... Also, lasers don't go "pyew pyew!" and even if they did you wouldn't be able to hear them through a vacuum.
The plasma cannon actually do cause sound. The plasma containment fields surrounding the "projectile" are quite intense. They have effects out some distance, and when the traces of those fields impact your hull that causes it to vibrate. This causes sound inside the air-filled compartments. Remember: theory only works in theory. In practice things are a lot more complicated!
Star Trek used a lot of magic wands during its various series and movies, it's more of a Science Fantasy than Science Fiction. And some of us probably spent too much time thinking about logical consistencies, unless they're writers themselves....
We live some of the science fiction "magic wands" that I read about as a boy. They had electric cars back in the 1800's, but the power source was always the problem. The battery pack in a Tesla is pure science fiction to me! I actually read about pocket phones with world-wide connection, in a science fiction story once. And the kids at school scoffed at the idea! And, the rate of advance is accellerating.
... The whole point of the 2nd Amendment was that leaders of the time were very distrustful of a standing professional army, and so preferred the idea of an armed citizenry that could be called up when needed. This whole idea was quickly proven to be unworkable (at least in the opinion of the leaders of the time). So the whole thrust of the 2nd Amendment was discarded perhaps 20 years after it was ratified, when congress started to fund standing armies....
That's true, pretty much. But keep in mind that the criticisms of the militia at the time were from regular military people who saw it as undiciplined, meaning lacking "spit and polish". Many Militias were less than effective and short on training, but some critics just objected to "non-European" fighting methods.
However, the distrust of a government standing army still exists (with reason). So the need for citizen militia still exists.
The point, though, is that every country that has disarmed the citizens has had very bad things happen, much worse that any dangers listed in this thread.
... We already regulate the sawed-off version of shotguns, fully automatic rifles, etc....
The court case that banned sawed-off shotguns was a mistake in fact. The judge ruled that, because sawed-off shotguns were of no use to the military, then they could be banned. But he was wrong, shotguns (sawed-off and not) have been used in every war by our military.
And banning the rifles is double-wrong, because they sited the previous shotgun case. But the rifles are the same as used by the military, so the decision did not apply !
The term "well regulated" in the constitution refers to "using the same supplies and hardware". It means that citizens need to be able to own military arms so that in time of war they could be supplied through the regular supply systems.
... Witness the latest law in right-leaning Georgia to allow concealed carry in bars where people will be intoxicated while armed.
I mean, why did anyone think that was a good idea?
Because any place that is designated as a "gun-free zone" thereby becomes a place of danger. Nowdays they are refered to as "Rob Me zones". Just look at what happened to the schools !
... Can't you see that this is all an attempt to make people be afraid, very afraid? And to also not trust any external agency to protect you from all these threats. Why? Because that fear motivates people to buy guns, which enhances the profits of all those gun manufacturers that bankroll the NRA.
It a wonderful racket.
The police in most countries are not tasked with protecting the citizens, even though they do their best at it. Instead it is their job to arrest criminals, which is actually quite different. It is assumed that citizens protect themselves. There are countries where the police are tasked with protecting individual citizens. They are called "police states", and it is generally agreed that no-one really wants to live there. Look it up...
"I have no qualms with the idea of personally and professionally leveling the life of someone who has attempted to profit from disarming me and my fellow Americans," one commenter wrote."...The above quote is a not so veiled threat and yes the poster has a right to question whether the person behind the quote is somebody who should be trusted with a gun, - constitutional rights aside.
That is indeed a veiled threat, but you do not know who that was that said it. Considering the actions taken, in the past, by zelots who want to disarm the public, it could very well have been said by one of the "gun-banners" as a psy-op. And if you see gun owners as crazed ignorant savages, then you have already drunk the "kool-aid" of the psy-op war.
The top 1% paid 35% of the tax(2011), and not 70%, and they pay less in all other taxes....
Personally, I think maybe everyone should pay the same amount of dollars in taxes. And, anyone who can't pay should be sent to the labor battalions! 8-{
Corded phones are much more reliable than cellphones, unless you never have any interference on your cell phone. Modern corded phones do not "drop out" or loose connection, and a bad connection does not look good for you or your company.
After all, cellphones are basically a "walkie-talkie" like the kids used to play with. Twin channels for full duplex and a tower to relay, but still... And the digital packet modulation does not prevent noise, it just stops you hearing it.
I use cellphones for portability, but a corded phone when at my desk. And I try not to call customers from the cellphone.
If the customer wants to do something with the software, then (if at all possible) it should work. There is more than one way to do things, and you don't get to decide what way the customer uses. Not if you want to succeed! Successful software gives the customers more choices, not less, and makes it easy to set the choices they want. That's what a good UI is -for-.
Because it's a nice civilized thing to do, to support your fellow space-rock-travelers in times of need.
Helping your fellow people is a good thing. But it is not business, it's charity. If you try to make business into charity you just destroy it.
Destroying things that are working, before you have something better, is a really bad idea. It's like quitting your job because you think you might someday have a better one. Not good tactics.
You might be familiar with the concept, that generalizing results requires a certain minimum sample size to be "statisticly significant". Well, the results are also not significant if they are applied to a group that is -smaller- than that sample size, such as only one!
It's incorrect to assume the majority of the poor are minorities.
Actually, where I grew up, the blacks looked down on the poor whites and did not want to associate with them.
Also: In decending order, lies, damned lies and statistics. Never trust one of those "studies" until you see their actual data. And then still don't trust it...
Because just shooting things gets booring. Shooting things for a reason is more fun.
It depends whether you want to make a game that will last a week or two, or you want a game that will last a year or two. Assume the buyer is only going to buy so many games in a year, but might buy Downloadable Content if they like the game.
Like a lot of these questions, the answer is the same as a multiple-choice question when you were in school: All of the above. Assume that only one thing is acting, and you will find yourself "up the preverbial polluted waterway without a means of propulsion."
Never trust a poll until you can see how the questions are worded.
Also: Many people, when asked a question they have not thought of recently, will not want to admit ignorance and will make something up for an answer. That applies to everyone, including the scientists !
Note that the video clip of the federal agent on the roof, getting hit by shots from below the roof, was actually shots from a fellow agent that had just gone in the window and down the steps.
But they blamed it on the citizens in order to protect the careless agent.
Either the citizens were very bad shots, or they started out shooting to miss...
... His work was reviewed, but the reviewer also missed the error, and it was included in the released version of OpenSSL."
So where is the apology from the Reviewer? They are just as at-fault as the programmer ! Not to mention the people in the user companies that checked it...
* Learn systems, and programming, and all that other crap but you were going to do that anyway. Linux and the cool stuff are fine, just remember to learn Windows too. Enjoy it. It won't be the worst system you'll use by any stretch.
* Use whatever system they give you. You'll learn something from everything you use. If someone pulls a 1978 CADO Systems CAT III out of a closet and needs you to retrieve financials from it, you'll learn the wonders of 8086 multi-user programming and hashed files.
* Take an accounting class. Hell, take two. Business classes are helpful as well. See things from your employer's and their client's perspective. Look at double-entry bookkeeping as a wonderful checksum and transaction based system. Speak to them in their own language.
* Try data entry for a spell. Barring that, go quietly watch your users work. Don't tell people how to use your software, watch how they use it. Nobody wants to click a mouse when they're being read columns of numbers over a telephone by a busy accountant.
* Make yourself useful. If you're not useful there, go find somewhere else to work.
Well now, that's what all of us should be doing, regardless of what machines we use or what software we make. If you are only looking to work on your own new stuff, then you are looking for a hobby, not a job.
It happens all of the time. "Hollywood" people don't actually know what makes a show successful, so they go with whatever seems to be in the last successful show. They don't undestand what -really- made it work, so they sieze on what they can do easily. They often end up forcing stuff that was actually bad for the show, or stuff that can't work in the new show. It's basically a form of superstition, like "what was there must be the reason for it." The consultant has destroyed something that might have been a big success. If you want to be successful, listen to consultants but take what they say "with a large grain of salt".
Slashdot Mirror
... Also, lasers don't go "pyew pyew!" and even if they did you wouldn't be able to hear them through a vacuum.
The plasma cannon actually do cause sound.
The plasma containment fields surrounding the "projectile" are quite intense. They have effects out some distance, and when the traces of those fields impact your hull that causes it to vibrate. This causes sound inside the air-filled compartments.
Remember: theory only works in theory. In practice things are a lot more complicated!
Star Trek used a lot of magic wands during its various series and movies, it's more of a Science Fantasy than Science Fiction. And some of us probably spent too much time thinking about logical consistencies, unless they're writers themselves. ...
We live some of the science fiction "magic wands" that I read about as a boy.
They had electric cars back in the 1800's, but the power source was always the problem. The battery pack in a Tesla is pure science fiction to me!
I actually read about pocket phones with world-wide connection, in a science fiction story once. And the kids at school scoffed at the idea!
And, the rate of advance is accellerating.
... Well, we've had that for 200 years now and haven't had a tyrannical government.
In the history of human civilization, 200 years is a -very- short time.
And we may already be seeing signs of it...
... The whole point of the 2nd Amendment was that leaders of the time were very distrustful of a standing professional army, and so preferred the idea of an armed citizenry that could be called up when needed. This whole idea was quickly proven to be unworkable (at least in the opinion of the leaders of the time). So the whole thrust of the 2nd Amendment was discarded perhaps 20 years after it was ratified, when congress started to fund standing armies. ...
That's true, pretty much. But keep in mind that the criticisms of the militia at the time were from regular military people who saw it as undiciplined, meaning lacking "spit and polish". Many Militias were less than effective and short on training, but some critics just objected to "non-European" fighting methods.
However, the distrust of a government standing army still exists (with reason). So the need for citizen militia still exists.
The point, though, is that every country that has disarmed the citizens has had very bad things happen, much worse that any dangers listed in this thread.
... We already regulate the sawed-off version of shotguns, fully automatic rifles, etc. ...
The court case that banned sawed-off shotguns was a mistake in fact. The judge ruled that, because sawed-off shotguns were of no use to the military, then they could be banned. But he was wrong, shotguns (sawed-off and not) have been used in every war by our military.
And banning the rifles is double-wrong, because they sited the previous shotgun case. But the rifles are the same as used by the military, so the decision did not apply !
The term "well regulated" in the constitution refers to "using the same supplies and hardware". It means that citizens need to be able to own military arms so that in time of war they could be supplied through the regular supply systems.
... Witness the latest law in right-leaning Georgia to allow concealed carry in bars where people will be intoxicated while armed.
I mean, why did anyone think that was a good idea?
Because any place that is designated as a "gun-free zone" thereby becomes a place of danger. Nowdays they are refered to as "Rob Me zones". Just look at what happened to the schools !
... Can't you see that this is all an attempt to make people be afraid, very afraid? And to also not trust any external agency to protect you from all these threats. Why? Because that fear motivates people to buy guns, which enhances the profits of all those gun manufacturers that bankroll the NRA.
It a wonderful racket.
The police in most countries are not tasked with protecting the citizens, even though they do their best at it. Instead it is their job to arrest criminals, which is actually quite different. It is assumed that citizens protect themselves.
There are countries where the police are tasked with protecting individual citizens. They are called "police states", and it is generally agreed that no-one really wants to live there. Look it up...
"I have no qualms with the idea of personally and professionally leveling the life of someone who has attempted to profit from disarming me and my fellow Americans," one commenter wrote." ...The above quote is a not so veiled threat and yes the poster has a right to question whether the person behind the quote is somebody who should be trusted with a gun, - constitutional rights aside.
That is indeed a veiled threat, but you do not know who that was that said it. Considering the actions taken, in the past, by zelots who want to disarm the public, it could very well have been said by one of the "gun-banners" as a psy-op.
And if you see gun owners as crazed ignorant savages, then you have already drunk the "kool-aid" of the psy-op war.
The top 1% paid 35% of the tax(2011), and not 70%, and they pay less in all other taxes....
Personally, I think maybe everyone should pay the same amount of dollars in taxes.
And, anyone who can't pay should be sent to the labor battalions! 8-{
How do you like them apples !
Corded phones are much more reliable than cellphones, unless you never have any interference on your cell phone. Modern corded phones do not "drop out" or loose connection, and a bad connection does not look good for you or your company.
After all, cellphones are basically a "walkie-talkie" like the kids used to play with. Twin channels for full duplex and a tower to relay, but still...
And the digital packet modulation does not prevent noise, it just stops you hearing it.
I use cellphones for portability, but a corded phone when at my desk. And I try not to call customers from the cellphone.
If the customer wants to do something with the software, then (if at all possible) it should work.
There is more than one way to do things, and you don't get to decide what way the customer uses. Not if you want to succeed!
Successful software gives the customers more choices, not less, and makes it easy to set the choices they want. That's what a good UI is -for-.
Drive as though your life depended on it... Because it really does!
Because it's a nice civilized thing to do, to support your fellow space-rock-travelers in times of need.
Helping your fellow people is a good thing. But it is not business, it's charity. If you try to make business into charity you just destroy it.
Destroying things that are working, before you have something better, is a really bad idea. It's like quitting your job because you think you might someday have a better one. Not good tactics.
Note that statistics do not apply to individuals.
You might be familiar with the concept, that generalizing results requires a certain minimum sample size to be "statisticly significant".
Well, the results are also not significant if they are applied to a group that is -smaller- than that sample size, such as only one!
This mistake is the cause of many evils...
Nice theory, but there are more poor whites than blacks, therefore more poor white folks exposed to lead plumbing than poor blacks.
Just a statistical fact - while 13% of blacks are poor, 6% of whites are also classified as poor, yet whites out-number blacks almost five to one...
It's incorrect to assume the majority of the poor are minorities.
Actually, where I grew up, the blacks looked down on the poor whites and did not want to associate with them.
Also: In decending order, lies, damned lies and statistics.
Never trust one of those "studies" until you see their actual data. And then still don't trust it...
Because just shooting things gets booring. Shooting things for a reason is more fun.
It depends whether you want to make a game that will last a week or two, or you want a game that will last a year or two. Assume the buyer is only going to buy so many games in a year, but might buy Downloadable Content if they like the game.
Like a lot of these questions, the answer is the same as a multiple-choice question when you were in school: All of the above.
Assume that only one thing is acting, and you will find yourself "up the preverbial polluted waterway without a means of propulsion."
If you have a TV and a refrigerator, indoor plumbing and a roof over your head, then you are rich by the standards of most of the world !
Never trust a poll until you can see how the questions are worded.
Also: Many people, when asked a question they have not thought of recently, will not want to admit ignorance and will make something up for an answer. That applies to everyone, including the scientists !
Note that the video clip of the federal agent on the roof, getting hit by shots from below the roof, was actually shots from a fellow agent that had just gone in the window and down the steps.
But they blamed it on the citizens in order to protect the careless agent.
Either the citizens were very bad shots, or they started out shooting to miss...
... His work was reviewed, but the reviewer also missed the error, and it was included in the released version of OpenSSL."
So where is the apology from the Reviewer? They are just as at-fault as the programmer !
Not to mention the people in the user companies that checked it...
Cement simple?
Do -you- know how to make cement? Not how to mix the powder with water, but how do you make that "magic" powder?
Among other things, it requires baking at high temperature...
* Learn systems, and programming, and all that other crap but you were going to do that anyway. Linux and the cool stuff are fine, just remember to learn Windows too. Enjoy it. It won't be the worst system you'll use by any stretch.
* Use whatever system they give you. You'll learn something from everything you use. If someone pulls a 1978 CADO Systems CAT III out of a closet and needs you to retrieve financials from it, you'll learn the wonders of 8086 multi-user programming and hashed files.
* Take an accounting class. Hell, take two. Business classes are helpful as well. See things from your employer's and their client's perspective. Look at double-entry bookkeeping as a wonderful checksum and transaction based system. Speak to them in their own language.
* Try data entry for a spell. Barring that, go quietly watch your users work. Don't tell people how to use your software, watch how they use it. Nobody wants to click a mouse when they're being read columns of numbers over a telephone by a busy accountant.
* Make yourself useful. If you're not useful there, go find somewhere else to work.
Well now, that's what all of us should be doing, regardless of what machines we use or what software we make. If you are only looking to work on your own new stuff, then you are looking for a hobby, not a job.
It happens all of the time. "Hollywood" people don't actually know what makes a show successful, so they go with whatever seems to be in the last successful show. They don't undestand what -really- made it work, so they sieze on what they can do easily. They often end up forcing stuff that was actually bad for the show, or stuff that can't work in the new show.
It's basically a form of superstition, like "what was there must be the reason for it."
The consultant has destroyed something that might have been a big success. If you want to be successful, listen to consultants but take what they say "with a large grain of salt".
"90 percent of -anything- is bullshit."