Not to discount the long-term affects that such phenomenon as "global warming" or the "green house effect" **MAY** have some day, but don't you think it is a bit arrogant of us as one of the many species that inhabit the planet Earth to believe that we alone can overtly destroy so much in mere decades that has survived for milleniums.
I am sure that one day my great, great, great, grandchildren will be quite pissed at their ancient relatives for some of the negative and short-sighted activities that we currently engage in that have the potential for long-term repercussions. However, I seriously doubt that anything - good, bad, or indifferent - that has occurred for as short a period as "global warming" will even make good old mother nature twitch.
To me, much of this is brought on by the humans' inherent need to elevate their self-importance in the grand scheme of things. It took years upon years for astronomers to convince the general public that the Earth, and thus humans, were NOT the center of the universe. I foresee the same challenge ahead for enlightened meteorologists who will have to encourage a bit of humility in us all and make us realize that the weather patterns don't revolve around us either.
I think it is quite obvious to everyone that the activity that Napster facilitates IS a blatant act of copyright infringement. The true question, IMHO, is should the goverment (and essentially all of the tax payers) be obligated to pay ungodly ammounts of money in an attempt to uphold a law that will prove to be impossible to enforce. As we have already seen with Gnutella, as long as the user demand is present and the technology is accessible, progams will be written to accommodate their desire to trade information. Seriously, does anyone truly think that if Napster does go away that the approx. 20 MILLION people that currently use it will just roll over and drift off into the sunset...HELL NO. A better program will be designed (Gnutella???) and the whole escapade will flare up again and again.
Now, all of this is not to say that I do not see the many bennefits of copyrights and licensing in the web environment. However, I also believe that there should be certain sects of the internet that are exempt from broad policies that apply in other mediums. One thing I think that law makers and big corporations often forget is that the internet is a virtual world and that sometimes ideas and policies that work well in the material world shouldn't/don't necessarily apply.
First... On a personal note I am a 22 year old with 5 tatoos, 3 earings (used to be 5), and a nipple ring and I do not regret any of it. Why, you might ask? Because I can take out the rings and I can cover my tatoos. What I have done to my body (call it self mutilation if you must)is out of artistic self expression and if I choose I can dress in a manner where anyone and everyone can see this self expression. HOWEVER, I also realize that I want to be a productive part of society. I have a $50,000/year job and wear a suit to work five days a week working as a computer consultant. Furthermore I want to have kids some day, and when I am 40 and at a father/son picnic I don't want my poor kid to get made fun of because his dad looks like a circus side show gone wrong. I believe in self expression, but as with anything I also believe in moderation.
Second... What is up with all these people askin' for pics. I am glad to see so many people read the article, but how about you try reading some of the comments. That is one of the best and most valuable aspects of/. , reader input. Even if you are only viewing comments with a score of 4+ you had to have notice atleast one or two posts about links to pics. Yet I see a dozen requests for pics. Come on folks, repitition is NOT always the secret to sucess, after a while it get's really annoying seeing post after post asking for the same thing. Just my opinion, kill me if you must...
Yes they said they hope to raise about $100 million, but then later in the story it says that they are allowing AOL, Motorola, and Nokia as large investors in 3Com to in buy 4.5% but not more than $225 million. By my calculations if $225 million was 4.5% then the total amount raised would be $5,000,000,000. Yes that's right folks, that is nine zeros better known as $5 Billion dollars. Not to humble IMO...
Is there a button on these things that automatically plays a.wav stating- "You will be assimilated!!!" The borg didn't look as foolish as these poor individuals. My condolences to them all.
This is not only funny, but painfully true. I know people that read/. for no other reason that to get stock tips. And trust me, these non-technical guys don't exactly have the comments turned on. They see a headline, occasionally a story, and then get to e-trade as fast as there little "Internet ONLY" computers will take them. Moderators, I think ya could've been a bit kinder to this one.
O.K., I am ussually not all that concerned about "Big Brother" being around every corner or knowing everything about me, BUT please stop and think about what you are suggesting. With this system what we currently know as privacy would/could all but disappear. Can you imagine if they mandating the wearing of devices such as you just described. If that is what the future holds maybe I should go camping and get lost...on purpose. Just my opinion....the posible implications are a little scary.
O.K., I know I am not the moderator on this, but how did this blatent Advertisement get a zero. I am sorry but I think this should get like a -2. Not that I don't appreciate the tip, but damn it, last I checked free web space doesn't have anything to do with astronomy. So please, don't take huge offense. I will assume you are just trying to be a good lil' slashdotter and help enlighten everyone to this development, but please try and find a slightly more appropriate place to put this.
I can definately see the scientific value of this discovery in the fact that it finally gives HARD evidence to something that has been suspected, theorized, and to certain extents taken for granted- there are other planets out there. However, what I fail to understand is how they have isolated these elements in the atmosphere (not the actual physical process, but rather how they can use that to form a conclusive result). Does that mean that there were no other elements present on the planet or were these just the only substances they could identify. Wouldn't there be too many variables in the transfer of this light through the 50 light years to be that exacting. It seams logical to me as well that it is extremely possible that there are elements and compounds found in these "other worlds" that are nothing like anything we on earth have ever seen (astroid fragments have proven this). So I am just curious how conclusive this discovery really is.
O.k., I agree that the Chinese have been quite hostile of late, but I say we be optomistic. Just because a country has a communist government does not automatically mean they should be america's arch rival. Simply because we have different beliefs in reference to politics doesn't mean that they are not human and therefore similar goals as the rest of us in the free world. Provided their recent actions are genuinely in the name of exploration and the furthering of the human race and not with the intent of taking over the world I say more power to them. The only way we as a people will every truly become the explorers of the universe and galaxy that we someday hope to be ("go where no man has gone before") is if we all band together as the human race and put our resources, knowledge, and know how together and find solutions together. While competing has helped us to reach goals in the past I, for one, believe that the ultimate goal of space exploration will never truly be realized until we all put our petty differences asside and work for a common, human, good. Look what open source has done for the world of software... it has created a true revolution. Until our governments can mature a little and have a simmilar stance of technology w/ regards to advancing the human race and obtaining its goals we will all continue spinning our own wheels blaming and accusing each other while obtaining relatively small victories in the grand scheme of things.
My brother in arms. I am totally with you on everything you said. How much dumber and desperate to make a post can these people get. They can't come up with anything of value, interest, or intelligence to add so they do first posts. Wasting your time, my time, and everyone else's unfortunate enough to have to read it. So slashdot, I politely ask that you do take action against these people, otherwise someone else my have to.
I also read an article thurs. at Tom's about how you can rig you own over clocked amd processor. Obviously you won't hit the insane threshold of 1GHz, but hey, IMHO, every MHz. counts. It was pretty cool and quite indepth, but definitely not a project for anyone afraid of a fair amount of rewiring of their brand new processor.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to discount the long-term affects that such phenomenon as "global warming" or the "green house effect" **MAY** have some day, but don't you think it is a bit arrogant of us as one of the many species that inhabit the planet Earth to believe that we alone can overtly destroy so much in mere decades that has survived for milleniums.
I am sure that one day my great, great, great, grandchildren will be quite pissed at their ancient relatives for some of the negative and short-sighted activities that we currently engage in that have the potential for long-term repercussions. However, I seriously doubt that anything - good, bad, or indifferent - that has occurred for as short a period as "global warming" will even make good old mother nature twitch.
To me, much of this is brought on by the humans' inherent need to elevate their self-importance in the grand scheme of things. It took years upon years for astronomers to convince the general public that the Earth, and thus humans, were NOT the center of the universe. I foresee the same challenge ahead for enlightened meteorologists who will have to encourage a bit of humility in us all and make us realize that the weather patterns don't revolve around us either.
I think it is quite obvious to everyone that the activity that Napster facilitates IS a blatant act of copyright infringement. The true question, IMHO, is should the goverment (and essentially all of the tax payers) be obligated to pay ungodly ammounts of money in an attempt to uphold a law that will prove to be impossible to enforce. As we have already seen with Gnutella, as long as the user demand is present and the technology is accessible, progams will be written to accommodate their desire to trade information. Seriously, does anyone truly think that if Napster does go away that the approx. 20 MILLION people that currently use it will just roll over and drift off into the sunset...HELL NO. A better program will be designed (Gnutella???) and the whole escapade will flare up again and again.
Now, all of this is not to say that I do not see the many bennefits of copyrights and licensing in the web environment. However, I also believe that there should be certain sects of the internet that are exempt from broad policies that apply in other mediums. One thing I think that law makers and big corporations often forget is that the internet is a virtual world and that sometimes ideas and policies that work well in the material world shouldn't/don't necessarily apply.
First... On a personal note I am a 22 year old with 5 tatoos, 3 earings (used to be 5), and a nipple ring and I do not regret any of it. Why, you might ask? Because I can take out the rings and I can cover my tatoos. What I have done to my body (call it self mutilation if you must)is out of artistic self expression and if I choose I can dress in a manner where anyone and everyone can see this self expression. HOWEVER, I also realize that I want to be a productive part of society. I have a $50,000 /year job and wear a suit to work five days a week working as a computer consultant. Furthermore I want to have kids some day, and when I am 40 and at a father/son picnic I don't want my poor kid to get made fun of because his dad looks like a circus side show gone wrong. I believe in self expression, but as with anything I also believe in moderation.
Second... What is up with all these people askin' for pics. I am glad to see so many people read the article, but how about you try reading some of the comments. That is one of the best and most valuable aspects of /. , reader input. Even if you are only viewing comments with a score of 4+ you had to have notice atleast one or two posts about links to pics. Yet I see a dozen requests for pics. Come on folks, repitition is NOT always the secret to sucess, after a while it get's really annoying seeing post after post asking for the same thing. Just my opinion, kill me if you must...
Yes they said they hope to raise about $100 million, but then later in the story it says that they are allowing AOL, Motorola, and Nokia as large investors in 3Com to in buy 4.5% but not more than $225 million. By my calculations if $225 million was 4.5% then the total amount raised would be $5,000,000,000. Yes that's right folks, that is nine zeros better known as $5 Billion dollars. Not to humble IMO...
Is there a button on these things that automatically plays a .wav stating- "You will be assimilated!!!" The borg didn't look as foolish as these poor individuals. My condolences to them all.
This is not only funny, but painfully true. I know people that read /. for no other reason that to get stock tips. And trust me, these non-technical guys don't exactly have the comments turned on. They see a headline, occasionally a story, and then get to e-trade as fast as there little "Internet ONLY" computers will take them. Moderators, I think ya could've been a bit kinder to this one.
O.K., I am ussually not all that concerned about "Big Brother" being around every corner or knowing everything about me, BUT please stop and think about what you are suggesting. With this system what we currently know as privacy would/could all but disappear. Can you imagine if they mandating the wearing of devices such as you just described. If that is what the future holds maybe I should go camping and get lost...on purpose. Just my opinion....the posible implications are a little scary.
O.K., I know I am not the moderator on this, but how did this blatent Advertisement get a zero. I am sorry but I think this should get like a -2. Not that I don't appreciate the tip, but damn it, last I checked free web space doesn't have anything to do with astronomy. So please, don't take huge offense. I will assume you are just trying to be a good lil' slashdotter and help enlighten everyone to this development, but please try and find a slightly more appropriate place to put this.
I can definately see the scientific value of this discovery in the fact that it finally gives HARD evidence to something that has been suspected, theorized, and to certain extents taken for granted- there are other planets out there. However, what I fail to understand is how they have isolated these elements in the atmosphere (not the actual physical process, but rather how they can use that to form a conclusive result). Does that mean that there were no other elements present on the planet or were these just the only substances they could identify. Wouldn't there be too many variables in the transfer of this light through the 50 light years to be that exacting. It seams logical to me as well that it is extremely possible that there are elements and compounds found in these "other worlds" that are nothing like anything we on earth have ever seen (astroid fragments have proven this). So I am just curious how conclusive this discovery really is.
O.k., I agree that the Chinese have been quite hostile of late, but I say we be optomistic. Just because a country has a communist government does not automatically mean they should be america's arch rival. Simply because we have different beliefs in reference to politics doesn't mean that they are not human and therefore similar goals as the rest of us in the free world. Provided their recent actions are genuinely in the name of exploration and the furthering of the human race and not with the intent of taking over the world I say more power to them. The only way we as a people will every truly become the explorers of the universe and galaxy that we someday hope to be ("go where no man has gone before") is if we all band together as the human race and put our resources, knowledge, and know how together and find solutions together. While competing has helped us to reach goals in the past I, for one, believe that the ultimate goal of space exploration will never truly be realized until we all put our petty differences asside and work for a common, human, good. Look what open source has done for the world of software... it has created a true revolution. Until our governments can mature a little and have a simmilar stance of technology w/ regards to advancing the human race and obtaining its goals we will all continue spinning our own wheels blaming and accusing each other while obtaining relatively small victories in the grand scheme of things.
My brother in arms. I am totally with you on everything you said. How much dumber and desperate to make a post can these people get. They can't come up with anything of value, interest, or intelligence to add so they do first posts. Wasting your time, my time, and everyone else's unfortunate enough to have to read it. So slashdot, I politely ask that you do take action against these people, otherwise someone else my have to.
I also read an article thurs. at Tom's about how you can rig you own over clocked amd processor. Obviously you won't hit the insane threshold of 1GHz, but hey, IMHO, every MHz. counts. It was pretty cool and quite indepth, but definitely not a project for anyone afraid of a fair amount of rewiring of their brand new processor.