Yes. Yes, indeed they do. I found an orphaned kitten that was still nursing and didn't even have teeth. At three weeks of age, it could barely walk, but it darn well found and used the litter box I put in there for it. It is instinctive.
blue
Most people, even clueless Mac users, are going to notice that their machine is slow.
Having done several "housecalls" to fix hosed up Windows machines, I can tell you that if naive users think they will get something for free, they will take a chance and install it. This is why so much adware/spyware ends up installed on home machines. One injudicious use of Kazaa or Messenger is all it takes.
Most users are simply not aware enough of how their machine *should* be working in order to differentiate when their machine is acting well vs. acting badly. Is that the way users should be? No, of course not. But that *is* the way things are.
We (and I mean the collective "we" of "enlightened" computer users) have been used to securing our machines for so long that we often forget what it's like to be completely clueless about computers. Honestly, how comfortable would you feel if someone placed you in front of an anesthetized human and said, "Just remove his appendix. It's incredibly easy. It's one of the simplest surgeries you can perform. And look, here's written instructions! Go for it!" Some of us might manage it, some might cause more damage, and some would simply faint at the sight of blood.
The point is, a stupid bash script may just as well be called "a psychic nannite assault" for all the difference it will make to the ignorant end user. Solving the problem would mean educating the entire computer using populace enough that they feel comfortable performing minor surgeries on their computers OR idiot-proofing the entire computing process until it stops happening.
Now pardon me while I return to studying my "Learn An Appendectomy in 24 Hours" book. I need volunteers for some of the exercises. Any takers?
Actually, I rather think the problem is , in the U.S., when someone sues you, you are burndened with the cost of defending yourself from the lawsuit. You have to sue them back in order to recoup the loss. I believe in the Britain, the loser automatically pays the winner's legal costs. That might make people think twice about starting frivolous lawsuits.
blue
Go ahead and blame IT if you feel like it, but the fact is that the importance placed on computers and IT starts in one place - at the top with the University President. The former president of Rice University, for example, was known to brag about how they had the lowest ratio of IT staffers to campus computers. Of course, Rice was one of the sites used in the zombie DDOS attacks on Yahoo, and some other sites, a few years back.
If the university leadership doesn't understand or place any importance on spending appropriately for IT staffing, salaries, training, etc., then you are going to have overworked, undertrained and understaffed IT people - the perfect scapegoat. But, it won't fix their problems until the university leadership itself takes IT seriously.
Just my $.02
blue
Having used both Mac and Windows for several years, I can tell you a few things about how well they interoperate.
1) Printers - If your printer is USB, then all you need is the correct driver for it to print from the Mac. If it's parallel, just share the printer on Windows and then have your Mac print to the Windows shared printer. It works great.
2) Network - AppleTalk is not necessary for a typical home network. And Macs have been speaking IP for years, just like everything else. All your useful control panels are in System Preferences.
3) FileSharing - Macs can share Web based, FTP, WINDOWS and other. They can also connect to Windows shares quite easily. Use "Connect to Server" from the Finder to view available shares on your network.
4) Ejecting a floppy, CD, USB drive, etc. - This is the biggest complaint I hear from PC users unfamiliar with Macs, "How do I eject the floppy?" Ans: either ctrl-click on the item and select "Eject" or drag the item to the Trash (it should become an eject button).
5) Shutting down - keyboard shortcut for shutting down, ctrl-Eject (the eject button looks like the up arrow and equal sign stacked)
6) Disk Utility - Repair Permissions fixes alot of little quirks on your Mac. So does zapping the PRAM.
7) Apple's Knowledge Base is your friend. http://www.apple.com/support
8) Mac OS X Hints is ALSO your friend. I have found many useful tips there.
http://www.macosxhints.com/
9) MS Office files are directly compatible with the Windows version. Just make sure to add the dot extension to it so Windows can recognize the filetype.
10) You can change what applications opens a file by selecting the file, Get Info fromthe Finder menu, and choose "Opens with..." and select the app.
11) If you are using wireless WEP, you CAN enter the key in your Mac, but I don't remember where you do that.;P
Hmmm, I'm sure there's tons of more stuff but that should get you going.
blue
Plus, I don't understand why it's so wrong that child pornography gets exchanged. Obviously, the creation of the images in the first place is bad, but, by banning the exchange of them in addition to the creation, we're creating a legal taboo and sending a message, saying that, if you like pictures of naked kids, then, Houston, we have a problem.
Whoa there homie! You have a very naive view of what entails child pornography, as, I think, many people do. When most people think of pornography they think of some man or woman showing their goodies to the world, but that's not really porn.
Imagine the last porn movie you saw with all the anal, vaginal, oral action you can stand. Got that in your mind? Ok. Now imagine that applied to unwilling children anywhere in age from 1-12 years old. Starting to get the idea? The reason that child pornography is SO revolting is NOT because it is simply "pictures of naked kids", but it's images of children being raped and sexually tortured which adults are procuring for their enjoyment. Once I understood that, the entire CONCEPT of child pornography became repellently EVIL and INEXCUSABLE.
I say, shut the fuckers down and arrest any sick fuck who believes viewing images of the raping and sexual torture of unwilling children is a "harmless" way to get themselves off.
blue
You've got some valid critiques, but I'd like to play devil's advocate.
I have noticed that being a police officer is alot like being a sys admin. Our users constantly wonder why we don't cater to them more, while we constantly wonder why our users don't take more interest/responsibilty for knowing how to use their systems.
Please place at least half of the blame where it truly deserves to be - in the useless legislation that turns our police officers into glorified baby-sitters (Wear your seatbelt! Click it or Ticket!) on top of expecting them to risk their lives 24/7 for middling pay and bad press.
If you truly want your police officers to improve, then vote against useless legislation that criminalizes victimless crimes (drug possession, "copyright" infrigement, not wearing a seatbelt, etc.) and then maybe our police officers will have time to work against real criminals (murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc.)
Forgive my ignorance, but how are you supposed to copy video onto this device if all DVD's have copy protections anyways? And if it's not a commercial movie you want to download onto it, why would you want to download, say, your home movies which would interest no one except yourself? And if your home movies DO interest other people (maybe you are the porn star next door), how exactly do you go about adding Microsoft DRM so you can play them on your "iPod Killer". Methinks Microsoft spends alot of time talking up lip service to a new device under the assumption that ANY press is better than NO press. Tablet PC anyone?
What I got from that episode was the "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" spiel. The midget was immune to the telekinetic-inspiring properties of the chemical, but consequently, he was alot less corruptible and contemptible than the ones who had the power and abused it.
Although "women's cultural thought processes" sounds like typical politically correct tripe, there really DO exist gender-specific differences in the way men's and women's brains work. Here is a sample snippett from this article: Sex on the Brain
Gur's discovery that females have about 15 to 20 percent more gray matter than males suddenly made sense of another major sex difference: Men, overall, have larger brains than women (their heads and bodies are larger), but the sexes score equally well on tests of intelligence.
Gray matter, made up of the bodies of nerve cells and their connecting dendrites, is where the brain's heavy lifting is done. The female brain is more densely packed with neurons and dendrites, providing concentrated processing power--and more thought-linking capability.
The larger male cranium is filled with more white matter and cerebrospinal fluid. "That fluid is probably helpful," says Gur, director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. "It cushions the brain, and men are more likely to get their heads banged about."
White matter, made of the long arms of neurons encased in a protective film of fat, helps distribute processing throughout the brain. It gives males superiority at spatial reasoning. White matter also carries fibers that inhibit "information spread" in the cortex. That allows a single-mindedness that spatial problems require, especially difficult ones. The harder a spatial task, Gur finds, the more circumscribed the right-sided brain activation in males, but not in females. The white matter advantage of males, he believes, suppresses activation of areas that could interfere with work.
The white matter in women's brains is concentrated in the corpus callosum, which links the brain's hemispheres, and enables the right side of the brain to pitch in on language tasks. The more difficult the verbal task, the more global the neural participation required--a response that's stronger in females.
Women have another heady advantage--faster blood flow to the brain, which offsets the cognitive effects of aging. Men lose more brain tissue with age, especially in the left frontal cortex, the part of the brain that thinks about consequences and provides self-control.
"You can see the tissue loss by age 45, and that may explain why midlife crisis is harder on men," says Gur. "Men have the same impulses but they lose the ability to consider long-term consequences."
Sexism is not the attempt to quantify actual differences in men and women. Rather, it's the inability to change your ideas when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the opposite of your ideas.
Cancer develops from a single cell that has undergone mutations in its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the genetic material which carries the body's hereditary instructions. Instead of maturing normally and dying, cancerous cells reproduce without restraint. It's not that they divide faster, but that they never stop dividing, and they fail to mature. (Emphasis mine) When removed from the body and placed in a laboratory dish with nutrients, they actually seem to be immortal.
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this similar to CAUSING a temporary cancer in the rat??
Instead, his character is rolled in with every other power-grabber in the film, negating his only signifigant characterization in the narrative. He becomes irrelevant.
Please see the extended release of TTT. One of the most crucial scenes it adds is background info on Faramir. It completely changes the perspective on Faramir's interaction with the hobbits, the ring and the quest.
The actor portraying Faramir states he understands why his scenes were trimmed in the theatrical release, but he is glad to have the extended release include more of his scenes. You realize he is *not* in fact, lusting after the ring, so much of thinking about his father's approval. This characterization is in the book. Boromir *was* more beloved of his father than Faramir was. Faramir just accepted it gracefully.
A decent post, why anonymous? Oh well.
Regarding this statement:
Possibly, the best approach would be for them to contact Todino's father and tell him that if he doesn't get his son some help immediately, they're going to pursue the case with law enforcement. Assuming the father's statements are true and that he gives a damn, this should at least get the ball rolling.
It is *very* difficult to enforce medical treatment on someone who has NOT been legally declared mentally incompetent and assigned a guardian. This is why you have a situation where many clinically diagnosed schizophrenics, manic depressives, etc. can STOP taking their medication and going to treatments and they are perfecty within their rights to do so. Note, I'm talking about mentally ill people referred to as "high functioning", meaning they are mostly normal acting or their quirks are not considered "dangerous" to society, i.e. wearing tin-foil because the "aliens are out there" is ok, but killing "all girls who look like Brittany Spears" is not.
In general, a high-functioning, but clinically mentally ill person is going to be very emotionally tiring to live with, but there's really nothing Todino's father can do. His son is an adult and therefore dad is no longer the responsible guardian. Filing a motion to declare his son mentally incompetent and assigning dad as the guardian has its own drawbacks, not to mention earning the unending emnity of the very person you are trying to help. It's just too much of a lose, lose situation.
Without seeing the pictures, but just reading the text transcript (damn/. effect), it seems to me MS had a problem with the *picture* the guy took and the fact that he spcifically identified the building where he worked. Said they considered it a security issue. It's possible there was some over-zealous middle-manager who fired him for "implying" that MS uses Macs, but it seems more likely to me they got spooked on the security issues.
Emergency Medical Tech's have been know to refer to choking victims as "smurfs" because of the blue color people turn when they can't breathe. And raise your hand if you've never referred to a computer end-user you support as a "luser". People in particular jobs always make fun of those outside of said jobs. It's human nature. Not making fun of them to their face is "professionalism".
I think you've asked very reasonable questions, so I'll try to give a reasonable response.
The problem with that is people like me with a private e-mail server. Do I have to become a business?
No. Many people employ or provide services without legally declaring themselves a "business". Think of the school kid that mows your lawn for a few bucks, or the independent rent-a-nerd that fixes your computer for $$/hr.
Do I have to stop running the server?
No. But see response 4 for applicable "certifications".
Do I have to clear every new account with some external authority and provide a paper trail for every user?
No. In many places, a verbal agreement is just as legally binding as any written contract, particularly with small dollar amounts. That's why we have things like small claims court.
Do I have to have someone come into my home and audit my server?
No. Or, maybe optionally as a way to "certify" that you know what you are doing. In that case it becomes a "selling point" of why your service is better than someone else's mail server. Think of MCSE certifications.
Am I responsible for the tax if one of my users doesn't pay?
Yes. Just because you cannot collect money from your customer does not mean you can skip paying the tax. Many businesses run this way. Construction comes to mind. If the owner doesn't pay the construction company then they can't pay the contractors, who can't pay the material suppliers, etc. Eventually, the owner needs to cough up the dough, but legally, everyone else should have gotten paid by their immediate employer.
Do I have to pay a tax for administrative e-mail I send?
Maybe. As an example, my grandmother pays caretakers an hourly wage of $10/hour. There is no written, only a verbal agreement on when they come in and leave and how much they get paid. As their employer, she is legally required to pay taxes for them - FICA, Income Tax, etc. or her "employees" must declare their income as 1099. Not sure on all the details here.
But, depending on how the law is written, the taxes might be waived for administrative e-mail delivered only to your subscribers. Why? Because theoretically, that traffic never leaves your mail server and thus never impacts Internet traffic. This rate would necessarily differ for ISPs, for example, who host mail servers, or have users running their own mail servers.
So far, no proponant of taxed e-mail has been able to give me an answer to those questions short of "you shouldn't be allowed to have a server - no civilian should", which I can't agree with for numerous reasons. Don't get me wrong, the tax idea has merits. I just think it's a pipe dream without some government authority getting draconian and ruining a lot of what makes the internet such an open ended learning experience.
HAM radio operators require a license for talking to a few scattered people over the world because sloppy use of radio waves could cause problems and interference for critical systems also using those airwaves. Why not require some certification or licensing for anyone running a mailserver as opposed to someone just sending e-mail from one? This should *definitely* be a requirement for anyone running a full-fledged ISP.
Note that I don't believe any of these measures need to be "draconian" in order to get the job done. In fact, many large, free, hosting sites like Yahoo! already provide very idiot-proof web site builders and e-mail services. It *might* mean the end of so many free e-mail services as the tax money will have to come from somewhere. Further, there is nothing wrong with having these licenses apply to servers running within US boundaries. If we want to be "draconian" about it, we can ask that any non-US-server wishing to send to US servers also have a minimum "certification".
Finally, anything relating to taxes will necessarily mean government intervetion, as that is the only entity we have given permission to tax the citizenry.
Just my $.02
blue
What happens if the student does win this case? Doesn't that mean that the method the RIAA uses to subpoena users comes into question? Is this something MIT planned (maybe just a little) knowing that courts cannot hold accountable a person who has a solid alibi??
After all, even a civil lawsuit has to show the person was responsible for copyright infringement.
Just wondering....
Maybe why we are so apprehensive about allowing a compulsory ID and police the power to enforce it, is because a lot of Americans don't trust cops to regulate their own power.
Don't forget that cops can only enforce laws that our politicians pass. In their thoughtless zeal to appear more "tough on crime" than the other politico, they so riddled the USA with trifling-laws-with-severe-penalties that practically everyone has broken *some* kind of law. A national ID card would then be the perfect excuse for any government representative to arrest you for any cause at any time. Being human, and knowing how humans with power can get, damn right I'm scared of whether or not my life, my liberty, and my happiness are completely dependent on someone's whimsy or whether or not they decide to enforce some obscure "law".
This is generally why I'm so opposed to "passing a law" to handle every minute issue that displeases people - people forget that "passing a law" is NOT the act of writing words on a piece of paper, but of saying to your government "you have my permission to hold a gun to me and my neighbor's head, and use it, if I/he/she do/does/does not do (fill in the blank)" People need to realize that any law is a law that may one day be used against them.
Hey, I went to see "Independence Day" purely for the enlightening revelation that alien spaceships could be hacked with a Mac laptop over a wireless AppleTalk or IP connection.
Admit it - geeks everywhere daydream that, someday, they too will be able to make an alien spaceship bend over with the mad haxxoring skillz inherent in Mac OS 8.x and Apple's l33t Apple Filesharing Protocol. Really, you just have to figure out the easter egg in the Chooser....
Re:Not very ergonomic design.
on
iWorkstations?
·
· Score: 1
This is the second post I've seen mention this, but this one was actually labeled as insightful. If we go with the assumtion that the desk is designed with one of the new iMacs in mind, then the screen height matters very little as the SCREEN ARM AND SCREEN ARE COMPLETELY ADJUSTABLE.
If you have a computer that can see Quicktime, you can see an example here.
That being said, I wouldn't buy the silly desk, because my desk configuration often changes with my current use. A plain vanilla desk is actually going to be more flexible when it comes to designing your own space - a very personal matter, as seen by the all posts on this thread. And yes, I am a Mac user.
blue
Funny, I had exactly the opposite experience in Houston. The Fry's store here is TERRIBLE! I have had to return several pieces of equipment I purchased there on different days, because they were defective right out of the box.
While I don't usually worry about the tech knowledge of the employees, I DO expect there to be some employees around when I want to purchase something.
Their terrible customer service, on top of the high rate of equipment returns I 've had, combine to make that store the worst "computer" store I've ever been in.
MicroCenter, on the other hand, has excellent customer service, even if their staff is still not uber-knowledgeable. They have plenty of employees wandering around the store who actually come up to you to ask "Can I help you?" and their salesman AT LEAST know the basic features of the products they are selling.
Finally, this is no different than what happened to Apple when they attempted to sell their computers through CompUSA. The CompUSA I saw, had various Macs in non-working state, the salesman knew NOTHING about them and displayed no interest in knowing anything about them. That's partly why Apple said "screw it" and opened their own retail stores. Something similar is happening to Linux at Fry's. If Walmart is selling Linux right, then support their decision and buy a Linux desktop from them.
I disagree. That's a typical and often incorrect stereotype. Being analytical and logical has nothing to do with being anti-social. As human beings, we ALL need some kind of human contact to keep us content. An extrovert may desire human contact more often than an introvert, but both still require some.
Further, isolating yourself from people will actually make you are *worse* IT employee or engineer. Why? Because you forget how to put yourself in other people's shoes. By not doing that, you end up designing tools, devices, or software that are counter-intuitive and difficult for people to use. Raise your hand if you've never asked yourself "WHY did they design this gizmo/software this way? It's stupid!"
I'm currently struggling with similar burn-out at work as mentioned in the article. Everyone is so in love with the idea of technology, they've lost sight of whether or not adopting a new technology would actually be beneficial in the longterm. They believe that everything would be "so much better" if it ran on computers, and that's just not the case. I spend hours taking care of servers, networks, software, etc. that I forget why I'm even doing this in the first place and stop caring about the users. After all, I never see any of them.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes. Yes, indeed they do. I found an orphaned kitten that was still nursing and didn't even have teeth. At three weeks of age, it could barely walk, but it darn well found and used the litter box I put in there for it. It is instinctive. blue
Having done several "housecalls" to fix hosed up Windows machines, I can tell you that if naive users think they will get something for free, they will take a chance and install it. This is why so much adware/spyware ends up installed on home machines. One injudicious use of Kazaa or Messenger is all it takes.
Most users are simply not aware enough of how their machine *should* be working in order to differentiate when their machine is acting well vs. acting badly. Is that the way users should be? No, of course not. But that *is* the way things are.
We (and I mean the collective "we" of "enlightened" computer users) have been used to securing our machines for so long that we often forget what it's like to be completely clueless about computers. Honestly, how comfortable would you feel if someone placed you in front of an anesthetized human and said, "Just remove his appendix. It's incredibly easy. It's one of the simplest surgeries you can perform. And look, here's written instructions! Go for it!" Some of us might manage it, some might cause more damage, and some would simply faint at the sight of blood.
The point is, a stupid bash script may just as well be called "a psychic nannite assault" for all the difference it will make to the ignorant end user. Solving the problem would mean educating the entire computer using populace enough that they feel comfortable performing minor surgeries on their computers OR idiot-proofing the entire computing process until it stops happening.
Now pardon me while I return to studying my "Learn An Appendectomy in 24 Hours" book. I need volunteers for some of the exercises. Any takers?
blue
Actually, I rather think the problem is , in the U.S., when someone sues you, you are burndened with the cost of defending yourself from the lawsuit. You have to sue them back in order to recoup the loss. I believe in the Britain, the loser automatically pays the winner's legal costs. That might make people think twice about starting frivolous lawsuits.
blue
Go ahead and blame IT if you feel like it, but the fact is that the importance placed on computers and IT starts in one place - at the top with the University President.
The former president of Rice University, for example, was known to brag about how they had the lowest ratio of IT staffers to campus computers. Of course, Rice was one of the sites used in the zombie DDOS attacks on Yahoo, and some other sites, a few years back.
If the university leadership doesn't understand or place any importance on spending appropriately for IT staffing, salaries, training, etc., then you are going to have overworked, undertrained and understaffed IT people - the perfect scapegoat. But, it won't fix their problems until the university leadership itself takes IT seriously.
Just my $.02
blue
Having used both Mac and Windows for several years, I can tell you a few things about how well they interoperate. 1) Printers - If your printer is USB, then all you need is the correct driver for it to print from the Mac. If it's parallel, just share the printer on Windows and then have your Mac print to the Windows shared printer. It works great. 2) Network - AppleTalk is not necessary for a typical home network. And Macs have been speaking IP for years, just like everything else. All your useful control panels are in System Preferences. 3) FileSharing - Macs can share Web based, FTP, WINDOWS and other. They can also connect to Windows shares quite easily. Use "Connect to Server" from the Finder to view available shares on your network. 4) Ejecting a floppy, CD, USB drive, etc. - This is the biggest complaint I hear from PC users unfamiliar with Macs, "How do I eject the floppy?" Ans: either ctrl-click on the item and select "Eject" or drag the item to the Trash (it should become an eject button). 5) Shutting down - keyboard shortcut for shutting down, ctrl-Eject (the eject button looks like the up arrow and equal sign stacked) 6) Disk Utility - Repair Permissions fixes alot of little quirks on your Mac. So does zapping the PRAM. 7) Apple's Knowledge Base is your friend. http://www.apple.com/support 8) Mac OS X Hints is ALSO your friend. I have found many useful tips there. http://www.macosxhints.com/ 9) MS Office files are directly compatible with the Windows version. Just make sure to add the dot extension to it so Windows can recognize the filetype. 10) You can change what applications opens a file by selecting the file, Get Info fromthe Finder menu, and choose "Opens with..." and select the app. 11) If you are using wireless WEP, you CAN enter the key in your Mac, but I don't remember where you do that. ;P
Hmmm, I'm sure there's tons of more stuff but that should get you going.
blue
Plus, I don't understand why it's so wrong that child pornography gets exchanged. Obviously, the creation of the images in the first place is bad, but, by banning the exchange of them in addition to the creation, we're creating a legal taboo and sending a message, saying that, if you like pictures of naked kids, then, Houston, we have a problem. Whoa there homie! You have a very naive view of what entails child pornography, as, I think, many people do. When most people think of pornography they think of some man or woman showing their goodies to the world, but that's not really porn. Imagine the last porn movie you saw with all the anal, vaginal, oral action you can stand. Got that in your mind? Ok. Now imagine that applied to unwilling children anywhere in age from 1-12 years old. Starting to get the idea? The reason that child pornography is SO revolting is NOT because it is simply "pictures of naked kids", but it's images of children being raped and sexually tortured which adults are procuring for their enjoyment. Once I understood that, the entire CONCEPT of child pornography became repellently EVIL and INEXCUSABLE. I say, shut the fuckers down and arrest any sick fuck who believes viewing images of the raping and sexual torture of unwilling children is a "harmless" way to get themselves off. blue
You've got some valid critiques, but I'd like to play devil's advocate.
I have noticed that being a police officer is alot like being a sys admin. Our users constantly wonder why we don't cater to them more, while we constantly wonder why our users don't take more interest/responsibilty for knowing how to use their systems.
Please place at least half of the blame where it truly deserves to be - in the useless legislation that turns our police officers into glorified baby-sitters (Wear your seatbelt! Click it or Ticket!) on top of expecting them to risk their lives 24/7 for middling pay and bad press.
If you truly want your police officers to improve, then vote against useless legislation that criminalizes victimless crimes (drug possession, "copyright" infrigement, not wearing a seatbelt, etc.) and then maybe our police officers will have time to work against real criminals (murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc.)
Just my $.02
blue
I think Apple was counting on iTunes to sell more iPods. Period. If they had wanted to sell more Macs, why release iTunes and iPods for the PC?
blue
Forgive my ignorance, but how are you supposed to copy video onto this device if all DVD's have copy protections anyways? And if it's not a commercial movie you want to download onto it, why would you want to download, say, your home movies which would interest no one except yourself? And if your home movies DO interest other people (maybe you are the porn star next door), how exactly do you go about adding Microsoft DRM so you can play them on your "iPod Killer". Methinks Microsoft spends alot of time talking up lip service to a new device under the assumption that ANY press is better than NO press. Tablet PC anyone?
blue
What I got from that episode was the "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" spiel. The midget was immune to the telekinetic-inspiring properties of the chemical, but consequently, he was alot less corruptible and contemptible than the ones who had the power and abused it.
blue
Although "women's cultural thought processes" sounds like typical politically correct tripe, there really DO exist gender-specific differences in the way men's and women's brains work. Here is a sample snippett from this article:
Sex on the Brain
Gur's discovery that females have about 15 to 20 percent more gray matter than males suddenly made sense of another major sex difference: Men, overall, have larger brains than women (their heads and bodies are larger), but the sexes score equally well on tests of intelligence.
Gray matter, made up of the bodies of nerve cells and their connecting dendrites, is where the brain's heavy lifting is done. The female brain is more densely packed with neurons and dendrites, providing concentrated processing power--and more thought-linking capability.
The larger male cranium is filled with more white matter and cerebrospinal fluid. "That fluid is probably helpful," says Gur, director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. "It cushions the brain, and men are more likely to get their heads banged about."
White matter, made of the long arms of neurons encased in a protective film of fat, helps distribute processing throughout the brain. It gives males superiority at spatial reasoning. White matter also carries fibers that inhibit "information spread" in the cortex. That allows a single-mindedness that spatial problems require, especially difficult ones. The harder a spatial task, Gur finds, the more circumscribed the right-sided brain activation in males, but not in females. The white matter advantage of males, he believes, suppresses activation of areas that could interfere with work.
The white matter in women's brains is concentrated in the corpus callosum, which links the brain's hemispheres, and enables the right side of the brain to pitch in on language tasks. The more difficult the verbal task, the more global the neural participation required--a response that's stronger in females.
Women have another heady advantage--faster blood flow to the brain, which offsets the cognitive effects of aging. Men lose more brain tissue with age, especially in the left frontal cortex, the part of the brain that thinks about consequences and provides self-control.
"You can see the tissue loss by age 45, and that may explain why midlife crisis is harder on men," says Gur. "Men have the same impulses but they lose the ability to consider long-term consequences."
Sexism is not the attempt to quantify actual differences in men and women. Rather, it's the inability to change your ideas when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the opposite of your ideas.
blue
by injections of a gene-manipulated virus that goes to muscle tissue and causes a rapid growth of cells.
This sounded vaguely familiar so I went and looked up the definition of cancer:
Cancer develops from a single cell that has undergone mutations in its DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the genetic material which carries the body's hereditary instructions. Instead of maturing normally and dying, cancerous cells reproduce without restraint. It's not that they divide faster, but that they never stop dividing, and they fail to mature. (Emphasis mine) When removed from the body and placed in a laboratory dish with nutrients, they actually seem to be immortal.
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this similar to CAUSING a temporary cancer in the rat??
Please see the extended release of TTT. One of the most crucial scenes it adds is background info on Faramir. It completely changes the perspective on Faramir's interaction with the hobbits, the ring and the quest.
The actor portraying Faramir states he understands why his scenes were trimmed in the theatrical release, but he is glad to have the extended release include more of his scenes. You realize he is *not* in fact, lusting after the ring, so much of thinking about his father's approval. This characterization is in the book. Boromir *was* more beloved of his father than Faramir was. Faramir just accepted it gracefully.
Regarding this statement:
Possibly, the best approach would be for them to contact Todino's father and tell him that if he doesn't get his son some help immediately, they're going to pursue the case with law enforcement. Assuming the father's statements are true and that he gives a damn, this should at least get the ball rolling. It is *very* difficult to enforce medical treatment on someone who has NOT been legally declared mentally incompetent and assigned a guardian. This is why you have a situation where many clinically diagnosed schizophrenics, manic depressives, etc. can STOP taking their medication and going to treatments and they are perfecty within their rights to do so.
Note, I'm talking about mentally ill people referred to as "high functioning", meaning they are mostly normal acting or their quirks are not considered "dangerous" to society, i.e. wearing tin-foil because the "aliens are out there" is ok, but killing "all girls who look like Brittany Spears" is not.
In general, a high-functioning, but clinically mentally ill person is going to be very emotionally tiring to live with, but there's really nothing Todino's father can do. His son is an adult and therefore dad is no longer the responsible guardian. Filing a motion to declare his son mentally incompetent and assigning dad as the guardian has its own drawbacks, not to mention earning the unending emnity of the very person you are trying to help. It's just too much of a lose, lose situation.
Without seeing the pictures, but just reading the text transcript (damn /. effect), it seems to me MS had a problem with the *picture* the guy took and the fact that he spcifically identified the building where he worked. Said they considered it a security issue. It's possible there was some over-zealous middle-manager who fired him for "implying" that MS uses Macs, but it seems more likely to me they got spooked on the security issues.
Emergency Medical Tech's have been know to refer to choking victims as "smurfs" because of the blue color people turn when they can't breathe. And raise your hand if you've never referred to a computer end-user you support as a "luser". People in particular jobs always make fun of those outside of said jobs. It's human nature. Not making fun of them to their face is "professionalism".
Bah! You FOOL!! Cthulu for President - Don't settle for the 'lesser' evil.
The problem with that is people like me with a private e-mail server. Do I have to become a business?
No. Many people employ or provide services without legally declaring themselves a "business". Think of the school kid that mows your lawn for a few bucks, or the independent rent-a-nerd that fixes your computer for $$/hr.
Do I have to stop running the server?
No. But see response 4 for applicable "certifications".
Do I have to clear every new account with some external authority and provide a paper trail for every user?
No. In many places, a verbal agreement is just as legally binding as any written contract, particularly with small dollar amounts. That's why we have things like small claims court.
Do I have to have someone come into my home and audit my server?
No. Or, maybe optionally as a way to "certify" that you know what you are doing. In that case it becomes a "selling point" of why your service is better than someone else's mail server. Think of MCSE certifications.
Am I responsible for the tax if one of my users doesn't pay?
Yes. Just because you cannot collect money from your customer does not mean you can skip paying the tax. Many businesses run this way. Construction comes to mind. If the owner doesn't pay the construction company then they can't pay the contractors, who can't pay the material suppliers, etc. Eventually, the owner needs to cough up the dough, but legally, everyone else should have gotten paid by their immediate employer.
Do I have to pay a tax for administrative e-mail I send?
Maybe. As an example, my grandmother pays caretakers an hourly wage of $10/hour. There is no written, only a verbal agreement on when they come in and leave and how much they get paid. As their employer, she is legally required to pay taxes for them - FICA, Income Tax, etc. or her "employees" must declare their income as 1099. Not sure on all the details here. But, depending on how the law is written, the taxes might be waived for administrative e-mail delivered only to your subscribers. Why? Because theoretically, that traffic never leaves your mail server and thus never impacts Internet traffic. This rate would necessarily differ for ISPs, for example, who host mail servers, or have users running their own mail servers.
So far, no proponant of taxed e-mail has been able to give me an answer to those questions short of "you shouldn't be allowed to have a server - no civilian should", which I can't agree with for numerous reasons. Don't get me wrong, the tax idea has merits. I just think it's a pipe dream without some government authority getting draconian and ruining a lot of what makes the internet such an open ended learning experience.
HAM radio operators require a license for talking to a few scattered people over the world because sloppy use of radio waves could cause problems and interference for critical systems also using those airwaves. Why not require some certification or licensing for anyone running a mailserver as opposed to someone just sending e-mail from one? This should *definitely* be a requirement for anyone running a full-fledged ISP.
Note that I don't believe any of these measures need to be "draconian" in order to get the job done. In fact, many large, free, hosting sites like Yahoo! already provide very idiot-proof web site builders and e-mail services. It *might* mean the end of so many free e-mail services as the tax money will have to come from somewhere. Further, there is nothing wrong with having these licenses apply to servers running within US boundaries. If we want to be "draconian" about it, we can ask that any non-US-server wishing to send to US servers also have a minimum "certification". Finally, anything relating to taxes will necessarily mean government intervetion, as that is the only entity we have given permission to tax the citizenry. Just my $.02 blue
What happens if the student does win this case? Doesn't that mean that the method the RIAA uses to subpoena users comes into question? Is this something MIT planned (maybe just a little) knowing that courts cannot hold accountable a person who has a solid alibi?? After all, even a civil lawsuit has to show the person was responsible for copyright infringement. Just wondering....
This is generally why I'm so opposed to "passing a law" to handle every minute issue that displeases people - people forget that "passing a law" is NOT the act of writing words on a piece of paper, but of saying to your government "you have my permission to hold a gun to me and my neighbor's head, and use it, if I/he/she do/does/does not do (fill in the blank)" People need to realize that any law is a law that may one day be used against them.
Admit it - geeks everywhere daydream that, someday, they too will be able to make an alien spaceship bend over with the mad haxxoring skillz inherent in Mac OS 8.x and Apple's l33t Apple Filesharing Protocol. Really, you just have to figure out the easter egg in the Chooser....
This is the second post I've seen mention this, but this one was actually labeled as insightful. If we go with the assumtion that the desk is designed with one of the new iMacs in mind, then the screen height matters very little as the SCREEN ARM AND SCREEN ARE COMPLETELY ADJUSTABLE. If you have a computer that can see Quicktime, you can see an example here. That being said, I wouldn't buy the silly desk, because my desk configuration often changes with my current use. A plain vanilla desk is actually going to be more flexible when it comes to designing your own space - a very personal matter, as seen by the all posts on this thread. And yes, I am a Mac user. blue
I'm seeing lots of jokes about checking out kids over the webcams. But it's not nearly as funny when it actually happens.
In this case, the lack of even minimal concern for privacy and security was truly staggering. If I was a parent, I would be suing their asses off too.
While I don't usually worry about the tech knowledge of the employees, I DO expect there to be some employees around when I want to purchase something.
Their terrible customer service, on top of the high rate of equipment returns I 've had, combine to make that store the worst "computer" store I've ever been in.
MicroCenter, on the other hand, has excellent customer service, even if their staff is still not uber-knowledgeable. They have plenty of employees wandering around the store who actually come up to you to ask "Can I help you?" and their salesman AT LEAST know the basic features of the products they are selling.
Finally, this is no different than what happened to Apple when they attempted to sell their computers through CompUSA. The CompUSA I saw, had various Macs in non-working state, the salesman knew NOTHING about them and displayed no interest in knowing anything about them. That's partly why Apple said "screw it" and opened their own retail stores. Something similar is happening to Linux at Fry's. If Walmart is selling Linux right, then support their decision and buy a Linux desktop from them.
Further, isolating yourself from people will actually make you are *worse* IT employee or engineer. Why? Because you forget how to put yourself in other people's shoes. By not doing that, you end up designing tools, devices, or software that are counter-intuitive and difficult for people to use. Raise your hand if you've never asked yourself "WHY did they design this gizmo/software this way? It's stupid!"
I'm currently struggling with similar burn-out at work as mentioned in the article. Everyone is so in love with the idea of technology, they've lost sight of whether or not adopting a new technology would actually be beneficial in the longterm. They believe that everything would be "so much better" if it ran on computers, and that's just not the case. I spend hours taking care of servers, networks, software, etc. that I forget why I'm even doing this in the first place and stop caring about the users. After all, I never see any of them.
just my $.02 blue