"Try being a surgeon or a lawyer without an education."
Only because it is an entrance requirement. You learn law concepts in a two year law school then mostly on the job training. You learn surgery via many years of residency(aka apprenticeship).
Some education is certainly required. A college degree is not. Colleges have become viewed as essential training grounds for "a good job"; unfortunately they were never designed for this and are failing very expensively.
"Most people with mod points must be lazy and don't browse in full."
Lazy isn't exactly the correct word. A strong desire not to go batshit crazy while being bored to death would be closer to the mark. Unless I am really interested and/or knowledgeable in the topic I tend to moderate only the stuff that is obviously good (or really bad) and I rarely mod stuff up higher than a 3 (you might call it drive by moderating...) I don't closely read subjects that bore me, confuse me and/or cause me indifference. I sure as heck don't subject the poor bastards in those categories to significant moderation-that would be cruel to all parties.
However, your informative post blends nicely into a large group of unremarkable posts. It is something that I would have modded up if I had noticed and had mod points. Might I suggest a title indicating something remarkable? We all hate wading through the crap:)
"I mostly read scifi and/or fantasy because I find it entertaining and interesting, not really to learn the political, sociological or philosophical lessons that might result.."
And reading the "classics" gets you this how? If you find the book boring, you aren't going to learn much. I read a lot of highly rated books in school that were incredibly boring and were probably OVER analyzed in class. More PhD's done on a piece of work equals greater minutiae (essentially mental masturbation) and less valuable insights....
"I thought to myself: why isn't his personal PADD just updated? Why the hell would his commander bring in three PADDs when the information could be transferred to just one PADD."
TV is a visual medium. Multiple PADD's imply lots of work where one wouldn't. Dramatic effect.
"...but memories of the Excel keeps a LOT of potential customers away from their more upscale cars."
Well, it keeps me away from ALL of its cars. I prefer not to buy from a company that sold really crappy cars in the past. I will admit it is not entirely rational, though.
"If someone were to build a whole bunch of standardized nuke plants, they'd be a lot cheaper."
Funny, I've been hearing that for decades. Hasn't happened yet. Probably because they can't be made a lot cheaper. Heck, in Washington, WPPSS tried to build 5 identical plants in the late 70's/early 80's. Still paying for the defaults on that one. Whoops....
Huh? What about the large amount of power you will need to keep a continuous supply of fresh batteries. Oh, and how do you get those imaginary standardized battery packs in and out of the cars interior?
Logistics are often a pain in a warehouse running electric vehicles even when the vehicles are designed to for easy battery access. I can't imagine the hell that would be the real world.
"You have also to realize that electricity costs less per mile/Km than petrol."
So? It makes little economic sense to buy a new car to double mileage (or probably even quadruple it) in the US. Maybe in Europe. It costs me less than $1500 to drive 15K miles a year at $3 a gallon. If the costs were to quadruple, it might make sense for me to spend 40 grand on a new electric car. Barely. Of course, that car doesn't even exist.
"I also don't see much need for a hybrid if you have 300-mile/500 Km electric cars. especially if there are battery-switch stations."
Switch stations probably won't exist for technical reasons. At least for a long time.
"Many people don't need 150 mile/200 Km range, and can start the switch petrol --> electric right away."
Sure they may not need them. But they sure want them. I won't pay more for a vehicle that can do less. I suspect many people are like me. The limitations are easier to calculate than any savings.
"Why should the station be charging the batteries?"
For the same reason that rechargeable batteries (or any rechargeable item) need to be charged after purchase. They may not be precharged and/or they may be only partially charged.
And batteries are heavy and take up lots of space and would require many deliveries.
"I imagine at some point in time, these people are going to develop a swappable battery."
We already have those (I can remove my car battery in minutes). A standardized pack is useless without a standardized way to get it in and out of a vehicle (it can't be buried deep inside the vehicle). The former is difficult, the latter is real hard. This isn't the world of electric forklifts in a DC.
"As E-cars become more popular, and battery tech evolve, standardized batteries will evolve."
Which isn't enough. You can already swap out batteries-it just takes time and tools. Until you can literally open an external hatch, unplug the pack, and pull the pack out, it won't happen. And that would severly impact vehicle design considerations which makes it even less likely.
And how do you switch batteries in an electric car? I mean seriously. The batteries are removable in the same way a gas tank is removable (well probably not that difficult....)
Switching stations would require standardized battery packs, standardized cars, etc. Very similar to electric powered industrial trucks such as forklifts. Not going to happen.
"I found that in most classes (all but math) that simply going to class, taking good notes, and studying the material with my study group was enough for me to learn it, the book was just dead weight."
I rarely hauled books around, though I did buy them. Mostly as background for notes. They tended to be a poor substitute for good notes for me (but very useful for questions or if I missed lecture). Probably why I rarely made notes in the text.
"Any student going to anything higher than "PassU State Community College" or wanting anything higher than a 2.0 GPA is going to have to take SOME sort of notes at some point."
But those would be lecture notes. I rarely marked texts-the book generally reinforced lectures (what the professor thought was really important). I consider most students highlighting an indication that they don't get the subject material. They routinely marked irrelevant information or marked so much that it became irrelevant.
The only stuff I marked were lab/practical materials. Stuff you used vs read. May certainly be different in other fields, though.
"However, within the confines of a particular exam, where the topic is known, responses are predictable, and all the supplicants hew to the general line, the 'bots can detect subpar, adequate, above average and (sometimes!) abnormally brilliant expository prose, thereby ranking papers reasonably well on the usual six point scale."
Which is the whole point. Essay scoring on standardized tests currently consists of taking a group of people with college degrees and training them to think alike while grading. Inherently difficult.
What's the point of training educated people to think like robots when you can program a computer?
"My personal opinion is that using robots to sort the hopes and aspirations of college-bound men and women is just begging for lawsuits."
It's been done for decades. That's the whole point of entrance/exit exams. Objectively score subjective things. Now they are just adapting multiple guess scoring to essays....
No, but I'm afraid the "woo" may be strong in you...
"...but lab results on some of the genetically modified food have shown stomach cancer in lab rats."
Do you have a citation, maybe to a good published study?
"You think this federal judge ruled against the crop without any reason at all?"
He didn't rule against the crop. He just said that you couldn't claim that there was no significant environmental impact. So an EIS is needed. I would disagree, but I'm not the judge...
Personally, I think he is probably clueless about science.
"Have you read the dense legalese in many laws these days? Also bills are distributed as patches, so it's non-trivial to understand exactly what a given bill will do,...."
Actually, that's the EASY part. After you figure out what the law is, then you have to figure out how it has actually been applied and finally how it has been adjudicated. The law and codes are easy to parse compared to finding some modification in a mass of court decisions that may or may not have the force of law....
"It seems that you are one of the many people here who misunderstand the purpose of Police and believe that they are an agency to aid individuals-in-need like yourself."
True. Unless you are "important" in some way.
Of course they cultivate that very belief in the public, so it isn't unreasonable for people to expect it. After all, if the "public" didn't see them as the "thin blue line" they might become irrelevant (or the thin blue stain....)
Slashdot Mirror
"Try being a surgeon or a lawyer without an education."
Only because it is an entrance requirement. You learn law concepts in a two year law school then mostly on the job training. You learn surgery via many years of residency(aka apprenticeship).
Some education is certainly required. A college degree is not. Colleges have become viewed as essential training grounds for "a good job"; unfortunately they were never designed for this and are failing very expensively.
"Most people with mod points must be lazy and don't browse in full."
Lazy isn't exactly the correct word. A strong desire not to go batshit crazy while being bored to death would be closer to the mark. Unless I am really interested and/or knowledgeable in the topic I tend to moderate only the stuff that is obviously good (or really bad) and I rarely mod stuff up higher than a 3 (you might call it drive by moderating...) I don't closely read subjects that bore me, confuse me and/or cause me indifference. I sure as heck don't subject the poor bastards in those categories to significant moderation-that would be cruel to all parties.
However, your informative post blends nicely into a large group of unremarkable posts. It is something that I would have modded up if I had noticed and had mod points. Might I suggest a title indicating something remarkable? We all hate wading through the crap :)
Oops. Hit the wrong moderation button. Posting to unhose it. :)
Corollary is very true....
"Trust, but verify."
Quite possibly the most annoying and idiotic phrase ever. Verification implies lack of trust.
"I mostly read scifi and/or fantasy because I find it entertaining and interesting, not really to learn the political, sociological or philosophical lessons that might result.."
And reading the "classics" gets you this how? If you find the book boring, you aren't going to learn much. I read a lot of highly rated books in school that were incredibly boring and were probably OVER analyzed in class. More PhD's done on a piece of work equals greater minutiae (essentially mental masturbation) and less valuable insights....
"...what's the plan for recycling these puppies?"
Well we don't recycle asphalt shingles that contain nasty chemicals at the present time. I doubt that these are any worse. Therefore we don't.
As you noted, people will whine. But you don't see them whining about regular shingles. Therefore we ignore them.
"I thought to myself: why isn't his personal PADD just updated? Why the hell would his commander bring in three PADDs when the information could be transferred to just one PADD."
TV is a visual medium. Multiple PADD's imply lots of work where one wouldn't. Dramatic effect.
Of course, it was the military.... :)
"...but memories of the Excel keeps a LOT of potential customers away from their more upscale cars."
Well, it keeps me away from ALL of its cars. I prefer not to buy from a company that sold really crappy cars in the past. I will admit it is not entirely rational, though.
"If someone were to build a whole bunch of standardized nuke plants, they'd be a lot cheaper."
Funny, I've been hearing that for decades. Hasn't happened yet. Probably because they can't be made a lot cheaper. Heck, in Washington, WPPSS tried to build 5 identical plants in the late 70's/early 80's. Still paying for the defaults on that one. Whoops....
"There are hardly any logistics involved, ..."
Huh? What about the large amount of power you will need to keep a continuous supply of fresh batteries. Oh, and how do you get those imaginary standardized battery packs in and out of the cars interior?
Logistics are often a pain in a warehouse running electric vehicles even when the vehicles are designed to for easy battery access. I can't imagine the hell that would be the real world.
"You have also to realize that electricity costs less per mile/Km than petrol."
So? It makes little economic sense to buy a new car to double mileage (or probably even quadruple it) in the US. Maybe in Europe. It costs me less than $1500 to drive 15K miles a year at $3 a gallon. If the costs were to quadruple, it might make sense for me to spend 40 grand on a new electric car. Barely. Of course, that car doesn't even exist.
"I also don't see much need for a hybrid if you have 300-mile/500 Km electric cars. especially if there are battery-switch stations."
Switch stations probably won't exist for technical reasons. At least for a long time.
"Many people don't need 150 mile/200 Km range, and can start the switch petrol --> electric right away."
Sure they may not need them. But they sure want them. I won't pay more for a vehicle that can do less. I suspect many people are like me. The limitations are easier to calculate than any savings.
"Why should the station be charging the batteries?"
For the same reason that rechargeable batteries (or any rechargeable item) need to be charged after purchase. They may not be precharged and/or they may be only partially charged.
And batteries are heavy and take up lots of space and would require many deliveries.
"I imagine at some point in time, these people are going to develop a swappable battery."
We already have those (I can remove my car battery in minutes). A standardized pack is useless without a standardized way to get it in and out of a vehicle (it can't be buried deep inside the vehicle). The former is difficult, the latter is real hard. This isn't the world of electric forklifts in a DC.
"As E-cars become more popular, and battery tech evolve, standardized batteries will evolve."
Which isn't enough. You can already swap out batteries-it just takes time and tools. Until you can literally open an external hatch, unplug the pack, and pull the pack out, it won't happen. And that would severly impact vehicle design considerations which makes it even less likely.
Fast charging is a far better goal.
"No matter what the range is, there is always someone who needs to go a little further."
True. But you don't need to satisfy everyone. Just most of them. Basically overcome the resistance to buy. 500 mile range would be a great help.
"A: Battery switching stations"
And how do you switch batteries in an electric car? I mean seriously. The batteries are removable in the same way a gas tank is removable (well probably not that difficult....)
Switching stations would require standardized battery packs, standardized cars, etc. Very similar to electric powered industrial trucks such as forklifts. Not going to happen.
"Why bother when you can already do this with cameras [infowars.com]?"
Because you could write a ticket EVERY time they exceeded the speed limit.
"I found that in most classes (all but math) that simply going to class, taking good notes, and studying the material with my study group was enough for me to learn it, the book was just dead weight."
I rarely hauled books around, though I did buy them. Mostly as background for notes. They tended to be a poor substitute for good notes for me (but very useful for questions or if I missed lecture). Probably why I rarely made notes in the text.
"Any student going to anything higher than "PassU State Community College" or wanting anything higher than a 2.0 GPA is going to have to take SOME sort of notes at some point."
But those would be lecture notes. I rarely marked texts-the book generally reinforced lectures (what the professor thought was really important). I consider most students highlighting an indication that they don't get the subject material. They routinely marked irrelevant information or marked so much that it became irrelevant.
The only stuff I marked were lab/practical materials. Stuff you used vs read. May certainly be different in other fields, though.
"However, within the confines of a particular exam, where the topic is known, responses are predictable, and all the supplicants hew to the general line, the 'bots can detect subpar, adequate, above average and (sometimes!) abnormally brilliant expository prose, thereby ranking papers reasonably well on the usual six point scale."
Which is the whole point. Essay scoring on standardized tests currently consists of taking a group of people with college degrees and training them to think alike while grading. Inherently difficult.
What's the point of training educated people to think like robots when you can program a computer?
"My personal opinion is that using robots to sort the hopes and aspirations of college-bound men and women is just begging for lawsuits."
It's been done for decades. That's the whole point of entrance/exit exams. Objectively score subjective things. Now they are just adapting multiple guess scoring to essays....
"Some writers do use passive language a lot for legitimate reasons, and when one is writing for science one will be using an awful lot of it."
Maybe. Depends on the gatekeeper of the paper. Some gatekeepers love passive others hate it. Loads of fun....
"Call me a "green" if you wish..."
No, but I'm afraid the "woo" may be strong in you...
"...but lab results on some of the genetically modified food have shown stomach cancer in lab rats."
Do you have a citation, maybe to a good published study?
"You think this federal judge ruled against the crop without any reason at all?"
He didn't rule against the crop. He just said that you couldn't claim that there was no significant environmental impact. So an EIS is needed. I would disagree, but I'm not the judge...
Personally, I think he is probably clueless about science.
"Have you read the dense legalese in many laws these days? Also bills are distributed as patches, so it's non-trivial to understand exactly what a given bill will do,...."
Actually, that's the EASY part. After you figure out what the law is, then you have to figure out how it has actually been applied and finally how it has been adjudicated. The law and codes are easy to parse compared to finding some modification in a mass of court decisions that may or may not have the force of law....
"It seems that you are one of the many people here who misunderstand the purpose of Police and believe that they are an agency to aid individuals-in-need like yourself."
True. Unless you are "important" in some way.
Of course they cultivate that very belief in the public, so it isn't unreasonable for people to expect it. After all, if the "public" didn't see them as the "thin blue line" they might become irrelevant (or the thin blue stain....)
"What they don't realize is, if my kindle is stolen, and if I am treated like this, I am never buying another product from amazon."
And they probably don't care (or believe you for that matter). After all, the thief or the new owner will buy stuff.