and another thing. Don't forget that this isn't just about Email. They can listen to your voicemails too. Basically this is circumventing wiretapping laws and rights to unreasonable search and seizure because the information is in a digital format. I'm glad I have an answering machine and not voicemail.
There are two main things I find troubling about this: "ANY government entity" and "without a warrant or probable cause"
Think about the potential for abuse and misuse when it's put in that scope. The idea of just allowing an agency like the FBI the power to do this is daunting enough. But now were giving this power to regular cops.
Although he is credited with inventing syllogistic logic he often demonstrates that he doesn't fully understand it. E.g. in Ethics he often "proves" an argument by making the conclusion one of his premises, bad form.
Re:Hope that was a STEEP curve...
on
Helpful Handicap
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· Score: 2, Insightful
First of all, who cares?
Second, couldn't it just be "There are more things in heaven and earth...than are dremt of in your philosophy." instead?
First of all. The extent of my case modding is the large image of tux I traced in pencil on the side that's kept on with duct tape. I'm not sure I agree that case modders are just seeking coolness points from eachother, but more to the point who cares? If the proles want to waste their time with "A largely tastless exercise in naive kitsch"(sp!) let them, so they won't distract the rest of us from our evil plans. But honestly, I think case mods can increase productivity. The main reason I didn't give up on learning Linux was that frigging penguin making me feel guilty when I just wanted to format and intall win2k and now I actually get paid because of knowing Linux.
I can see the Gibsonian beauty of a cold grey box. I don't like the terms form and function because I tend not to think like an engineer (not that it's a bad thing).
But I do understand the beauty inherent to efficiency (e.g. your cold grey box)...
As someone who has taught Windows admins how to run Linux, I have to disagree. To me leaning the command line is something like learning the conjugation and declension paradigms in Latin. At first it seems like it's way too much work and there must be an easier way, but once you get used to it you realize that it was worth the effort because you have a deeper understanding. Now that I know how powerful the command line is the idea of trying to use linux without access to it line is more daunting than learning it ever was.
One caveat: I think that it will in the near future be possible and even preferable to use a gui to administrate Linux, take a look at http://www.webmin.com
Is this insulting or just a bad joke? I don't get it.
If intended to be insulting: In addition to those who may be under some sort of "nanny filter" adults often also do homework. Though some don't bother and instead attempt to make themselves look more intelligent by implying that improving yourself through study is somehow childish.
I'm a student finishing up a double major in Classics and Computer Science (None of the classes I've taken counted for both, in case you're wondering) But I'm always surprised at people's reaction when I tell them I study Latin.
Generally people are impressed but I always feel like they seem me the way computer science people think of someone who still uses their Apple II because they think it's inherently better.
Granted, Latin is hard. Also, it's not like other languages where you can go somewhere far away but still know how to ask where the bathroom is. But the advantages of Latin are totally different.
I think they are similar to the kind of things you would learn from studying logic for example. Learning Latin doesn't have direct practical benefits but it has so many secondary benefits.
First of all, I think vocabulary is one of the biggest. I've always had a large vocabulary but since studying Latin it seems an order of magnitude larger. I think this is because I have some greater degree of fluency, that is I have more confidence that I understand words more fully so I'm not afraid to use unfamiliar ones.
Secondly, Latin teaches grammar. This is probably the most noticable (and annoying) benefit. Our education system is failing to teach kids proper grammar. If you disagree pay attention to the next person you talk to and listen for adverb/adjective confusion. If you don't know those words, I rest my case. Every day, several times a day, I have to resist the urge to strangle someone because they make mistakes that are so blatant to me. This did not happen before I studied Latin.
Finally, I'd say that simply because of it's complexity learning Latin is helpfull to students. A great deal of discipline is required to memorize the paradigmatic forms. I can definately see how learning forms would help mathmatical reasoning, etc.
Anyway to sum up I think you need to look at how learning Latin (or Greek for that matter) affects the way a person thinks in order to see the benefits. If you look for direct benefits to knowing the actual language you won't find many other than reading inscriptions once in a while (which is acutally pretty fun, and it makes you look really smart)
Strangely enough I did exactly what you're talking about earlier this year. I was working for a company that got hit with a pretty hefty fine from Micro$oft for not having enough Win95 licenses or something. They decided they wanted to migrate as many servers as possible to Linux (and maybe some workstations). The main problem was that although the staff was very competent in windows they didn't have enough linux experience to get past the unproductive part of the learning curve. At least from my perspective it was extremely helpfull for people with little experience in Linux to have someone around to help them with the stupid stuff. I was there for two weeks and by the end they were compiling kernels without hesitation.
I'd bet that there are a lot of people who would rather pay someone to come in and train some of their IT staff than give that money to Micro$oft.
>how does the continued existence and use of 2.0, forever, go against your interests?..
That was kindof my point. If people worked at the same company forever this wouldn't be a problem. Imagine that 2.0 doesn't stop being updated when 3.0 comes out, or 4.0, or 5.0, get it. If ten years from now (or whatever) I have to work on a 2.0 it's going to be really annoying.
Ever try to set up a network card in dos? It's friggin hard. You know why? Because windows has a better way of setting up hardware and because everyone's forgotten how to use dos.
Now imagine that kind of difference with a real operating system.
This brings up an intersting point. How many 2.0.x users will actually be affected by this? I've read several posts by people who say they don't use the newest version of 2.0 anyway so if you never get past 2.0.36 what difference does it make how many more versions they come out with.
I'd be interested to see what version other users of 2.0.x use. I'll bet most are in your boat.
This reminds me of a system I worked on while I was a tech at university. They had a special system set up for students with impaired vision which stopped working one day and I spent several hours trying to make sense of the full size isa card with mono sound output (coincidentally the computer had been upgraded since it was built so it also had a regular sound card) that interfaced directly with the huge scanner of the same vintage. This was operated by some proprietary software that was designed to work in Win3.1. The proprietary hardware had actually been upgraded into newer machines several times since it's purchase so it was currently on a fairly decent win95 machine.
I'm not going to say that this system didn't work (at least after I finally fixed it) but after about the third hour I started thinking to myself how easy it would be to write new software that would work with any scanner/soundcard windows supported.
I think 2.0 has a long way to go before it gets to this point but people who are still using it should take a look at the improved features of the new versions and see if it might be worth checking out. Personally I would like to see 2.0 maintained until 3.0 comes out so people have plenty of time to start replacing systems one by one.
!!!!Caution, this post may contain excessive preaching!!!!!
Y'know I think a lot of people go through this kindof thing when trying to use linux. I went through similar problems when I first started with linux, but I think you're selling yourself short. In fact I'd say based on your description of your skills you'd be a perfect candidate for using linux.
I'm not familiar with SuSE 8.0 but I would recommend trying RedHat or Mandrake to start. The other thing I would strongly recommend is using ximian gnome for you desktop. Ximian is very easy to install and comes with a program for upgrading, installing, and uninstalling software that is amazingly easy to use.
The other thing that you should remember is that linux just isn't as polished as Microsoft products, it won't work perfectly right out of the box and sometimes it takes a bit of work to get it to behave correctly especially at first.
Running linux is kindof like doing your own work on your car, it can be a pain at times but there is something so rewarding when it works right.
Why would you have to install more packages? Really you could get X, KDE, Mozilla, OpenOffice, and some games to live quite easily on a 1.5GB. Think about what is acutally in a "full" install; development tools, servers, documentation in every language, and lots of other stuff that is completely useless to someone who is never planning on "looking under the hood" of their OS. I couldn't run linux on 1.5GB but my mother could because she doesn't need all that stuff.
Hmm... maybe this is a stupid question but wouldn't a company want their product to be so well known that they lose their trademark.
I mean, how often do people buy band-aid brand or kleenex brand because they hear those names everytime someone refers to self adhesive bandages or facial tissue.
Sellotape(r) should lighten up and realize that they're getting free advertising.
I think the real concern is that competitors will start calling thier product sellotape pretending to be actual Sellotape(r) but has this kind of thing ever happened? I've never seen facial tissue that wasn't made by kleenex be called kleenex on the box.
The article mentions using carbon to turn the microwaves into heat. I wonder if this experiment could be combined with the plasma one.
The plasma created using the toothpick and glassbowl method would just be superheated carbon, right? It seems like it would absorb the microwaves more easily because the carbon is so spread out when it's in plasma form.
I'm not exactly sure how the engineering would work but I bet you could use a ceramic dish instead of the glass bowl.
That's a good point. I think pre ATX cases blow in instead of out, and they don't have too much trouble. It's kindof a trade off of having dust come in through the fan or through every gap in the case that allows air in, remember if a fan blows out it has to get air from somewhere.
Or how about using a Palm as a detachable faceplate for an MP3 player in a car? It seems like it would be a pretty cheap way to get a backlit touchscreen with relatively high resolution.
Slashdot Mirror
and another thing. Don't forget that this isn't just about Email. They can listen to your voicemails too. Basically this is circumventing wiretapping laws and rights to unreasonable search and seizure because the information is in a digital format. I'm glad I have an answering machine and not voicemail.
There are two main things I find troubling about this: "ANY government entity" and "without a warrant or probable cause"
Think about the potential for abuse and misuse when it's put in that scope. The idea of just allowing an agency like the FBI the power to do this is daunting enough. But now were giving this power to regular cops.
Here here.
Although he is credited with inventing syllogistic logic he often demonstrates that he doesn't fully understand it. E.g. in Ethics he often "proves" an argument by making the conclusion one of his premises, bad form.
First of all, who cares?
Second, couldn't it just be "There are more things in heaven and earth...than are dremt of in your philosophy." instead?
ellipsis!
First of all. The extent of my case modding is the large image of tux I traced in pencil on the side that's kept on with duct tape.
I'm not sure I agree that case modders are just seeking coolness points from eachother, but more to the point who cares?
If the proles want to waste their time with "A largely tastless exercise in naive kitsch"(sp!) let them, so they won't distract the rest of us from our evil plans.
But honestly, I think case mods can increase productivity. The main reason I didn't give up on learning Linux was that frigging penguin making me feel guilty when I just wanted to format and intall win2k and now I actually get paid because of knowing Linux.
Hmmm... well met.
I can see the Gibsonian beauty of a cold grey box. I don't like the terms form and function because I tend not to think like an engineer (not that it's a bad thing).
But I do understand the beauty inherent to efficiency (e.g. your cold grey box)...
Works fine with Mozilla and they raised my limit for me when I needed to buy a plane ticket.
hmmm... "queer faggots" as opposed to all those straight faggots?
Alas, these comments make me sad.
Is there no place for beauty or art that serves no purpose other than being pleasing to the eye.
What is the point of living in a world of cold grey boxes?
As someone who has taught Windows admins how to run Linux, I have to disagree. To me leaning the command line is something like learning the conjugation and declension paradigms in Latin. At first it seems like it's way too much work and there must be an easier way, but once you get used to it you realize that it was worth the effort because you have a deeper understanding. Now that I know how powerful the command line is the idea of trying to use linux without access to it line is more daunting than learning it ever was.
One caveat: I think that it will in the near future be possible and even preferable to use a gui to administrate Linux, take a look at http://www.webmin.com
Is this insulting or just a bad joke? I don't get it.
If intended to be insulting: In addition to those who may be under some sort of "nanny filter" adults often also do homework. Though some don't bother and instead attempt to make themselves look more intelligent by implying that improving yourself through study is somehow childish.
If not intended to be insulting: That was lame.
I'm a student finishing up a double major in Classics and Computer Science (None of the classes I've taken counted for both, in case you're wondering) But I'm always surprised at people's reaction when I tell them I study Latin.
Generally people are impressed but I always feel like they seem me the way computer science people think of someone who still uses their Apple II because they think it's inherently better.
Granted, Latin is hard. Also, it's not like other languages where you can go somewhere far away but still know how to ask where the bathroom is. But the advantages of Latin are totally different.
I think they are similar to the kind of things you would learn from studying logic for example. Learning Latin doesn't have direct practical benefits but it has so many secondary benefits.
First of all, I think vocabulary is one of the biggest. I've always had a large vocabulary but since studying Latin it seems an order of magnitude larger. I think this is because I have some greater degree of fluency, that is I have more confidence that I understand words more fully so I'm not afraid to use unfamiliar ones.
Secondly, Latin teaches grammar. This is probably the most noticable (and annoying) benefit. Our education system is failing to teach kids proper grammar. If you disagree pay attention to the next person you talk to and listen for adverb/adjective confusion. If you don't know those words, I rest my case. Every day, several times a day, I have to resist the urge to strangle someone because they make mistakes that are so blatant to me. This did not happen before I studied Latin.
Finally, I'd say that simply because of it's complexity learning Latin is helpfull to students. A great deal of discipline is required to memorize the paradigmatic forms. I can definately see how learning forms would help mathmatical reasoning, etc.
Anyway to sum up I think you need to look at how learning Latin (or Greek for that matter) affects the way a person thinks in order to see the benefits. If you look for direct benefits to knowing the actual language you won't find many other than reading inscriptions once in a while (which is acutally pretty fun, and it makes you look really smart)
Strangely enough I did exactly what you're talking about earlier this year. I was working for a company that got hit with a pretty hefty fine from Micro$oft for not having enough Win95 licenses or something. They decided they wanted to migrate as many servers as possible to Linux (and maybe some workstations). The main problem was that although the staff was very competent in windows they didn't have enough linux experience to get past the unproductive part of the learning curve. At least from my perspective it was extremely helpfull for people with little experience in Linux to have someone around to help them with the stupid stuff. I was there for two weeks and by the end they were compiling kernels without hesitation.
I'd bet that there are a lot of people who would rather pay someone to come in and train some of their IT staff than give that money to Micro$oft.
Hey everybody now you can get your product advertised free by mentioning it in an "ask slashdot"!
Seriously doesn't this just look like an ad for this "fat guy pillow"? I'd never heard of it and clicked the link. How many people bought one?
>how does the continued existence and use of 2.0, forever, go against your interests?..
That was kindof my point. If people worked at the same company forever this wouldn't be a problem. Imagine that 2.0 doesn't stop being updated when 3.0 comes out, or 4.0, or 5.0, get it. If ten years from now (or whatever) I have to work on a 2.0 it's going to be really annoying.
Ever try to set up a network card in dos? It's friggin hard. You know why? Because windows has a better way of setting up hardware and because everyone's forgotten how to use dos.
Now imagine that kind of difference with a real operating system.
This brings up an intersting point. How many 2.0.x users will actually be affected by this? I've read several posts by people who say they don't use the newest version of 2.0 anyway so if you never get past 2.0.36 what difference does it make how many more versions they come out with.
I'd be interested to see what version other users of 2.0.x use. I'll bet most are in your boat.
This reminds me of a system I worked on while I was a tech at university. They had a special system set up for students with impaired vision which stopped working one day and I spent several hours trying to make sense of the full size isa card with mono sound output (coincidentally the computer had been upgraded since it was built so it also had a regular sound card) that interfaced directly with the huge scanner of the same vintage. This was operated by some proprietary software that was designed to work in Win3.1. The proprietary hardware had actually been upgraded into newer machines several times since it's purchase so it was currently on a fairly decent win95 machine.
I'm not going to say that this system didn't work (at least after I finally fixed it) but after about the third hour I started thinking to myself how easy it would be to write new software that would work with any scanner/soundcard windows supported.
I think 2.0 has a long way to go before it gets to this point but people who are still using it should take a look at the improved features of the new versions and see if it might be worth checking out. Personally I would like to see 2.0 maintained until 3.0 comes out so people have plenty of time to start replacing systems one by one.
Read the article.
!!!!Caution, this post may contain excessive preaching!!!!!
Y'know I think a lot of people go through this kindof thing when trying to use linux. I went through similar problems when I first started with linux, but I think you're selling yourself short. In fact I'd say based on your description of your skills you'd be a perfect candidate for using linux.
I'm not familiar with SuSE 8.0 but I would recommend trying RedHat or Mandrake to start. The other thing I would strongly recommend is using ximian gnome for you desktop. Ximian is very easy to install and comes with a program for upgrading, installing, and uninstalling software that is amazingly easy to use.
The other thing that you should remember is that linux just isn't as polished as Microsoft products, it won't work perfectly right out of the box and sometimes it takes a bit of work to get it to behave correctly especially at first.
Running linux is kindof like doing your own work on your car, it can be a pain at times but there is something so rewarding when it works right.
Why would you have to install more packages? Really you could get X, KDE, Mozilla, OpenOffice, and some games to live quite easily on a 1.5GB. Think about what is acutally in a "full" install; development tools, servers, documentation in every language, and lots of other stuff that is completely useless to someone who is never planning on "looking under the hood" of their OS. I couldn't run linux on 1.5GB but my mother could because she doesn't need all that stuff.
Hmm... maybe this is a stupid question but wouldn't a company want their product to be so well known that they lose their trademark.
I mean, how often do people buy band-aid brand or kleenex brand because they hear those names everytime someone refers to self adhesive bandages or facial tissue.
Sellotape(r) should lighten up and realize that they're getting free advertising.
I think the real concern is that competitors will start calling thier product sellotape pretending to be actual Sellotape(r) but has this kind of thing ever happened? I've never seen facial tissue that wasn't made by kleenex be called kleenex on the box.
The article mentions using carbon to turn the microwaves into heat. I wonder if this experiment could be combined with the plasma one.
The plasma created using the toothpick and glassbowl method would just be superheated carbon, right? It seems like it would absorb the microwaves more easily because the carbon is so spread out when it's in plasma form.
I'm not exactly sure how the engineering would work but I bet you could use a ceramic dish instead of the glass bowl.
That's a good point. I think pre ATX cases blow in instead of out, and they don't have too much trouble. It's kindof a trade off of having dust come in through the fan or through every gap in the case that allows air in, remember if a fan blows out it has to get air from somewhere.
Or how about using a Palm as a detachable faceplate for an MP3 player in a car? It seems like it would be a pretty cheap way to get a backlit touchscreen with relatively high resolution.
Survey says: Offtopic.
Where are moderator privlidges when I need them?