I'm rushed, and also sick... Although It occurs to me now that perversion is a poor excuse, I can't be bothered to backspace.
first of all, almost all potential narratives that can be told have been told in almost all of the genres. really, how many times you can save a fantasy medieval land from dragons. or, what kind of different world-shattering dangers can a fantasy medieval world can have. they all started repetition.
In this fast paced platformer RPG set in a medieval world where magic-meets-steampunk our protagonist has been badly injured when Cyborg Raiders ransacked her home and killed her parents. Facing foreclosure of her inherited property due to her inability to work, she decides to take up a crazy inventor's proposition have her wooden peg-leg replaced with a cybernetic ethereal-piston driven leg which allows her to leap tall buildings in a single bound, skate short distances at great speeds, and much more through its power slots & upgrades.
While our heroin quests to pay back her debt to the inventor, she uncovers a dark plot to end all magic and science in the name of purity. Will she seek revenge on the all cyborgs for her parents deaths, will she delve into the depths of wizardry and/or cybernetics in the process, find peaceful balance in them both, or forever remain a troubled self loathing wretch while seeking any form of purity while not being fully human, cybernetic or ethereal?
How will she cope when it's revealed that an ancient alien intelligence is gaining control over those in seats of power? You decide if the world will survive the rise of man, myth and machine.
No, no... I give up. You're absolutely right. Let's burn all the books, movies and music! Every note has been played, every word written, every byte computed! Every game should fit into the lines you've defined, or none at all!
--Or, instead, why don't you just keep playing the classics, there are more there than you can ever complete. I grew up with Pong, Galaga, etc too; I agree that too much narrative is a bad thing, but there's only so much Pac-man, Lemmings, or SimCity I can take, it's surely less than the time I've spend playing FF5... I think it's best to keep on enjoying the beauty that is "everything in moderation". Narrative is now possible in many forms. Now it can be told along side gameplay in a non-intrusive way, see Bastion; Or even told only through the gameplay itself. I, for one, think Pac-Man would have been less of a game without it's "quirky" narrative in it's cut scenes... o_O
P.S. Keep in mind that a lot of "Game Script Writers" would have rather been "Firm Script Writers"... but we're not all like this.
No moderation system is perfect; but it's not hard to do better than a free-for-all.
This, in response to an article about "Open Alternatives". I disagree. I believe the "free for all" approach to be superb, This is why I create Free Software (in both senses of the word "free") -- no moderation is required. Additionally, You can't be swindled out of your money if there's no money at stake. You see, there is already an "open alternative to Kickstarter", it's called doing stuff for free.
They should have called it the 'Tool for Removing Malicious Software'
I'm sorry, you'll have to take up your grievance with Richard Stallman; Apparently GPLv3 is the only license allowed for derivatives acronyms such as TRMS.
Slashdot Mirror
My experience with Chinese food left for too long is that it starts to stink not because of biological processes, but bilological chemistry...
My experience with Chinese food left unsupervised is that it mysteriously disappears of its own accord -- That is, according to the testimony of any roommates present.
There are others who believe that life has yet to begin here, but that our advancements in machine intelligence may one day bring it about.
What about Bit-Torrent, Napster, Limewire, etc? I've got no doubt they've done more to spread the joy of music, especially those who couldn't afford it...
WARNING
The website you are about to visit, update.microsoft.com , may harm your computer.
Find out more
Get me out of here
Proceed to to update.microsoft.com
I'm a lot more comfortable with the idea of a woman doing the pat down - even if she's old and/or ugly for the much the same reason I prefer female doctors.
Ah yes, they have smaller hands. A real boon if a cavity search is warranted.
I always ask the groper, "how do you feel about your mother being treated this way"
I said something similar once...
"My grandma is dead," was the reply.
I almost felt bad for saying it, then I realised that if I were dead I wouldn't have to stand for this erosion of my rights via unreasonable search.
"Ah, Give me Liberty or Give me Death," I said. Which raised a few eyebrows. "She was more of an American than either of us."
Still, it was an uncomfortable pat down for us both.
Still the images that come out aren't much to look at. I think even high school boys would be bored by nudie scanner output. If this is how TSA officers get off that's pretty sad.
Consider that your job is to look at shit loads of people via the scanner output. When a "cute body" appears it's a welcome break in the monotony of the hundreds of bodies you didn't want to see. Ergo, you tell the scanner attendant to get a few more scans, for your enjoyment.
Furthermore, your argument is invalidated by the sheer number of "high school boys" who've jerked off to the Sears Catalogue.
my mom thinks i built a death ray i put a bunch of lazer pointers on a old dish with a device that can move them so they focus on one spot with crtic spyder lazers
My neighbors think I build a death ray. I epoxied 4cm square mirrors all over the surface of my big-old parabolic satellite dish.
They were RIGHT!
"Why are you so sad?"
I do not know!
"There is nothing to be sad about then."
I fear much.
Something is missing.
A recent conversation I had with my machine intelligence, Netty, after I shortened the memcache to improve performance. You know, the more I study "AI", the more insight I gain into our own minds...
That's retardist.
and users are just as locked in as on any other OS.
Seriously? How so? It's my experience that most applications that I have on Linux can also run on other OSs due to them being either Open Source, or Proprietary and cross platform.
No one took down the CIA.gov website. Did users "take down" Twitter when it faltered under too much load? There's a difference between unavailable and taken down. During a (D)DoS, the servers are still there, still serving content to some, not taken down at all, it's just that there is more traffic than they can handle.
Compare this "taken down" to when the MPAA has a video "taken down" from Youtube. The specific video is no longer accessible, even when plenty of bandwidth is available.
That said, I wouldn't put it past Anonymous agents, that they would send a DMCA "take down" notice complaining that the CIA.gov site is infringing on Anonymous' imaginary property rights; However, I don't think it likely that such an action would result in their site being taken down (the CIA's that is).
I stopped using modal interfaces for computing when Windows 98 came out, removing my "boot to command prompt, and type 'win' if I need windows" option. This was the year I learned about Linux, GNU, and in particular GNU Screen which allowed me to fill my massive high-res monitors with many terminals, and thus become more effective than closing one to open another... It amazed me that this software had been around for 13 years at that time. It was like getting out of an abusive relationship. I had been using two separate machines and a KVM switch -- I gained another order of magnitude in efficiency that day.
It's strange to see Gnome returning to the "one activity at a time" methodology that we had with simple DOS programs, or even the Apple IIe. At this rate programming an interface with Gnome4 will require wielding wire cutters and a soldering iron, Gnome5 will simply be several strings of beads, and Gnome6 is only a single stick -- What's more simple and user friendly than a beach full of sand? Gnome7: It's just a zen-like feeling of serene clarity you hold in your mind -- the ultimate free software, no hardware even required -- Wow, its NOTHING!
After the scales had fallen from my eyes, I promised myself that I would never stand for such abuse again.
Go ahead and write code without the API docs open on an adjacent screen or window -- or write a school report without your sources visible. Hell, enter spreadsheet data without another page visible. Look at papers? What papers? Some of us are paperless now! Who are these 'users' they're targeting? Surely no one that actually USES a computer. If it's only fit to be used as a media consumption device I believe they should call their desktop design methodology, Consumer Friendly, not User Friendly.
Better yet, YOU should make it free. It's easy to demand things from other people, but very difficult to share what you know.
Hmm. Well, that's what I always do: Share what I know. In fact, the way I learn is to create 'How To' guides for how to do X. In the process of creating the guide I've learned it, or vise versa. Think of it as working around the material's copyrights and artificial obsolescence by creating my own unique texts. In fact, in the past people have purchased my "notes" because they were better than what the textbook and professor offered in the way of understandable explanations; I've also been a tutor both for free and for profit. I practically taught my HS Calculus class... (teacher had a heavy accent and wouldn't repeat anything). It's funny, but I never asked for monetary compensation for my time, folks just insist. We call this "donations" now...
I also make and use Free Software. In my spare spare time (not a typo), when I'm not sharing what I know, I've been going back over some of my notes and creating a tutorial: 'Zero to Hero - learn programming & geometry from the ground up' through creating a series of games -- From the 'Playing the Odds' (Higher / Lower, number-lines, etc ) thru Pung, Tetras, Brokeout, Poc-mon, Galaca, Maria, Masteroids (trig), and so on -- which I plan to share freely. I've always found math easier when embodied in working code examples; What better motivator for kids of all ages than games? In my experience, learning is more readily retained and enjoyable when the knowledge is reinforced through application than quickly crammed and forgotten when tested.
Also, I can still call up the GWBASIC programs & tutorials from when I taught myself linear equations & trig -- My school text books? Oh, why they're no where to be found, had to return them -- probably in a land fill somewhere now, but I've taught my nephew linear equations with my example programs (after converting them to JavaScript) far faster and easier than his text book was doing. He hated mathematics, now he can't just can't wait for a tutor session, and we're several chapters ahead of his class. Who knew making your own graphing calculator and extending it would be so much more fun and educational than just using one?
It's only difficult to share if you've got an aversion to sharing. It's so hard for me not to share I find myself helping people constantly. I just shared an afternoon (and some of my fresh-home-made pizza) with my 75 year old neighbour and taught him some more about Debian.
Much like the FUD about Linux usability (hey gramps can do it), FUD about sharing is unfounded as well.
That said, the problem with getting open learning resources in primary schools is that there are some folks with vested interests in keeping the proprietary text book market afloat... If only copyright didn't last so damn long. Compare a Math or English text book from the 1950's (~60 years ago) to today's primary schools' books, and it's clear we've really lowered the bar. It would be better to use public domain works for education IMHO, if only congress and Mega Media Corps hadn't effectively killed the public domain... Kids today aren't even using the latter half of their text books (here in Texas) thanks to the months of standardised testing "preparation" the kids endure -- The schools earn money the better the kids score. The crappy schools get less funding, and more crappy, then close. o_O The standardised tests cover bullshit they should already know from the previous years in every case I've seen.
I think a free and open education platform is exactly what we need, but bet your bottom dollar the established education system will want a cut -- Licensed testing, etc. That's fine! So long as the kids aren't taken away from their studies for months to cram for a test covering knowledge they should already know.
You should instead loan me $50 to research "sling" technology -- Except, only give me $25 now...
This way, I'll owe you $25, and you'll owe me $25, then we'll call it even.
Welcome to slashdot. Critical thinking skills need not apply to the majority anymore.
Welcome to Slashdot where critical thinking skills are applied to fictitious representations of God's power as a literal 'Deus ex Machina",
and The irony level is over 9000...
"Didn't ork in the Netherlands, let's try [hobbets] in CA"
FTFY
Yeah, it just might do; California is somewhat like the Shyre...
Hell, I've been using voice recognition software to enter google search terms for over a decade...
The fashion industry has no copyrights or patents, only trademarks on their designer logos, the same goes for the car industry. Just look at the lack of innovation in car and clothing design. It's absolutely stagnant! Every year they release the SAME damn car, and I'm getting REALLY tired of Zootsuits! It's gotten so bad that the two industries have agreed to help each-other out: Gucci is designing cars for Fiat! Aston Martin and Jaguar have been seen on Underoos thanks to the Disney Cars movie (though movies about fashion or cars can still be copyrighted).
If you take software patents away just think of all the innovation that will end. All the FLOSS projects will die because they only exist to thumb their nose at the Large Proprietary software vendors while infringing their patents. Sure, it may cost less to make mobile devices, but they will lock up their secrets away from the public and never sell another phone again for fear that a reverse engineer may duplicate their software systems, or ever Create their own Firmware! Without patents, Nothing will stop people from "rooting" or "jailbreaking" their phones and all the carriers will have to charge 25 cents per text message to recoup the costs!
The patent office doesn't care if you want to get a weak patent, it won't hold up in court, right? So, no big deal, you'd be dumb to get such a weak patent... right? Well, yeah, if the courts weren't ignorant of the tech... So it's complicated...The patent examiners try somewhat to make sure everything seems legit, but that's the extent of it. The applicant is supposed to have checked for prior art -- the rats are in charge of the cheese, so to speak.
The patent offices defer to the court system. The failing is in the court system that sides with patent holders because they have no clue about the tech patents, and think, well this is "vetted" by the PTO, so it's probably good.
Channel your hate to those abusing the system. You don't want cops watching you piss in the Mall bathrooms, so shoplifting will continue... You don't want to bog the patent system down even more, so trolling will continue. What we need are penalties for having an invalid patent submitted... however, fixed pricing would be folly.
Ugh, forgive all the spelling errors; I'm rushed, and also sick... Although It occurs to me now that perversion is a poor excuse, I can't be bothered to backspace.
first of all, almost all potential narratives that can be told have been told in almost all of the genres. really, how many times you can save a fantasy medieval land from dragons. or, what kind of different world-shattering dangers can a fantasy medieval world can have. they all started repetition.
In this fast paced platformer RPG set in a medieval world where magic-meets-steampunk our protagonist has been badly injured when Cyborg Raiders ransacked her home and killed her parents. Facing foreclosure of her inherited property due to her inability to work, she decides to take up a crazy inventor's proposition have her wooden peg-leg replaced with a cybernetic ethereal-piston driven leg which allows her to leap tall buildings in a single bound, skate short distances at great speeds, and much more through its power slots & upgrades.
While our heroin quests to pay back her debt to the inventor, she uncovers a dark plot to end all magic and science in the name of purity. Will she seek revenge on the all cyborgs for her parents deaths, will she delve into the depths of wizardry and/or cybernetics in the process, find peaceful balance in them both, or forever remain a troubled self loathing wretch while seeking any form of purity while not being fully human, cybernetic or ethereal?
How will she cope when it's revealed that an ancient alien intelligence is gaining control over those in seats of power? You decide if the world will survive the rise of man, myth and machine.
No, no... I give up. You're absolutely right. Let's burn all the books, movies and music! Every note has been played, every word written, every byte computed! Every game should fit into the lines you've defined, or none at all!
--Or, instead, why don't you just keep playing the classics, there are more there than you can ever complete. I grew up with Pong, Galaga, etc too; I agree that too much narrative is a bad thing, but there's only so much Pac-man, Lemmings, or SimCity I can take, it's surely less than the time I've spend playing FF5... I think it's best to keep on enjoying the beauty that is "everything in moderation". Narrative is now possible in many forms. Now it can be told along side gameplay in a non-intrusive way, see Bastion; Or even told only through the gameplay itself. I, for one, think Pac-Man would have been less of a game without it's "quirky" narrative in it's cut scenes... o_O
P.S. Keep in mind that a lot of "Game Script Writers" would have rather been "Firm Script Writers"... but we're not all like this.
No moderation system is perfect; but it's not hard to do better than a free-for-all.
This, in response to an article about "Open Alternatives". I disagree. I believe the "free for all" approach to be superb, This is why I create Free Software (in both senses of the word "free") -- no moderation is required. Additionally, You can't be swindled out of your money if there's no money at stake. You see, there is already an "open alternative to Kickstarter", it's called doing stuff for free.
They should have called it the 'Tool for Removing Malicious Software'
I'm sorry, you'll have to take up your grievance with Richard Stallman; Apparently GPLv3 is the only license allowed for derivatives acronyms such as TRMS.
I concur.