There's a difference between "makes mistakes from time to time" (as all people do) and "can't figure out how to check email without bringing down the network, deleting half of the files from the shared network drive, and blames it all on the evil computer / IT guy".
Unfortunately, I've worked with way too many of the latter who blame me because they're too stupid to even be allowed within 100 yards of a computer. Here's the real kicker with it too - they're engineers.....
who when reading " In honor of the 10th anniversary, a new game is being released for the Dreamcast, called Rush Rush Rally Racing. " Was expecting the game to be called "Rush Rushed Out the Door"?
People always say we need space exploration because of the technological advances it gives us - yet businesses have much more incentive to research those technological advances (if they're really beneficial) than the government does.
I'm all for learning for the sake of learning, but not at the expense of billions of dollars of taxpayers money per year, especially when I can't think of much that it's given us since the 70's.
NASA is outdated and no longer serves a very viable purpose. Yes, 50 years ago it was necessary (well maybe not necessary, but at least helpful) to have the government organize space flight and research. However, the knowledge and technology is there (as has been shown by the X-Prize) for space exploration to go private. Private companies will achieve the results that we need while costing significantly less. Universities can also collaborate with companies to further research. Slashdot is always so full of people complaining about massive corporations getting government money, so why not have corporations that need satellites start paying the cost for getting those satellites up there instead of taxpayers?
It's time for NASA and it's massive cost to society to be put to an end.
Except that with a universal assembler, labor would be almost meaningless. There would be a few tasks left where labor would be needed, but if you can use a universal assembler to obtain any object you want, what motivation is there to do labor?
It's an interesting idea to think about...I doubt that a universal assembler will ever be possible (we may make something that's say 90% close to a universal assembler) so I suppose it's not that important to think about, but still, how WOULD society function if anyone could have every object they desire at the push of a button?
When I was majoring in CS a 4-5 years back, the mandatory spyware (Cisco Clean Access Agent - the reason I despise anything with the Cisco name on it) was only required if you ran Windows. If you ran Mac or Linux, you were not required to because you were not susceptible to the malware / viruses they so feared.
Besides, the viruses cam from Johnny Football player who thinks Windows is the only OS in existence downloading porn from bad sites that caused the problems, so targeting Windows only was pretty obvious.
If we had universal assemblers, at first they would only be available to the super rich......who could then use them to amass even more money.
Lets say, theoretically, that it somehow came about so that universal assemblers were cheap - all you'd have to do is come up with enough to buy one and you're set. The only problem is, money would be meaningless once universal assemblers exist. Barter would also be meaningless because anyone could make a copy of anything they wanted. So then we're left with the problem of how does one acquire anything (money or object) with which to trade in exchange for a universal assembler? The only thing left would be skills - making an original piece of art, fixing a broken object for someone, writing original code, etc. The problem there is that not everyone has worthwhile skills.
Don't be absurd, did you even look at the picture of the gun? There's no reason to carry what looks like a sniper rifle out in public.
I did look at it - it's so comically oversized and fake looking that I don't see how anyone but a child could mistake it for a real gun.
Awww, little guy needs a mob to back him up? Even with all his swords and guns? It's the people who feel they need to carry weapons who are the cowards. I don't carry a gun because I can handle myself without one.
I don't own a gun and I'm willing to bet that I could take you out just fine on my own with no weapons. However, a show of force to get the message out how many people are sick of incompetent cowards like you might get others of your kind to leave people alone and quit crying about everything.
See above. The fact that you threaten me over the internet, and even then admit you need a "mob" to help you, tells me all I need to know about you. Some pasty, white, suburban, middle class kid who probably crosses over to the other side of the street when he sees someone who he thinks is scary.
I wasn't threatening you, merely stating a fact that our society is being over run by irrational cowards and something needs to be done about it. I never said I need a mob (read above as to why I'd go for an old-fashioned lynching). I've probably spent more time in some of the worst neighborhoods in major cities than you have, and I never felt worried (hell, I laughed at my friends who were scared going through there) because I know that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
Not that long ago (50 years, tops) no one freaked out if you had a gun. This childish fear of guns only came about in recent times when it became less common for people to be around guns (due to fewer people hunting, primarily due to living in big cities). People fear what they do not understand - to them a gun is a scary magical thing that can kill you even if no one is holding it (kind of like how the moronic masses think that there's a magic key on the keyboard that will delete every file on your computer if you hit it while in a word processor). You do not have experience with guns and as such, they are foreign to you and you fear them. I suggest you take a class or go to a firing range and get over your phobia.
The only people who see a gun and freak out or think that guns are something to be afraid of are those who've never handled a gun.
Cops responding to a call freak out when they see a gun. But wait, drawing ones own weapon is not freaking out, but calling 911 is. I see.
Well that's because police / military don't think anyone should be allowed to have a weapon but them (how convenient for them - they can do whatever they want and no one is allowed to try to stop them).
I'd love to see some sort of "how to handle being out among other people" class for gun owners, so they are reminded that not everyone shares their fetish for weapons.
People like you who run screaming when they see a gun are just as immature as people who run screaming when they see a woman breast feeding in public. No one is being hurt. If someone has a gun and says "I'm going to kill you" or starts pointing it at people, you have every reason to run / call for help. However, if they are walking with it in a holster or just carrying it, that is no reason to freak out.
And yes, calling 911 just because someone was carrying a gun from point A to point B IS freaking out and acting irrationally. I do not own a gun, I probably never will. However, I'm adult enough to realize that a gun in and of itself does not pose any more threat than any other inanimate object. A gun, a bomb, a knife, or any other object is only as dangerous as the person wielding it.
I'd trust the average thug on the street over the average cop. At least you know that if the thug attacks you that you won't be crucified by the entire country for fighting back.
1) I'm talking about kitchen knives, not combat / hunting knives.
2) The person I was replying to was talking about FAKE GUNS you incompetent shit. Learn to read and you might realize that the things you're bitching about are completely off topic.
3) Brian Cox has lived in the U.K. and the U.S. - that makes him qualified to talk about the differences in laws and how the societies treat their citizens.
4) How did I show idiocy? By knowing that the person I was replying to was talking about FAKE GUNS while you weren't smart enough to realize that?
5) I've only even HEARD of (let alone met or interacted with) a handful of people from the U.K. that disagree with the Orwellian path that the U.K. is on. Just about every person from the U.K. I've heard of, talked to, interacted with on forums like slashdot, or is a friend of another friend in the U.K. thinks that these idiotic fascist policies are just wonderful. That makes my use of "you people" a pretty valid generalization.
Brian Cox moved because it's where his career took him - he didn't leave because he thought the U.K. was bad. It wasn't until after he left and realized how much better citizens were treated in the U.S. that he started commenting on the sad state of the U.K.
I own swords. So you're saying if I'm walking from my car to a friends house that I should be arrested for carrying it calmly?
In my state, it's perfectly legal to carry concealed weapons (as long as you have a permit), so even if I was in line at a Wendy's and saw someone with a gun tucked under their shirt, I wouldn't think much about it. Now if they looked like they were casing the joint and had a gun, then I'd think something was up. Not because they had a gun, but because they were acting suspicious.
Carrying a gun over your shoulder or in your arms is NOT means for panic. If you bothered to RTFA, you'd know he wasn't going around pointing it at anyone, he simply picked it up and carried it.
If you actually think that the average ego obsessed cop should be trusted to use their weapon judiciously, then I feel very sorry for you. The news is rampant of cops abusing their power and using excessive force (often in situations where no force was necessary).
Yet you're perfectly ok with people being able to allow knives, which are infinitely more dangerous? Glad I don't like in the U.K.
I may love the creative things that come out of the U.K., but good god you people are idiots when it comes to common sense and freedom. Brian Cox even said point blank in an interview on Top Gear about a year ago that since he moved from the U.K. to the U.S. he's realized just how horrible the U.K. is about violating people's rights.
And what if that guy had been toting a bundle of bricks? A bundle of bricks can kill just as much as a gun can, yet no one freaks out about that. Or he could have been carrying cutlery - another great way to kill people, yet I'm sure no one would've called about that either.
The only people who see a gun and freak out or think that guns are something to be afraid of are those who've never handled a gun. That is why, as much as I'm against government intervention, I'd be glad to see some sort of "how to handle a gun" class that is mandatory for everyone to take. Then all of this irrational fear of the unknown would stop.
I was at work a few wees ago and walking out to go for lunch - as I walked out the doors I saw a guy walking in and under his jacket he had a handgun. Did I freak out? Did I call security? Did I pull out my cell phone and call 911? No. I rationally (and correctly) assumed that someone important was around and that the man was a bodyguard. Why? Because I have fired a gun before and realize that there is nothing that makes a gun any more inherently dangerous than any sharp or blunt object.
and if I saw you call the police just because someone was calmly walking around carrying a weapon in broad daylight (a pretty big tip off that they're not going to kill anyone), I might organized a lynch mob to take care of you and protect society from your kind in the future.
I moved a couple months ago and was worried some idiot like you would call the cops of me because they saw me carrying my swords into the new place. Just because you're terrified of anything that moves doesn't give you the right to call the cops on people.
What needs to happen is they need to start fining people who call the cops over nothing. People would learn to think before they act if they knew that it might cost them a couple thousand bucks to be horribly wrong.
I think erring on the side of caution when someone is wielding a dangerous looking weapon in a populated area is appropriate no matter what the gun laws are.
Too true. I suggest we call the police every time we see a police officer, government agent, or security guard with a gun. Maybe once they've been harassed enough over their own people just walking around minding their own business, they'll piss off when citizens are just walking around minding their own business.
I really don't understand how my brothers both became police officers when it seems that more than 99% of what police officers do these days is just harass people trying to go about their daily business.
Or when you paid for the cd. Just because you made an mp3 and listen to it on your iPod doesn't mean you should have to pay for it again. You paid to listen to their music, you can listen to it on whatever device you want.
If anyone whines about Godwin, I swear to god I'll pistol whip you. WWII Germany was brought up and Hitler is essential to understanding it.
Do you also think that it's not worth understanding Hitler's rise to power? If you understand Hitler's rise to power and the tactics he used to get that power, you would realize how scary the current state of the United States is.
I forget who said it, but this quote rings true - "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
what Mark Twain said - "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".
Schools theses days are about indoctrinating and conforming to useless standards, not about learning. If you want to learn, you have to do it outside of school.
True. I love Firefox and have used it for years, but ever since I overclocked my desktop, even though every other application runs dead stable, Firefox crashes on average at least once a minute. It still runs fine on my laptop though....but the crashing on my OC'd system is infuriating.
Slashdot Mirror
There's a difference between "makes mistakes from time to time" (as all people do) and "can't figure out how to check email without bringing down the network, deleting half of the files from the shared network drive, and blames it all on the evil computer / IT guy".
Unfortunately, I've worked with way too many of the latter who blame me because they're too stupid to even be allowed within 100 yards of a computer. Here's the real kicker with it too - they're engineers.....
who when reading " In honor of the 10th anniversary, a new game is being released for the Dreamcast, called Rush Rush Rally Racing. " Was expecting the game to be called "Rush Rushed Out the Door"?
People always say we need space exploration because of the technological advances it gives us - yet businesses have much more incentive to research those technological advances (if they're really beneficial) than the government does.
I'm all for learning for the sake of learning, but not at the expense of billions of dollars of taxpayers money per year, especially when I can't think of much that it's given us since the 70's.
NASA is outdated and no longer serves a very viable purpose. Yes, 50 years ago it was necessary (well maybe not necessary, but at least helpful) to have the government organize space flight and research. However, the knowledge and technology is there (as has been shown by the X-Prize) for space exploration to go private. Private companies will achieve the results that we need while costing significantly less. Universities can also collaborate with companies to further research. Slashdot is always so full of people complaining about massive corporations getting government money, so why not have corporations that need satellites start paying the cost for getting those satellites up there instead of taxpayers?
It's time for NASA and it's massive cost to society to be put to an end.
Except that with a universal assembler, labor would be almost meaningless. There would be a few tasks left where labor would be needed, but if you can use a universal assembler to obtain any object you want, what motivation is there to do labor?
It's an interesting idea to think about...I doubt that a universal assembler will ever be possible (we may make something that's say 90% close to a universal assembler) so I suppose it's not that important to think about, but still, how WOULD society function if anyone could have every object they desire at the push of a button?
When I was majoring in CS a 4-5 years back, the mandatory spyware (Cisco Clean Access Agent - the reason I despise anything with the Cisco name on it) was only required if you ran Windows. If you ran Mac or Linux, you were not required to because you were not susceptible to the malware / viruses they so feared.
Besides, the viruses cam from Johnny Football player who thinks Windows is the only OS in existence downloading porn from bad sites that caused the problems, so targeting Windows only was pretty obvious.
If we had universal assemblers, at first they would only be available to the super rich......who could then use them to amass even more money.
Lets say, theoretically, that it somehow came about so that universal assemblers were cheap - all you'd have to do is come up with enough to buy one and you're set. The only problem is, money would be meaningless once universal assemblers exist. Barter would also be meaningless because anyone could make a copy of anything they wanted. So then we're left with the problem of how does one acquire anything (money or object) with which to trade in exchange for a universal assembler? The only thing left would be skills - making an original piece of art, fixing a broken object for someone, writing original code, etc. The problem there is that not everyone has worthwhile skills.
Don't be absurd, did you even look at the picture of the gun? There's no reason to carry what looks like a sniper rifle out in public.
I did look at it - it's so comically oversized and fake looking that I don't see how anyone but a child could mistake it for a real gun.
Awww, little guy needs a mob to back him up? Even with all his swords and guns? It's the people who feel they need to carry weapons who are the cowards. I don't carry a gun because I can handle myself without one.
I don't own a gun and I'm willing to bet that I could take you out just fine on my own with no weapons. However, a show of force to get the message out how many people are sick of incompetent cowards like you might get others of your kind to leave people alone and quit crying about everything.
See above. The fact that you threaten me over the internet, and even then admit you need a "mob" to help you, tells me all I need to know about you. Some pasty, white, suburban, middle class kid who probably crosses over to the other side of the street when he sees someone who he thinks is scary.
I wasn't threatening you, merely stating a fact that our society is being over run by irrational cowards and something needs to be done about it. I never said I need a mob (read above as to why I'd go for an old-fashioned lynching). I've probably spent more time in some of the worst neighborhoods in major cities than you have, and I never felt worried (hell, I laughed at my friends who were scared going through there) because I know that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
Not that long ago (50 years, tops) no one freaked out if you had a gun. This childish fear of guns only came about in recent times when it became less common for people to be around guns (due to fewer people hunting, primarily due to living in big cities). People fear what they do not understand - to them a gun is a scary magical thing that can kill you even if no one is holding it (kind of like how the moronic masses think that there's a magic key on the keyboard that will delete every file on your computer if you hit it while in a word processor). You do not have experience with guns and as such, they are foreign to you and you fear them. I suggest you take a class or go to a firing range and get over your phobia.
The only people who see a gun and freak out or think that guns are something to be afraid of are those who've never handled a gun. Cops responding to a call freak out when they see a gun. But wait, drawing ones own weapon is not freaking out, but calling 911 is. I see.
Well that's because police / military don't think anyone should be allowed to have a weapon but them (how convenient for them - they can do whatever they want and no one is allowed to try to stop them).
I'd love to see some sort of "how to handle being out among other people" class for gun owners, so they are reminded that not everyone shares their fetish for weapons.
People like you who run screaming when they see a gun are just as immature as people who run screaming when they see a woman breast feeding in public. No one is being hurt. If someone has a gun and says "I'm going to kill you" or starts pointing it at people, you have every reason to run / call for help. However, if they are walking with it in a holster or just carrying it, that is no reason to freak out.
And yes, calling 911 just because someone was carrying a gun from point A to point B IS freaking out and acting irrationally. I do not own a gun, I probably never will. However, I'm adult enough to realize that a gun in and of itself does not pose any more threat than any other inanimate object. A gun, a bomb, a knife, or any other object is only as dangerous as the person wielding it.
I'd trust the average thug on the street over the average cop. At least you know that if the thug attacks you that you won't be crucified by the entire country for fighting back.
*ahem* Read what the person I responded to was talking about - he was talking about FAKE GUNS. A knife is infinitely more dangerous than a FAKE GUN.
1) I'm talking about kitchen knives, not combat / hunting knives.
2) The person I was replying to was talking about FAKE GUNS you incompetent shit. Learn to read and you might realize that the things you're bitching about are completely off topic.
3) Brian Cox has lived in the U.K. and the U.S. - that makes him qualified to talk about the differences in laws and how the societies treat their citizens.
4) How did I show idiocy? By knowing that the person I was replying to was talking about FAKE GUNS while you weren't smart enough to realize that?
5) I've only even HEARD of (let alone met or interacted with) a handful of people from the U.K. that disagree with the Orwellian path that the U.K. is on. Just about every person from the U.K. I've heard of, talked to, interacted with on forums like slashdot, or is a friend of another friend in the U.K. thinks that these idiotic fascist policies are just wonderful. That makes my use of "you people" a pretty valid generalization.
Brian Cox moved because it's where his career took him - he didn't leave because he thought the U.K. was bad. It wasn't until after he left and realized how much better citizens were treated in the U.S. that he started commenting on the sad state of the U.K.
He was talking about replica guns (read: fake guns). A knife is a infinitely more dangerous than a gun that can't shoot anything.
I own swords. So you're saying if I'm walking from my car to a friends house that I should be arrested for carrying it calmly?
In my state, it's perfectly legal to carry concealed weapons (as long as you have a permit), so even if I was in line at a Wendy's and saw someone with a gun tucked under their shirt, I wouldn't think much about it. Now if they looked like they were casing the joint and had a gun, then I'd think something was up. Not because they had a gun, but because they were acting suspicious.
Pretty soon they'll have "blunt object control" and "fist control" in the U.K. too I suppose....
Carrying a gun over your shoulder or in your arms is NOT means for panic. If you bothered to RTFA, you'd know he wasn't going around pointing it at anyone, he simply picked it up and carried it.
If you actually think that the average ego obsessed cop should be trusted to use their weapon judiciously, then I feel very sorry for you. The news is rampant of cops abusing their power and using excessive force (often in situations where no force was necessary).
Yet you're perfectly ok with people being able to allow knives, which are infinitely more dangerous? Glad I don't like in the U.K.
I may love the creative things that come out of the U.K., but good god you people are idiots when it comes to common sense and freedom. Brian Cox even said point blank in an interview on Top Gear about a year ago that since he moved from the U.K. to the U.S. he's realized just how horrible the U.K. is about violating people's rights.
And what if that guy had been toting a bundle of bricks? A bundle of bricks can kill just as much as a gun can, yet no one freaks out about that. Or he could have been carrying cutlery - another great way to kill people, yet I'm sure no one would've called about that either.
The only people who see a gun and freak out or think that guns are something to be afraid of are those who've never handled a gun. That is why, as much as I'm against government intervention, I'd be glad to see some sort of "how to handle a gun" class that is mandatory for everyone to take. Then all of this irrational fear of the unknown would stop.
I was at work a few wees ago and walking out to go for lunch - as I walked out the doors I saw a guy walking in and under his jacket he had a handgun. Did I freak out? Did I call security? Did I pull out my cell phone and call 911? No. I rationally (and correctly) assumed that someone important was around and that the man was a bodyguard. Why? Because I have fired a gun before and realize that there is nothing that makes a gun any more inherently dangerous than any sharp or blunt object.
Freaking out because someone is holding / carrying a gun is irrational.
Freaking out because someone is pointing a gun at people and acting like they are about to shoot them is rational.
and if I saw you call the police just because someone was calmly walking around carrying a weapon in broad daylight (a pretty big tip off that they're not going to kill anyone), I might organized a lynch mob to take care of you and protect society from your kind in the future.
I moved a couple months ago and was worried some idiot like you would call the cops of me because they saw me carrying my swords into the new place. Just because you're terrified of anything that moves doesn't give you the right to call the cops on people.
What needs to happen is they need to start fining people who call the cops over nothing. People would learn to think before they act if they knew that it might cost them a couple thousand bucks to be horribly wrong.
I think erring on the side of caution when someone is wielding a dangerous looking weapon in a populated area is appropriate no matter what the gun laws are.
Too true. I suggest we call the police every time we see a police officer, government agent, or security guard with a gun. Maybe once they've been harassed enough over their own people just walking around minding their own business, they'll piss off when citizens are just walking around minding their own business.
I really don't understand how my brothers both became police officers when it seems that more than 99% of what police officers do these days is just harass people trying to go about their daily business.
Or when you paid for the cd. Just because you made an mp3 and listen to it on your iPod doesn't mean you should have to pay for it again. You paid to listen to their music, you can listen to it on whatever device you want.
If anyone whines about Godwin, I swear to god I'll pistol whip you. WWII Germany was brought up and Hitler is essential to understanding it.
Do you also think that it's not worth understanding Hitler's rise to power? If you understand Hitler's rise to power and the tactics he used to get that power, you would realize how scary the current state of the United States is.
I forget who said it, but this quote rings true - "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
what Mark Twain said - "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".
Schools theses days are about indoctrinating and conforming to useless standards, not about learning. If you want to learn, you have to do it outside of school.
True. I love Firefox and have used it for years, but ever since I overclocked my desktop, even though every other application runs dead stable, Firefox crashes on average at least once a minute. It still runs fine on my laptop though....but the crashing on my OC'd system is infuriating.