Except, of course, everything else ends up being worse. At least, in a democracy, there is a way to have a revolution without killing too many people !
You're ignoring the fact that 99% of the populace are too stupid to do anything other than make-work.
You're missing the fact that half of those are smarter than you are. 8-) Seriously, just because you don't understand someone's actions doesn't mean they are stupid.
The public schools are a government monopoly, run by a bureaucracy. That is not good. In Pennsylvania a few years back, the charter schools were paid by the school system bureaucrats. They, of course, made up reasons not to pay them, and the charter schools couldn't pay their people. No wonder they failed. We need something to give people a choice of schools, that is not under the thumb of the bureaucrats. Even if it costs. But competition usually lowers prices, where bureaucrats raise prices. This guy sounds like a shill for the bureaucrats.
For those who have not read it, it speculates that human caused global warming is the only thing holding off the next ice age, which is overdue. Ice a mile high covering new york state !
This. Most arguments are about the definitions of words, but the individuals don't realize it. Fail to defind your terms and you will get much argument, and not even know why they seem to make no sense!
But any company that walks away from 10% - 20% of their user base is making a mistake.
It's not so much of a mistake if a company thinks it can make 30% - 40% more profit off 90% - 80% of users if it makes a business decision to walk away from 10% - 20% of its user base. Nintendo made this decision in 1985 with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and it won the third generation of video game consoles in North America by a large margin.
Maybe, but that's not how it usually happens. It usually turns out that they just didn't do their math correctly ! 8-)
... Just shutting down may be an option if you are writing an iPhone App. If your mission critical flight control system gets corrupt data off the ARINC-429 bus, you better have a plan to deal with it and continue.
This. Many programs do not have the option to shut down. They must at least try to correct the problem, diagnose enough to present a useful error message, or if all else fails shut down the machinery in a non-violent way. The "rule of thumb" is that 60% of a good program is error handling. Even in cell phones or pc's, the user is much happier if it is not always doing what appears as a crash. The Halt on Error is only for when you are in school, where the work does not matter...
I'm under the impression that the majority of home users want an appliance. They demand safety more than freedom because they don't know what they'd do with choice and freedom other than shoot themselves in the proverbial foot. Walled gardens provide this safety....
Walled gardens keep people -in-, as well as out. And, we are not the average user. But any company that walks away from 10% - 20% of their user base is making a mistake.
I realize that you are probably looking for a job, but small companies using specialized custom software can't afford to upgrade it in times like this. It's not a case of buying a new copy of Word or Excel, these programs take 5 years and 5 million dollars to build new. And thats if they can find a programmer that can do it -at all-.
Loosing the use of the existing software may very possibly cause the company to go out of business. That is not a choice.
And for machine-control apps there is a solution to lack of security updates. Disconnect it from the internet !
Irregardless of what you say, "should of" works for all intensive purposes. Pacifically when writing informally, anyways. What else is one suppose to do in this case and point?
The average of 101, 101, 101, and 97 is 100, but 3/4 of the sample is above the average. Also, since it's an extremely large sample size and there's a relatively large number of people who are exactly average intelligence, the number of people below (and above) the average will be less than 50%.
Actually, very few people are exactly average in anything. Or even close.
Depending, of course, on your definition of "close". 8-)
Things like this require development test runs, and test data can be expensive to obtain and verify. They might very well have saved money doing it this way. And, avoided controversy about the reality of the data chosen, by stating it is fictional.
A question not being discussed is whether the automatic stuff actually makes it Safer.
Example: Anti-lock brakes are safer for untrained drivers. But for someone who is accustomed to pumping the brakes in varying patterns to match the road surface, anti-lock brakes are Not safer. Particularly if the driver does not know, or does not remember, that the vehicle has anti-lock brakes. Pumping anti-lock brakes is not good, at least at the current technology.
Taking the choice away from the driver is not safer, except for the damn-fools. And you can make things fool proof, but you can't make them damn-fool proof...
Hitler was neither handsome (by his own standards; no blond hair, not tall, not very muscular) nor intelligent...
Germany had a democracy, just before Hitler. See "Weimar Republic". That democracy failed, so badly that the desperate people turned to Hitler. The idiot politicians pushed inflation so far that the economy imploded. Picture a scene: people going to the grocery store to buy food, each pushing a wheelbarrow filled to the top with money for their purchases !
So things similar to what politicians are doing -right now-, led to Hitler coming to power...
...I'm not an American, but the popular US attitude that it's ok for companies to be dishonest and immoral in business dealings has completely fucked that country in the last 20yrs. It's the root cause of the GFC and the reason why the whole planet is pissed at the US right now, economic spying on friendly nations is cheating, and the US was caught systematically cheating. But hey, the fastest gun in the west can do whatever he likes, right?...
Only in the Movies. Don't confuse Hollywood with reality. The gunfighters did what they wanted until they pissed off the citizens, and then they were outnumbered and outgunned. Corporations are bigger, but not that much bigger. But they are better at hiding what they are doing...
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, fleecing the government in WWII could quite easily get you -hung-. It was classed as treason!
I like that little poke at journalists: ...
I assume you have met a journalist, before? 8-}
As the computer said, when they asked it to determine the meaning of the universe, "There is insufficient information for a meaningful answer".
A classic SF reference, which I don't remember at the moment...
Except, of course, everything else ends up being worse.
At least, in a democracy, there is a way to have a revolution without killing too many people !
One doesn't even need to be hit by a bullet to be killed by it - high speed ammunition can tear tissue apart by the pressure differentials.
The only part of that statement that is even remotely true is the second part: ...
Maybe he just had the wrong bullet. Like a 5" 38 caliber Naval cannon, where "caliber" is the ratio of diameter to barrel length! 8-)
You're ignoring the fact that 99% of the populace are too stupid to do anything other than make-work.
You're missing the fact that half of those are smarter than you are. 8-)
Seriously, just because you don't understand someone's actions doesn't mean they are stupid.
The public schools are a government monopoly, run by a bureaucracy. That is not good.
In Pennsylvania a few years back, the charter schools were paid by the school system bureaucrats. They, of course, made up reasons not to pay them, and the charter schools couldn't pay their people. No wonder they failed.
We need something to give people a choice of schools, that is not under the thumb of the bureaucrats. Even if it costs. But competition usually lowers prices, where bureaucrats raise prices.
This guy sounds like a shill for the bureaucrats.
Better: Fallen Angels
I thought so too.
For those who have not read it, it speculates that human caused global warming is the only thing holding off the next ice age, which is overdue.
Ice a mile high covering new york state !
This.
Most arguments are about the definitions of words, but the individuals don't realize it.
Fail to defind your terms and you will get much argument, and not even know why they seem to make no sense!
But any company that walks away from 10% - 20% of their user base is making a mistake.
It's not so much of a mistake if a company thinks it can make 30% - 40% more profit off 90% - 80% of users if it makes a business decision to walk away from 10% - 20% of its user base. Nintendo made this decision in 1985 with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and it won the third generation of video game consoles in North America by a large margin.
Maybe, but that's not how it usually happens. It usually turns out that they just didn't do their math correctly ! 8-)
... Just shutting down may be an option if you are writing an iPhone App. If your mission critical flight control system gets corrupt data off the ARINC-429 bus, you better have a plan to deal with it and continue.
This.
Many programs do not have the option to shut down. They must at least try to correct the problem, diagnose enough to present a useful error message, or if all else fails shut down the machinery in a non-violent way. The "rule of thumb" is that 60% of a good program is error handling.
Even in cell phones or pc's, the user is much happier if it is not always doing what appears as a crash.
The Halt on Error is only for when you are in school, where the work does not matter...
I'm under the impression that the majority of home users want an appliance. They demand safety more than freedom because they don't know what they'd do with choice and freedom other than shoot themselves in the proverbial foot. Walled gardens provide this safety. ...
Walled gardens keep people -in-, as well as out.
And, we are not the average user. But any company that walks away from 10% - 20% of their user base is making a mistake.
People have a right to protest.
They do -not- have a right to force other people to listen to them !
The protesters are breaking the law to get publicity. That is commonly known as a "publicity stunt".
I realize that you are probably looking for a job, but small companies using specialized custom software can't afford to upgrade it in times like this. It's not a case of buying a new copy of Word or Excel, these programs take 5 years and 5 million dollars to build new. And thats if they can find a programmer that can do it -at all-.
Loosing the use of the existing software may very possibly cause the company to go out of business. That is not a choice.
And for machine-control apps there is a solution to lack of security updates. Disconnect it from the internet !
Irregardless of what you say, "should of" works for all intensive purposes. Pacifically when writing informally, anyways. What else is one suppose to do in this case and point?
AhuuGh!!! The pain!!
What happened to my quote marks??
The average of 101, 101, 101, and 97 is 100, but 3/4 of the sample is above the average. Also, since it's an extremely large sample size and there's a relatively large number of people who are exactly average intelligence, the number of people below (and above) the average will be less than 50%.
Actually, very few people are exactly average in anything. Or even close.
Depending, of course, on your definition of "close". 8-)
They are not Zombies, they are Gouls. Get your terms right !
(Look it up...) 8-)
Things like this require development test runs, and test data can be expensive to obtain and verify. They might very well have saved money doing it this way. And, avoided controversy about the reality of the data chosen, by stating it is fictional.
Don't be a grump... 8-)
A question not being discussed is whether the automatic stuff actually makes it Safer.
Example: Anti-lock brakes are safer for untrained drivers. But for someone who is accustomed to pumping the brakes in varying patterns to match the road surface, anti-lock brakes are Not safer. Particularly if the driver does not know, or does not remember, that the vehicle has anti-lock brakes. Pumping anti-lock brakes is not good, at least at the current technology.
Taking the choice away from the driver is not safer, except for the damn-fools. And you can make things fool proof, but you can't make them damn-fool proof...
The major advantage of a republic, is to provide a way to have a revolution without killing so many people. It's called an election. 8-)
Hitler was neither handsome (by his own standards; no blond hair, not tall, not very muscular) nor intelligent ...
Germany had a democracy, just before Hitler. See "Weimar Republic". That democracy failed, so badly that the desperate people turned to Hitler.
The idiot politicians pushed inflation so far that the economy imploded.
Picture a scene: people going to the grocery store to buy food, each pushing a wheelbarrow filled to the top with money for their purchases !
So things similar to what politicians are doing -right now-, led to Hitler coming to power...
...I'm not an American, but the popular US attitude that it's ok for companies to be dishonest and immoral in business dealings has completely fucked that country in the last 20yrs. It's the root cause of the GFC and the reason why the whole planet is pissed at the US right now, economic spying on friendly nations is cheating, and the US was caught systematically cheating. But hey, the fastest gun in the west can do whatever he likes, right?...
Only in the Movies. Don't confuse Hollywood with reality.
The gunfighters did what they wanted until they pissed off the citizens, and then they were outnumbered and outgunned.
Corporations are bigger, but not that much bigger. But they are better at hiding what they are doing...
Around here, I would have to sue your estate because you would be dead...
Look up the phrase "tyranny of the majority"...
It is why the USA is not structured as a pure democracy.