I'm not trying to rain too hard on your parade (Tesla fan here), but it strikes me that Tesla needed a loan from the Feds to stay solvent as well. I know they paid the loan off early, and the terrifying "maybe we'll fail" period is behind them, but it seems a little odd that you'd hold up Tesla as the antithesis of GM with respect to government money.
I maintain that Atom cannot possibly be targeting web developers if matching html tag open/closes is still a feature request 3 months after its suggestion. It frankly shouldn't need to be suggested at all.
He actually said the "write" side of history. As in "In the future, the U.S. will get to reinterpret what is currently the present in order to support the decisions it has made."
Death Star: Size: "That's no moon." Destructive potential: Destroyed Alderaan in one volley. Defeated by: the entire Rebel navy taking advantage of a small design flaw.
Sun Crusher: Size: Millenium Falconish? Destructive potential: Causes suns to (super?) nova. Defeated by: boarding party, who fly it through (not just into) a Star Destroyer.
I happen to think rape is inherently wrong. Perhaps you meant "informed, mature, consensual sex?"
drugs
I suspect that if there was no regulation whatsoever on production and consumption of drugs, we'd have a number of problems. These include, but are not limited to: Impaired driving, impaired judgment when in the possession of a weapon, homelessness, and a rise in the number of orphans.
copyright
While I think the effects here are the most benign, I suspect complete copyright deregulation leads to a system where the only content creators are (a) hobbyists or (b) recipients of patronage. I would be interested to hear of other logical conclusions of abolishing copyright.
Clearly, I am not prescient and do not know what would happen if any or all of those laws were repealed, but I have to disagree with you. There is logic behind each one.
Four or five years ago, I bought an efficient, reliable compact car. I hoped (and still do) that it would last me for 15 years, and that the next car I bought would not use fossil fuels.
My family has another vehicle, but we usually take my car for size and efficiency. The holdups we would have to buying an electric (sooner than later) are:
There are no chargers at our apartment building. Even if there were, people fighting over parking spaces would render them moot until most of the spaces had chargers.
The up-front cost is just too high right now. I paid off the last car in a few years.* My petrol bill isn't high enough to justify nixing it for a car payment at the current plug-in prices.
We don't have range-anxiety because of the other vehicle, and frankly none of us drives much anyway. We just wouldn't be able to charge the car in our quasi-urban living situation (which rather disappoints me).
* This has led to some amusement when the dealership calls and asks if I want to trade up to a newer model "for the same or lower monthly payment." Apparently they are unwilling to give me a new car for free.
There's a short (probably mythical) legend about why women couldn't vote in ancient Athens in one of my old Greek history books. (The book itself says the story is likely untrue.) My recollection of the story below:
------
Men and women were originally both entitled to vote. At one assembly, a vote was proposed on having a principal deity for the city-state. The options were Poseidon and Athena. All the men voted for the male god, and all the women for the goddess. There being more women than men at that particular assembly, Athena was chosen.
The men were bitter, but bided their time. They waited until the next assembly with more men than women, and voted the women out of all future assemblies.
I also lived in a monarchy for quite some time, and despite the efforts of and the respect for said monarch*, the country has all sorts of "rage-level divisiveness" these days.
* The lese majeste laws that reddit/4chan got wound up about are an unfortunate sideshow. The laws were established to demonstrate respect for the institution of the dynasty when the constitution was written, but are not enforced appropriately. The king himself says he is worthy of criticism.
If you compare it to the study, the CIA actually looks reasonably good.
Out of the 3k people in the study, 3% (10 people) were able to make 30% better predictions. This sounds to me like the analysts would come down far ahead of most of a normal curve.
Slashdot Mirror
Have you looked at the demos of EVE Valkyrie?
You will never have to pay so much for so little unless you move somewhere there is no cable.
Except when "so much for so little" refers to the rent I pay and the room it pays for. It's not all rainbows and unixcorns in the city, either.
I'm not trying to rain too hard on your parade (Tesla fan here), but it strikes me that Tesla needed a loan from the Feds to stay solvent as well. I know they paid the loan off early, and the terrifying "maybe we'll fail" period is behind them, but it seems a little odd that you'd hold up Tesla as the antithesis of GM with respect to government money.
I maintain that Atom cannot possibly be targeting web developers if matching html tag open/closes is still a feature request 3 months after its suggestion. It frankly shouldn't need to be suggested at all.
You beat me to the joke. This was the first thing I thought when I saw the headline.
He actually said the "write" side of history. As in "In the future, the U.S. will get to reinterpret what is currently the present in order to support the decisions it has made."
Interesting, but multiple citations needed.
Ctrl + L, C, T, V
Enter
IIRC, for comparison purposes (spoiler warning):
Death Star: Size: "That's no moon." Destructive potential: Destroyed Alderaan in one volley. Defeated by: the entire Rebel navy taking advantage of a small design flaw.
Sun Crusher: Size: Millenium Falconish? Destructive potential: Causes suns to (super?) nova. Defeated by: boarding party, who fly it through (not just into) a Star Destroyer.
Step Zero: Mod parent up.
Step One: Invent a new universe.
Step Two: Film it with a compelling script and actors.
Step Three: Fight off copyright lawsuit.
Step Four: Profit!!
The Sunlight Foundation has an investigative series on government workers who go to the lobbying side. I highly recommend it.
Where did you find an ether party? How do I join?
sex
I happen to think rape is inherently wrong. Perhaps you meant "informed, mature, consensual sex?"
drugs
I suspect that if there was no regulation whatsoever on production and consumption of drugs, we'd have a number of problems. These include, but are not limited to: Impaired driving, impaired judgment when in the possession of a weapon, homelessness, and a rise in the number of orphans.
copyright
While I think the effects here are the most benign, I suspect complete copyright deregulation leads to a system where the only content creators are (a) hobbyists or (b) recipients of patronage. I would be interested to hear of other logical conclusions of abolishing copyright.
Clearly, I am not prescient and do not know what would happen if any or all of those laws were repealed, but I have to disagree with you. There is logic behind each one.
And that, ladies and gents, is why it's amusing.
Side Note: Fix your CSS, Slashdot. <ul>s should not look ridiculous in this day and age.
Four or five years ago, I bought an efficient, reliable compact car. I hoped (and still do) that it would last me for 15 years, and that the next car I bought would not use fossil fuels.
My family has another vehicle, but we usually take my car for size and efficiency. The holdups we would have to buying an electric (sooner than later) are:
We don't have range-anxiety because of the other vehicle, and frankly none of us drives much anyway. We just wouldn't be able to charge the car in our quasi-urban living situation (which rather disappoints me).
* This has led to some amusement when the dealership calls and asks if I want to trade up to a newer model "for the same or lower monthly payment." Apparently they are unwilling to give me a new car for free.
They don't parallel park where you live, do they? ;-)
Two miles? A bike is cheap, and sort of convertible*.
* Bike on nice days. Drive on others.
The parody video might be my favorite thing that The Onion has ever made: http://www.theonion.com/video/...
There's a short (probably mythical) legend about why women couldn't vote in ancient Athens in one of my old Greek history books. (The book itself says the story is likely untrue.) My recollection of the story below:
------
Men and women were originally both entitled to vote. At one assembly, a vote was proposed on having a principal deity for the city-state. The options were Poseidon and Athena. All the men voted for the male god, and all the women for the goddess. There being more women than men at that particular assembly, Athena was chosen.
The men were bitter, but bided their time. They waited until the next assembly with more men than women, and voted the women out of all future assemblies.
"Expert" says computers hurt brains. He says you're bitter.
For those too lazy to search, here's the video. ;-)
I also lived in a monarchy for quite some time, and despite the efforts of and the respect for said monarch*, the country has all sorts of "rage-level divisiveness" these days.
* The lese majeste laws that reddit/4chan got wound up about are an unfortunate sideshow. The laws were established to demonstrate respect for the institution of the dynasty when the constitution was written, but are not enforced appropriately. The king himself says he is worthy of criticism.
Whoops, sorry. Math fail. 90 people.
If you compare it to the study, the CIA actually looks reasonably good.
Out of the 3k people in the study, 3% (10 people) were able to make 30% better predictions. This sounds to me like the analysts would come down far ahead of most of a normal curve.