I think the truth is far more benign. I'm a university researcher, and in my experience most professors just don't have the knowledge or inclination to do this. My prof can barely work a mobile phone, so the expectation of her putting course materials up and understanding how students will want to interact with it is a bit fanciful. She's still a great lecturer. Also I had a prof (back in my undergrad days in 1998) who could not believe that students had personal computers in their own rooms!
I guess I'm saying don't ascribe to malice what can be explained by ignorance. We'll catch up, most profs are (theoretically at least) very keen on open access.
I dread to think of the makework that they'll have all those freed government employees doing in order to keep government rolls at current levels of employment and how much extra work it'll mean for anyone having to interact with that bureaucracy.
Someone's going to have to constantly train and re-train the users on how to turn the device on, where their documents are located, how to save, how to tie their shoes...
Yep - and then train them not to play Angry Birds (or check their email etc) when they are supposed to be running the country.
How does doing or not doing any of those things have any effect on whether or not they can capture an asteroid?
Suso would like China to get their shit together regarding some of these more common failings before trying to snatch an asteroid out of the sky with their as-of-yet undeveloped space chopsticks.
This isn't 'The Chinese' (as in the Government) its some Chinese guys at a university in Beijing with a crazy idea they posted on Arxiv. Arxiv is not the place that the Chinese government will be posting their world domination plans.
This is not about class (I'll ignore the implication that anyone you consider "upper class" hasn't worked for what they have).
This is about scum who do not want to work for what they have. They feel entitled to take from others anything that they choose. Others includes people who actually have less than them, but have worked hard to gain something.
Who are you talking about, the rioters or the conservative government?
Being a manager means spending more time dealing with politics and paperwork rather than technical issues and I know from experience it's a lot less fun so I don't understand why people crave management so much.
I like management because there's only so much you can get done on your own - as a manager you can achieve a lot more by building guiding a team. It's also a way to build capacity by imparting your technical wisdom to your underlings. It's important to keep up with some techincal stuff as well, but it can be hard to find the time.
80 vs. 120 micronewtons isn't too bad. If by 'sensitivity' you mean the expected standard deviation for measurement noise, and assuming such noise is roughly gaussian, then you can almost achieve the precision of a silicon sensor by using two paper sensors and averaging the results (120/sqrt(2) = 84.9).
Throw together 25 of them (for a total cost of $1.00) and you can achieve 24 micronewton 1-sigma precision.
Assuming the errors are independent.. which if the devices are identical they probably wouldn't be.
Not quite, as I currently have the choice to buy a high-deductible policy or even to go without insurance altogether. I won't have either of those choices under the bills currently under consideration in the Congress.
Sorry, but I fail to see how 'going without insurance' would fit the definition of 'choice'.
...or allow any immigration (even of overseas ethnic Japanese) this about the only way that they can survive the population loss. Funny and sad at the same time.
They could add to their population the old-fashioned way..
If you're there for two weeks get out of London too! Trains are quite good to places like Oxford, York and the South Coast to see a bit more of England, which are all quite different to London.
Oxford is definitely worth a visit, and the steampunk exhibition that's on in the Museum of the History of Science should fill your 'geek' critea.
Cambridge is 50 minutes by rail and 15 pounds return from London Kings Cross station. There's great geek history ( way better than Oxford:-P ) here!
It's an interesting point, but I disagree. I run for fitness with the occasional race, and I love the data I get from my Garmin. Its motivating to compete with your personal best and see improvements, and useful to see for example how consistent you are across a run. During training or a race the Garmin can help me run at an even pace. It's really just an easier and more detailed way of keeping a training log. I should add that I'm a statistician and seeing what cool information I can extract from lists of data is my raison d'etre.
I use a Garmin Edge 705 for my training needs. The device shows up as a normal USB Mass Storage Device, and the file format is an easily readable XML type file.
Ditto for my Garmin Forerunner 205 (running watch with good quality GPS). There's some kind of SDK available for it as well, and I've always meant to get round to investigating it but the Garmin Connect website does pretty much everything I'd want to do anyway.
Why? Sure, its "cool" to preserve everything, but its a heck of a lot more valuable to see how the machines have fared for the eventual colonization of the moon and for future generations. I'm not exactly sure what the point is if we are looking back on history rather than creating it.
Okay then how about preserving the Apollo 11 site but trashing the others? Then everybody's happy.
Okay, I'll say this again, because it doesn't seem to have filtered through to the general population yet. Until the singularity, the human brain will be able to learn more easily than a computer. Please stop trying to teach computers the thought patterns for specific movements, and just provide a neural interface for the brain to work with. The brain will be able to figure out what signals it needs to fire to get the wheelchair moving (or whatever) soon enough.
FWIW, my own idea of how to do this would be to put a few small electrodes into a person's lower arm, far away from the brain (and have a sensitive meter to detect nerve firings). Once the brain figures out what nerves are important for this interface, you then use that interface to deliver signals to operate other equipment.
I know in theory this sounds good but has it ever been demonstrated to work? Can adults recruit new brain areas like this?
The whole point is that the legal system is an attempt by humans to establish methods for making good guesses which take into account as many relevant factors as is possible. Since they're at best good guesses (and sometimes bad guesses) bad results do sometimes occur. However, it's better than the binary alternatives of either not punishing any crimes or punishing all suspects.
Further you can only really address most of these problems as they occur, hence the need to rely on precedent a lot of the time.
Best of luck to you! It's quite a good reason to write a text book, but it looks like it may soon be the only reason to do it.
Actually the best and only reason to write a textbook is so you can win arguments by saying "I wrote the book on (insert topic of disagreement)!" and then smugly pulling the book from your shelf.
I have a sneaking suspicion that you are right - this isn't about the gene itself, but how to isolate/observe, etc. That process could very well be an invention and it certainly cost R&D money to the original developer.
You are both wrong. In the US genes can be patented and then any future therapy based on targeting that particular gene falls under the patent.
This is not the same as patenting a process or a particular therapy, which most people (myself included) would argue is reasonable use of a patent.
Kasparov had immortality to gain. In fact I'm fairly certain most people today remember him only as The First Person To Lose Against A Computer In Chess and have no idea who deep blue is.
What! I was losing against my Sinclair Spectrum +2 as long ago as 1987.
Slashdot Mirror
I think the truth is far more benign. I'm a university researcher, and in my experience most professors just don't have the knowledge or inclination to do this. My prof can barely work a mobile phone, so the expectation of her putting course materials up and understanding how students will want to interact with it is a bit fanciful. She's still a great lecturer. Also I had a prof (back in my undergrad days in 1998) who could not believe that students had personal computers in their own rooms!
I guess I'm saying don't ascribe to malice what can be explained by ignorance. We'll catch up, most profs are (theoretically at least) very keen on open access.
I dread to think of the makework that they'll have all those freed government employees doing in order to keep government rolls at current levels of employment and how much extra work it'll mean for anyone having to interact with that bureaucracy.
Someone's going to have to constantly train and re-train the users on how to turn the device on, where their documents are located, how to save, how to tie their shoes...
Yep - and then train them not to play Angry Birds (or check their email etc) when they are supposed to be running the country.
Weird. Ten years ago I called universities disgusting money-grubbing cults that turn out brain-washed debt slaves. I was ridiculed.
That's because that is ridiculous.
How does doing or not doing any of those things have any effect on whether or not they can capture an asteroid?
Suso would like China to get their shit together regarding some of these more common failings before trying to snatch an asteroid out of the sky with their as-of-yet undeveloped space chopsticks.
This isn't 'The Chinese' (as in the Government) its some Chinese guys at a university in Beijing with a crazy idea they posted on Arxiv. Arxiv is not the place that the Chinese government will be posting their world domination plans.
This is not about class (I'll ignore the implication that anyone you consider "upper class" hasn't worked for what they have).
This is about scum who do not want to work for what they have. They feel entitled to take from others anything that they choose. Others includes people who actually have less than them, but have worked hard to gain something.
Who are you talking about, the rioters or the conservative government?
Why?
I think it's step 1 of a rather convoluted proof of the existence of God.
Much better article summarising this for the lay person (ie begins by explaining what memresitors are).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13392857
Being a manager means spending more time dealing with politics and paperwork rather than technical issues and I know from experience it's a lot less fun so I don't understand why people crave management so much.
I like management because there's only so much you can get done on your own - as a manager you can achieve a lot more by building guiding a team. It's also a way to build capacity by imparting your technical wisdom to your underlings. It's important to keep up with some techincal stuff as well, but it can be hard to find the time.
80 vs. 120 micronewtons isn't too bad. If by 'sensitivity' you mean the expected standard deviation for measurement noise, and assuming such noise is roughly gaussian, then you can almost achieve the precision of a silicon sensor by using two paper sensors and averaging the results (120/sqrt(2) = 84.9).
Throw together 25 of them (for a total cost of $1.00) and you can achieve 24 micronewton 1-sigma precision.
Assuming the errors are independent.. which if the devices are identical they probably wouldn't be.
I wouldn't like to live in an Asian dystopia.
Really? I think the food would improve.
So... what's the story?
Actually the headline should say 'Slashdotter Rediscovers Paper from 1994 '
Not quite, as I currently have the choice to buy a high-deductible policy or even to go without insurance altogether. I won't have either of those choices under the bills currently under consideration in the Congress.
Sorry, but I fail to see how 'going without insurance' would fit the definition of 'choice'.
It's called Hobson's choice
...or allow any immigration (even of overseas ethnic Japanese) this about the only way that they can survive the population loss. Funny and sad at the same time.
They could add to their population the old-fashioned way..
If you're there for two weeks get out of London too! Trains are quite good to places like Oxford, York and the South Coast to see a bit more of England, which are all quite different to London.
Oxford is definitely worth a visit, and the steampunk exhibition that's on in the Museum of the History of Science should fill your 'geek' critea.
Cambridge is 50 minutes by rail and 15 pounds return from London Kings Cross station. There's great geek history ( way better than Oxford :-P ) here!
Finally, a good idea from microsoft.
Surely the real story here is that the postal strike is somehow causing mail to be delivered faster.
It's an interesting point, but I disagree. I run for fitness with the occasional race, and I love the data I get from my Garmin. Its motivating to compete with your personal best and see improvements, and useful to see for example how consistent you are across a run. During training or a race the Garmin can help me run at an even pace. It's really just an easier and more detailed way of keeping a training log. I should add that I'm a statistician and seeing what cool information I can extract from lists of data is my raison d'etre.
I use a Garmin Edge 705 for my training needs. The device shows up as a normal USB Mass Storage Device, and the file format is an easily readable XML type file.
Ditto for my Garmin Forerunner 205 (running watch with good quality GPS). There's some kind of SDK available for it as well, and I've always meant to get round to investigating it but the Garmin Connect website does pretty much everything I'd want to do anyway.
Why? Sure, its "cool" to preserve everything, but its a heck of a lot more valuable to see how the machines have fared for the eventual colonization of the moon and for future generations. I'm not exactly sure what the point is if we are looking back on history rather than creating it.
Okay then how about preserving the Apollo 11 site but trashing the others? Then everybody's happy.
Okay, I'll say this again, because it doesn't seem to have filtered through to the general population yet. Until the singularity, the human brain will be able to learn more easily than a computer. Please stop trying to teach computers the thought patterns for specific movements, and just provide a neural interface for the brain to work with. The brain will be able to figure out what signals it needs to fire to get the wheelchair moving (or whatever) soon enough.
FWIW, my own idea of how to do this would be to put a few small electrodes into a person's lower arm, far away from the brain (and have a sensitive meter to detect nerve firings). Once the brain figures out what nerves are important for this interface, you then use that interface to deliver signals to operate other equipment.
I know in theory this sounds good but has it ever been demonstrated to work? Can adults recruit new brain areas like this?
Anybody remember seeing this or am I in the early stages of Alzheimer [?]
If you are, it must be a unique case where the memory is not lost but gained :-)
Inventing memories (confabulation) is a fairly common symptom of Alzheimer's disease.
The whole point is that the legal system is an attempt by humans to establish methods for making good guesses which take into account as many relevant factors as is possible. Since they're at best good guesses (and sometimes bad guesses) bad results do sometimes occur. However, it's better than the binary alternatives of either not punishing any crimes or punishing all suspects.
Further you can only really address most of these problems as they occur, hence the need to rely on precedent a lot of the time.
Best of luck to you! It's quite a good reason to write a text book, but it looks like it may soon be the only reason to do it.
Actually the best and only reason to write a textbook is so you can win arguments by saying "I wrote the book on (insert topic of disagreement)!" and then smugly pulling the book from your shelf.
I have a sneaking suspicion that you are right - this isn't about the gene itself, but how to isolate/observe, etc. That process could very well be an invention and it certainly cost R&D money to the original developer.
You are both wrong. In the US genes can be patented and then any future therapy based on targeting that particular gene falls under the patent.
This is not the same as patenting a process or a particular therapy, which most people (myself included) would argue is reasonable use of a patent.
Kasparov had immortality to gain. In fact I'm fairly certain most people today remember him only as The First Person To Lose Against A Computer In Chess and have no idea who deep blue is.
What! I was losing against my Sinclair Spectrum +2 as long ago as 1987.
"Reversing an eight-year-old limit on potentially life-saving science..."
Currently unproven to save even one life, but proven to destroy human embryos
You are correct that is what 'potentially' means.