The premise is that they are coming to Earth to attack it. They must have a reason to attack us if they are doing it, right? Then what could that reason be? Material, food (including us), planet to live on, possibly a few others. If they would like to live on what we would consider an inhabitable planet and want nothing from us, then they would not be attacking us in the first place and you missed the whole point of the question.
You are missing the obvious answer. The answer, in fact, that ancient records say already happened here. And may be the reason that we are here, at all.. They want slaves, to do their work for them. 8-(
But there was a big war, and (hopefully) the ones here now are a bit more humanitarian.
There are an infinity of odd numbers, but none of them are divisible by two. If something's not possible, then it doesn't matter how often you try. The whole "space jump" idea, while neat SF, seems more firmly impossible the more physics we learn, sadly enough.
Actually, each of those add numbers -is- divisible by two. It is just that the answer is not an integer. The universe doesn't care that we prefer counting on our fingers!
All of our laws of physics, and everything else, are just guesses. Some are pretty reliable, like the ones Engineers use, but still just guesses. You can not truthfully say that anything is impossible. Say it is unlikely or very difficult or they are trying to do it the wrong way. But it is not possible to know that it is completely impossible... 8-)
(That's the difference between a Mathemetician and an Engineer, the Mathemetician thinks he can define things as impossible.)
Most people's eyes can actually see the colors fine, but you need to stay outside for several hours for the eyes to get that sensitive. That might be a bit cold in Alaska! 8-)
I have been out at sea, on watch with all lights out at night, and after a while I could see the stars twinkling in color... thought I was having hallucinations at first, but then other people said they could see it too.
It is not just the selfish that can use extortion. It goes like this: "Be polite, because if you piss me off bad enough I will shoot you. I might go to jail for life, but you will be dead." Seems to work here in Virginia... (and y'all wonder why southerners are so polite). 8-)
The math sounds interesting. But all they have really shown, is that the calculations are very sensitive to initial conditions. That is the problem with the calculations for predicting the weather, and you know how good that is... 8-)
So when I'm approached with offers to make more than $10k in a few weeks because I've empirically demonstrated programming skills worth that kind of pay, but I don't get the job because I don't have a degree that cost enough, it's because I'm stupid and lazy?...
No, it's because the person interviewing you is stupid and lazy, You would not like working there anyway... 8-)
... The name "austerity" implies a lot less money spent, but nothing couple be further from the truth.
In htis case, the name "austerity" does not mean less spending, it means less spending -by the govenment-. Unsupported government spending "sucks" value from all of the people through inflation, and thereby dampens the economy.
Government spending can only boost the economy if the spending is from stocks of value that do not cause inflation. Such as contingency funds from previous years or from gold stocks. Otherwise it is counter-productive.
That's an excellent point. Nothing to lose and idle rich don't make for a good democracy.
Except that the poor have more to lose than the rich. It may not be as much money, but they value it more than the rich do. If the rich lose half of what they have, it might not effect how they live at all.
By the way, don't believe all of what your college professors told you. To quote an old saying: "90% of anything is bullshit."
... Vending machines carried them for 50 cents when I was little and in a decade or two they have doubled in prices. This is 90% due to rent seeking of those with capital. They have money and they need to make it grow.
No, actually it is due to the politicians "printing" fiat money to push inflation, becaue they see it as a secret tax on anyone that has money. The effect on the ones that have money is just the opposite of what you think. And if you think it is moral to "soak the rich", consider that inflation hits -anyone- with money, even the poor with a little cash in their pocket. Maybe it hit the rich for $1000 or $100,000 where it only hit the poor for $1, but that dollar hurts the poor just as much.
The people that are considered "poor" in the US still have TVs, refrigerators, bathrooms, and such. Even the homeless have access to them when needed. Ask a person from a "third world" country how many poor are in the US and they will look at you like you have lost your mind! 8-)
How rich the "one percent" are really doesn't matter. At that level it's just "monopoly money" and does not effect anyone else significantly. If they gave all of it away to the poor, all it would do was to cause more inflation...
The second part is the key. If salaried workers went to a 35 hour week, it would be a different picture.
A related issue might be limiting just how 'flexible' a part-time employee's schedule can be. If you're not going to give someone enough hours to live on, you have to accommodate their need for a second job by not expecting them to show up at odd hours or at the drop of a hat.
Y'all sound like you could fix the world, if you could just get control of the world.
No, you couldn't. It's been tried, repeatedly, and the results were really B.A.D. 8-)
All of this is assuming that jobs come from the government, or big monopolistic companies.That is "propaganda" spread by people that want to control the world. In reality, most jobs are with small companies started by one person or a small group. And they can find things to do if they try, because they are doing that now.
What do people do when robots take jobs? Make the plastic spacers used in the robots joints. Or maybe make the same product as the robots, advertise it as "hand made" and charge twice >>> three times as much. People find ways, and then they hire others to help.
That's funny because any time I install Linux from scratch it "just works". Whenever I try this with Windows, it NEVER does.
I can't imagine a normal consumer going through all of that trouble on their own.
The only reason that Windows "works" for anyone (or MacOS for that matter) is that it's already preloaded and ready to go.
If that were true "in general", there would be several hundred thousand people screaming on line. It doesn't, and they aren't. At least not about that, specifically... One advantage of Windows is that they have a -really- big group of "Beta testers". 8-)
I'm a developer. I use Windows 7 at work and at home. Nothing fanatical or religious about it, I just do.
Nice to meet you.
Ha! Me too. What the clients use, is what I use. Not that I don't cuss at it frequently... But once a version gets patched up a bit, it is not bad. And I have heard that Win V8.1 is actually usable! 8-)
Maybe you haven't noticed, but the dollar is not worth nearly as much as it was a "few years ago". Inflation has been running fast for a long time. This is a suprise to us who bought their current car for $12K new, but that was not last year!
I think $35K is not really as high as it sounds to us... 8-)
... He made the point that, when he wrote a spreadsheet, he included error-checking routines, such as calculating things in different ways, that would catch obvious mistakes in the spreadsheet....
Mod this guy up, he has hit the core of the issue. 8-) (Intel from the other side can be very valuable!)
Keep in mind that a lot of companies rely on HR people to do the hiring. And they have no idea at all, what characteristics make a good developer. In those cases, comfort yourself with the idea that you probably "dodged a bullet", you would not have liked the job. In fact, remember that the interview is for You to evaluate Them, not so much the other way. The best thing that helped me with this problem, was a couple of Psychology courses that I took.
Also note my sig line, for the result for those companies...
Most web sites seems to have far more engineering and art than they need, and far less UX that they should. I don't care how pretty and dynamic a site is if the user experience sucks.
I agree with you complaint about a lack of user interface design. But as an Engineer with EE and CS degrees, I would like to point out that what you are complaining about is not engineering. It is a -lack- of Engineering. 8-)
... Copyright is a grant from the public domain for a limited time to promote the useful arts and sciences ONLY. That is, to make more works available. Using it to make something unavailable is the ultimate in abuses and absolutely should cause loss of the copyright. I would go so far as to actually require the release of the source once the term is up (it should probably have to be placed into escrow to get the copyright in the first place).
I agree, it should work like a Patent where they must document and disclose the protected material. At the beginning! That's what happens with copyrighted books, anyway.
... Have you tried to access a hosts file (or anything similar to it) on a gaming system? Sure it's no problem on a PC but have altering that on a Sony or Microsoft console doesn't necessarily seem to be as easy....
The last time I even -saw- a game console was over four years ago. Although I suppose I might have walked ito a store that had some, somewhere... 8-)
If the alternative is said abandoned house is left to become a massive health/fire hazard because no one is legally allowed to touch it and the rightful owners refuse either maintain it, tear it down or sell it, sure. Go ahead and live in that abandoned house.
Around here, the local government will eventually confiscate it and either sell it or tear it down. But it might take a court case, depending on local laws.
Slashdot Mirror
The premise is that they are coming to Earth to attack it. They must have a reason to attack us if they are doing it, right? Then what could that reason be? Material, food (including us), planet to live on, possibly a few others. If they would like to live on what we would consider an inhabitable planet and want nothing from us, then they would not be attacking us in the first place and you missed the whole point of the question.
You are missing the obvious answer. The answer, in fact, that ancient records say already happened here. And may be the reason that we are here, at all.. They want slaves, to do their work for them. 8-(
But there was a big war, and (hopefully) the ones here now are a bit more humanitarian.
There are an infinity of odd numbers, but none of them are divisible by two. If something's not possible, then it doesn't matter how often you try. The whole "space jump" idea, while neat SF, seems more firmly impossible the more physics we learn, sadly enough.
Actually, each of those add numbers -is- divisible by two. It is just that the answer is not an integer. The universe doesn't care that we prefer counting on our fingers!
All of our laws of physics, and everything else, are just guesses. Some are pretty reliable, like the ones Engineers use, but still just guesses. You can not truthfully say that anything is impossible. Say it is unlikely or very difficult or they are trying to do it the wrong way. But it is not possible to know that it is completely impossible... 8-)
(That's the difference between a Mathemetician and an Engineer, the Mathemetician thinks he can define things as impossible.)
I thought humans where a type of monkey and that humans have already turned out all the great books?
Good point!! 8-)
It's like staring at an old TV set that is not tuned to any signal. All you see is "snow". But, every now and then, you see a flash of a picture.
The question is, is it a hallucenation? Or is it real? ... The answer is Yes, to both.
Or as RF Engineers call it: "Noise Aliasing".
If physics doesn't allow for it, it doesn't allow for it anywhere. It doesn't matter how large the Universe happens to be.
If you think we know all about physics, you are way ahead of any physicist that I know of...
It sounds sort of like a primitive 1700s south sea islander, talking about how likely it was that ships could get there. 8-)
Most people's eyes can actually see the colors fine, but you need to stay outside for several hours for the eyes to get that sensitive. That might be a bit cold in Alaska! 8-)
I have been out at sea, on watch with all lights out at night, and after a while I could see the stars twinkling in color... thought I was having hallucinations at first, but then other people said they could see it too.
It is not just the selfish that can use extortion. It goes like this:
"Be polite, because if you piss me off bad enough I will shoot you. I might go to jail for life, but you will be dead."
Seems to work here in Virginia... (and y'all wonder why southerners are so polite). 8-)
The math sounds interesting.
But all they have really shown, is that the calculations are very sensitive to initial conditions. That is the problem with the calculations for predicting the weather, and you know how good that is... 8-)
So when I'm approached with offers to make more than $10k in a few weeks because I've empirically demonstrated programming skills worth that kind of pay, but I don't get the job because I don't have a degree that cost enough, it's because I'm stupid and lazy? ...
No, it's because the person interviewing you is stupid and lazy, You would not like working there anyway... 8-)
... The name "austerity" implies a lot less money spent, but nothing couple be further from the truth.
In htis case, the name "austerity" does not mean less spending, it means less spending -by the govenment-. Unsupported government spending "sucks" value from all of the people through inflation, and thereby dampens the economy.
Government spending can only boost the economy if the spending is from stocks of value that do not cause inflation. Such as contingency funds from previous years or from gold stocks. Otherwise it is counter-productive.
That's an excellent point. Nothing to lose and idle rich don't make for a good democracy.
Except that the poor have more to lose than the rich. It may not be as much money, but they value it more than the rich do. If the rich lose half of what they have, it might not effect how they live at all.
By the way, don't believe all of what your college professors told you. To quote an old saying: "90% of anything is bullshit."
... Vending machines carried them for 50 cents when I was little and in a decade or two they have doubled in prices.
This is 90% due to rent seeking of those with capital. They have money and they need to make it grow.
No, actually it is due to the politicians "printing" fiat money to push inflation, becaue they see it as a secret tax on anyone that has money. The effect on the ones that have money is just the opposite of what you think.
And if you think it is moral to "soak the rich", consider that inflation hits -anyone- with money, even the poor with a little cash in their pocket. Maybe it hit the rich for $1000 or $100,000 where it only hit the poor for $1, but that dollar hurts the poor just as much.
The people that are considered "poor" in the US still have TVs, refrigerators, bathrooms, and such. Even the homeless have access to them when needed. Ask a person from a "third world" country how many poor are in the US and they will look at you like you have lost your mind! 8-)
How rich the "one percent" are really doesn't matter. At that level it's just "monopoly money" and does not effect anyone else significantly. If they gave all of it away to the poor, all it would do was to cause more inflation...
The second part is the key. If salaried workers went to a 35 hour week, it would be a different picture.
A related issue might be limiting just how 'flexible' a part-time employee's schedule can be. If you're not going to give someone enough hours to live on, you have to accommodate their need for a second job by not expecting them to show up at odd hours or at the drop of a hat.
Y'all sound like you could fix the world, if you could just get control of the world.
No, you couldn't. It's been tried, repeatedly, and the results were really B.A.D. 8-)
All of this is assuming that jobs come from the government, or big monopolistic companies.That is "propaganda" spread by people that want to control the world. In reality, most jobs are with small companies started by one person or a small group. And they can find things to do if they try, because they are doing that now.
What do people do when robots take jobs? Make the plastic spacers used in the robots joints. Or maybe make the same product as the robots, advertise it as "hand made" and charge twice >>> three times as much. People find ways, and then they hire others to help.
P.S., Don't drink the coolaid!
Well, that clinches it for me. 2020 is *definitely* the year of the Linux desktop.
Risk a whoosh moment, but BSD != Linux
It's ok, a lot of people don't know that.
Including me, up to a couple of years ago... 8-)
That's funny because any time I install Linux from scratch it "just works". Whenever I try this with Windows, it NEVER does.
I can't imagine a normal consumer going through all of that trouble on their own.
The only reason that Windows "works" for anyone (or MacOS for that matter) is that it's already preloaded and ready to go.
If that were true "in general", there would be several hundred thousand people screaming on line. It doesn't, and they aren't.
At least not about that, specifically...
One advantage of Windows is that they have a -really- big group of "Beta testers". 8-)
I'm a developer. I use Windows 7 at work and at home. Nothing fanatical or religious about it, I just do.
Nice to meet you.
Ha! Me too. What the clients use, is what I use.
Not that I don't cuss at it frequently...
But once a version gets patched up a bit, it is not bad. And I have heard that Win V8.1 is actually usable! 8-)
Genius at marketing maybe. How far would this guy have gotten had his last name been Gutierrez ?
Maybe that -is- his name? How do -we- know?
Also, there is a rumor that he knows something about engineering...
Maybe you haven't noticed, but the dollar is not worth nearly as much as it was a "few years ago". Inflation has been running fast for a long time. This is a suprise to us who bought their current car for $12K new, but that was not last year!
I think $35K is not really as high as it sounds to us... 8-)
... He made the point that, when he wrote a spreadsheet, he included error-checking routines, such as calculating things in different ways, that would catch obvious mistakes in the spreadsheet. ...
Mod this guy up, he has hit the core of the issue. 8-)
(Intel from the other side can be very valuable!)
It depends...
Keep in mind that a lot of companies rely on HR people to do the hiring. And they have no idea at all, what characteristics make a good developer.
In those cases, comfort yourself with the idea that you probably "dodged a bullet", you would not have liked the job. In fact, remember that the interview is for You to evaluate Them, not so much the other way.
The best thing that helped me with this problem, was a couple of Psychology courses that I took.
Also note my sig line, for the result for those companies...
Most web sites seems to have far more engineering and art than they need, and far less UX that they should. I don't care how pretty and dynamic a site is if the user experience sucks.
I agree with you complaint about a lack of user interface design.
But as an Engineer with EE and CS degrees, I would like to point out that what you are complaining about is not engineering. It is a -lack- of Engineering. 8-)
Well ...
"If Engineers built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization!"
... Copyright is a grant from the public domain for a limited time to promote the useful arts and sciences ONLY. That is, to make more works available. Using it to make something unavailable is the ultimate in abuses and absolutely should cause loss of the copyright. I would go so far as to actually require the release of the source once the term is up (it should probably have to be placed into escrow to get the copyright in the first place).
I agree, it should work like a Patent where they must document and disclose the protected material. At the beginning!
That's what happens with copyrighted books, anyway.
... Have you tried to access a hosts file (or anything similar to it) on a gaming system? Sure it's no problem on a PC but have altering that on a Sony or Microsoft console doesn't necessarily seem to be as easy. ...
The last time I even -saw- a game console was over four years ago. Although I suppose I might have walked ito a store that had some, somewhere... 8-)
If the alternative is said abandoned house is left to become a massive health/fire hazard because no one is legally allowed to touch it and the rightful owners refuse either maintain it, tear it down or sell it, sure. Go ahead and live in that abandoned house.
Around here, the local government will eventually confiscate it and either sell it or tear it down. But it might take a court case, depending on local laws.