I agree - I still have old Perl books, and as a basic language reference, they don't leave much to be desired. I've used them to teach beginning users and they're perfectly acceptable for that - particularly insofar as you make it clear to your student base that the language changes, but the core (generally) doesn't.
I've also got a Simple Touch, and it's great. It's easier on the eyes than a bright tablet screen, and it does a pretty good job of rendering text.
If it had a browser on it which could be considered reliably open-able, I'd use it. Without it....well, it's an e-reader, and it's a bloody annoyance because it means I either leave it at home and use it at night, or carry it and leave the tablet home. Neither alternative is good.
I have also used these (I have a vest) in hot weather, and it's wonderful - carries phone in one pocket, iPad or Air in another, and a charger in a third. Surprisingly comfortable, too.
Umm, a means of quantifiably demonstrating that a harm occurs, using rigorous and repeatable methods?
Note phenomena occurs Identify large enough sample size Document phenomena Look for patterns in data correct for bias and post hoc ergo propter hoc present for peer review take lumps & criticism, review work as needed, refine and re-present.
That would form a valid basis. "Goddon'tlikeit" isn't a valid basis, because we can not establish, in an empirical sense, that God or gods told someone $statement*, or that the profusion of %claims made in a written text cited are demonstrably factually accurate.
* Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication-- after that it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it can not be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner; for it was not a revelation made to ME, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him. [Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason]
Your religion, whatever it is, is based on a set of axioms which are beyond the bounds of what can be empirically tested. If I stated that purple socks were a requisite of my religion, and that all barefoot people must be denied rights, would you consider that a valid premise? If I stated that people going barefoot were unnatural, and lobbied to legislate purple-socks-wearing as a normative behavior, would that be valid?
Of course not.
So perhaps stating that ones own set of unprovable axioms are inherently correct to the extent that they should be codified into statute is an argumentum ad populem, because 'everyone knows it's right' shows a bit of hubris, no?
Umm, if a person calls out someone making bigoted statements - that is, statements which are not factual, that claim that certain behaviors or characteristics inhere in $class_of_people because of a shared characteristic, and using that to bolster an argument for the inherent inferiority of that class - then naming that behavior is hardly bigotry.
false analogy, ad ignorantium, argument from final consequences, tu quoque, moving the goalposts....might want to reconsider your position.
They want to deregulate business to benefit unfettered greed and to deny the social contract. They want to regulate personal sexual/social behavior to increase social control.
It's a toxic marriage of unregulated capitalism and unchallenged religious fundamentalism....
I like the idea, but in practice, sailboats are pretty identifiable. Boat people tend to know who belongs and who doesn't, so you'll get called out more quickly because you're a break in routine.
Humans: built to notice anomalies and complain about them:-)
I've done some long-distance bike touring and sometimes I, um, didn't plan as well as I should have - which is to say I ran out of food (though, fortunately, I only ran out of water once). But I got through it, and wound up losing weight in the bargain. Humans can survive in some very deprived situations, and I've been through a few very minor examples, and I have to say I was surprised at how much privation can be borne without serious long-term effects. I also learned that fish by itself, no matter how well-grilled, just doesn't do after a couple of days - something was missing (don't know what, I'm not a nutritionist) but when I got back to a place where I could buy food, I ate about two whole pizzas in an hour.
I also drowned a smartphone in a desolate area, which meant I couldn't call for a couple of days (until I got it replaced in the next city of any size I got to), and hence wouldn't have been particularly trackable if someone had been of a mind to track me (as if....I was a boring keg-shaped fifty-ish guy on a beat-up bicycle). The roads where I was travelling (western US, desert/mountain) weren't heavily trafficked, and I wild-camped (which is to say, slept off the roads hidden behind trees or rocks). I suppose a concerted attempt to find me would have been possible, but not without using way more resources than would have been reasonable in terms of people and vehicles. It's amazing how invisible you are when you're a hairy, vaguely stinky guy travelling on a bike with heavily patched bags - people assume you're homeless, if they even notice you. And when you're in the real boonies, unless you do stupid stuff to make lots of noise, no one will bother - you're a needle in a haystack.
In urban areas, the 'being-taken-for-homeless' thing is just weird - you're invisible (e.g., you just don't exist for some people), so I don't think anyone would have remarked on me any more than the 'real' homeless. It means that I can sleep under a bridge on a rainy night; because it's so common for the homeless, it doesn't occasion particular notice. Of course, one well-meaning guy who saw my unshaven self on a street walked up with a fifty-dollar bill, handed it to me, and said "Go do something to help yourself - don't waste it....." so I stayed in a cheap hotel and took a bath on his dime;-)
I think that the whole disappearing thing is blown out of proportion. There are a lot of middle-class coders here, and lots of people in that way of life can't really see disappearing because they've got a routine. Just go for a hike or ride from a more urban area towards a less urban area, and don't shave or take anything more than perfunctory baths for a week or two, and you slide into a category of human that middle-class Americans just gloss over. Even with a security apparatus hunting for you, chances are good that if you're perceived as local homeless and don't call attention to yourself, no one will ever notice you unless there's way more scrutiny than the PTB want to engage in - I think the implied goal of the bad guys in the hypothetical example is to disappear the protagonist without a whole lot of publicity.
The best use of high-speed rail is regional connections. From San Francisco to LA, or Portland to SF, or such, makes great sense because net-net, it's faster than flying when TSA time, flight delays, security theater, and other idiocies are factored in.
Plus, most of us in the US have never seen a US train that runs on passenger-only tracks. Current rules prioritize freight over passengers, and that makes rail travel slow and unreliable. It's dumb, but money can buy dumb when it benefits someone.....
Exactly. I use a train to commute daily (in the US, in California) and am seriously disappointed when I compare the rail network of the US with those elsewhere. Even short-run trains here are barely functional, barely funded, and just a step above a freight train.....
No mod points, but +1. The Saturn V was like early railroad companies, which often only built a single track along a route. While it was cheaper, it significantly constrained schedules and made travel along those routes more expensive. The Saturn V was another single-track effort; once it was established as the de facto technology, the costs of altering the technology were too high to contemplate.
Sigh. We silly monkeys. We need to learn long-term thinking....
I'd like to think you're right, but I've worked in the corporate woods long enough to have been involved in discovery on more than one fraudulent scheme.
The dumb frauds are perpetrated by marketing people and executives. They divert stuff to transparently false locations and expect no one to notice.....and get caught and fired.
The smart frauds....well, they don't often get caught. But I've seen a few which took painstaking assembly of data over time - managers doing a round-up-round-down scheme where many small amounts get posted to an account where they have discretion (the modern equivalent of petty cash), or a technical manager playing with interdepartment chargebacks to add to their budget (which, it must be granted, went to bonuses for his staff).
Intelligence isn't necessarily an indicator or guarantee of ethical behavior.
I did this for years, and now I'm a contractor. I'm a W2 for a contracting company which is very, very good to its staff.
They encourage us to take our vacations.
And if we wind up working for a company which wants access to us while we're on vacation, they've got a policy that every call while on vacation is paid by the hour on top of vacation pay, at a slight premium rate, plus the vacation hours back. So if I wind up working on vacation, I get: - vacation hours paid for worked hours - premium paid time for those hours - a refund on vacation time (e.g., 4 hours worked = refund of 4 hours of vacation).
Because tech staff are at a premium, this works - and the consultancy is very much able to say, with a straight face, that they work on behalf of their staff. No one likes getting called on vacation, but if it's going to happen, make it a costly choice for the caller.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree - I still have old Perl books, and as a basic language reference, they don't leave much to be desired. I've used them to teach beginning users and they're perfectly acceptable for that - particularly insofar as you make it clear to your student base that the language changes, but the core (generally) doesn't.
I've also got a Simple Touch, and it's great. It's easier on the eyes than a bright tablet screen, and it does a pretty good job of rendering text.
If it had a browser on it which could be considered reliably open-able, I'd use it. Without it....well, it's an e-reader, and it's a bloody annoyance because it means I either leave it at home and use it at night, or carry it and leave the tablet home. Neither alternative is good.
I have also used these (I have a vest) in hot weather, and it's wonderful - carries phone in one pocket, iPad or Air in another, and a charger in a third. Surprisingly comfortable, too.
Umm, a means of quantifiably demonstrating that a harm occurs, using rigorous and repeatable methods?
Note phenomena occurs
Identify large enough sample size
Document phenomena
Look for patterns in data
correct for bias and post hoc ergo propter hoc
present for peer review
take lumps & criticism, review work as needed, refine and re-present.
That would form a valid basis. "Goddon'tlikeit" isn't a valid basis, because we can not establish, in an empirical sense, that God or gods told someone $statement*, or that the profusion of %claims made in a written text cited are demonstrably factually accurate.
* Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication-- after that it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it can not be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner; for it was not a revelation made to ME, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him. [Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason]
Your religion, whatever it is, is based on a set of axioms which are beyond the bounds of what can be empirically tested.
If I stated that purple socks were a requisite of my religion, and that all barefoot people must be denied rights, would you consider that a valid premise?
If I stated that people going barefoot were unnatural, and lobbied to legislate purple-socks-wearing as a normative behavior, would that be valid?
Of course not.
So perhaps stating that ones own set of unprovable axioms are inherently correct to the extent that they should be codified into statute is an argumentum ad populem, because 'everyone knows it's right' shows a bit of hubris, no?
Umm, if a person calls out someone making bigoted statements - that is, statements which are not factual, that claim that certain behaviors or characteristics inhere in $class_of_people because of a shared characteristic, and using that to bolster an argument for the inherent inferiority of that class - then naming that behavior is hardly bigotry.
false analogy, ad ignorantium, argument from final consequences, tu quoque, moving the goalposts....might want to reconsider your position.
I'm blinded by science!
Heh. Anyone looking at my friends' gun safes would be disappointed.....three expensive guitars fit into each. What guns?
You can only get a license for the space modulator if Earth obstructs your view of Venus.
I'm just sayin'
They want to deregulate business to benefit unfettered greed and to deny the social contract.
They want to regulate personal sexual/social behavior to increase social control.
It's a toxic marriage of unregulated capitalism and unchallenged religious fundamentalism....
Or someone who just walks around and sits for a long time and doesn't talk much. Crazy comes in different flavors.
I like the idea, but in practice, sailboats are pretty identifiable. Boat people tend to know who belongs and who doesn't, so you'll get called out more quickly because you're a break in routine.
Humans: built to notice anomalies and complain about them :-)
(can not log in. dislike this computer intensely)
Uh-huh. **Nods vigorously**
I've done some long-distance bike touring and sometimes I, um, didn't plan as well as I should have - which is to say I ran out of food (though, fortunately, I only ran out of water once). But I got through it, and wound up losing weight in the bargain. Humans can survive in some very deprived situations, and I've been through a few very minor examples, and I have to say I was surprised at how much privation can be borne without serious long-term effects. I also learned that fish by itself, no matter how well-grilled, just doesn't do after a couple of days - something was missing (don't know what, I'm not a nutritionist) but when I got back to a place where I could buy food, I ate about two whole pizzas in an hour.
I also drowned a smartphone in a desolate area, which meant I couldn't call for a couple of days (until I got it replaced in the next city of any size I got to), and hence wouldn't have been particularly trackable if someone had been of a mind to track me (as if....I was a boring keg-shaped fifty-ish guy on a beat-up bicycle). The roads where I was travelling (western US, desert/mountain) weren't heavily trafficked, and I wild-camped (which is to say, slept off the roads hidden behind trees or rocks). I suppose a concerted attempt to find me would have been possible, but not without using way more resources than would have been reasonable in terms of people and vehicles. It's amazing how invisible you are when you're a hairy, vaguely stinky guy travelling on a bike with heavily patched bags - people assume you're homeless, if they even notice you. And when you're in the real boonies, unless you do stupid stuff to make lots of noise, no one will bother - you're a needle in a haystack.
In urban areas, the 'being-taken-for-homeless' thing is just weird - you're invisible (e.g., you just don't exist for some people), so I don't think anyone would have remarked on me any more than the 'real' homeless. It means that I can sleep under a bridge on a rainy night; because it's so common for the homeless, it doesn't occasion particular notice. Of course, one well-meaning guy who saw my unshaven self on a street walked up with a fifty-dollar bill, handed it to me, and said "Go do something to help yourself - don't waste it....." so I stayed in a cheap hotel and took a bath on his dime ;-)
I think that the whole disappearing thing is blown out of proportion. There are a lot of middle-class coders here, and lots of people in that way of life can't really see disappearing because they've got a routine. Just go for a hike or ride from a more urban area towards a less urban area, and don't shave or take anything more than perfunctory baths for a week or two, and you slide into a category of human that middle-class Americans just gloss over. Even with a security apparatus hunting for you, chances are good that if you're perceived as local homeless and don't call attention to yourself, no one will ever notice you unless there's way more scrutiny than the PTB want to engage in - I think the implied goal of the bad guys in the hypothetical example is to disappear the protagonist without a whole lot of publicity.
Wise survival food
Potato chips?
Allegre displayed his bias when he blamed the illnesses on leftists.....
The best use of high-speed rail is regional connections. From San Francisco to LA, or Portland to SF, or such, makes great sense because net-net, it's faster than flying when TSA time, flight delays, security theater, and other idiocies are factored in.
Plus, most of us in the US have never seen a US train that runs on passenger-only tracks. Current rules prioritize freight over passengers, and that makes rail travel slow and unreliable. It's dumb, but money can buy dumb when it benefits someone.....
Exactly. I use a train to commute daily (in the US, in California) and am seriously disappointed when I compare the rail network of the US with those elsewhere. Even short-run trains here are barely functional, barely funded, and just a step above a freight train.....
Oh noes - pulsars are actually TV stations of inconceivable power?
"Never go up against a Sicilian when Death is on the line!!" - Vizzini, shortly before making a loud 'thump' and falling dead.
No mod points, but +1. The Saturn V was like early railroad companies, which often only built a single track along a route. While it was cheaper, it significantly constrained schedules and made travel along those routes more expensive. The Saturn V was another single-track effort; once it was established as the de facto technology, the costs of altering the technology were too high to contemplate.
Sigh. We silly monkeys. We need to learn long-term thinking....
Causal Domain Shear? Oh noes....but Orolo will be very pleased. ;-)
I wish I had mod points for this. Exactly right.
I'd like to think you're right, but I've worked in the corporate woods long enough to have been involved in discovery on more than one fraudulent scheme.
The dumb frauds are perpetrated by marketing people and executives. They divert stuff to transparently false locations and expect no one to notice.....and get caught and fired.
The smart frauds....well, they don't often get caught. But I've seen a few which took painstaking assembly of data over time - managers doing a round-up-round-down scheme where many small amounts get posted to an account where they have discretion (the modern equivalent of petty cash), or a technical manager playing with interdepartment chargebacks to add to their budget (which, it must be granted, went to bonuses for his staff).
Intelligence isn't necessarily an indicator or guarantee of ethical behavior.
In the US, almost all employees are 'at-will', which is to say that you can be dismissed without the employer being required to provide a reason.
I did this for years, and now I'm a contractor. I'm a W2 for a contracting company which is very, very good to its staff.
They encourage us to take our vacations.
And if we wind up working for a company which wants access to us while we're on vacation, they've got a policy that every call while on vacation is paid by the hour on top of vacation pay, at a slight premium rate, plus the vacation hours back. So if I wind up working on vacation, I get:
- vacation hours paid for worked hours
- premium paid time for those hours
- a refund on vacation time (e.g., 4 hours worked = refund of 4 hours of vacation).
Because tech staff are at a premium, this works - and the consultancy is very much able to say, with a straight face, that they work on behalf of their staff. No one likes getting called on vacation, but if it's going to happen, make it a costly choice for the caller.