Do some of these filers block by graphical content? One of the blocks sites I lokked had a lot soft focus imagery--the typical mom, apple pie & the American flag stuff. Now, I also know that a lot of pron and erotica stuff also use the soft focus effect. Can anyone comment on this?
Your comments are very well taken. I'll also throw out some completely domestic reasons to vote. I'll point out that within living memory--40 or so years--a lot of people in this country couldn't vote. And, they couldn't vote for the color of their skin. That's what a large part of civil rights movement was about. People weren't prohibited from voting by law of course, but by intimidation--and a whole lot of blatantly illegal local ordinances. If you don't think voting is important, then why were volunteers for voter registration drives in the South attacked, and one occasion murdered? Think about that. It was not so very long ago. For many--if not most of us--this era was something our parents can remember even if we cannot. If you think voting is not important, then why in parts of the Southwest have hispanic voters been subjected to harrassment in recent elections? Specifically, I'm refering to an NPR story which reported that election officals required extra identification for hispanic voters in the areas last election. I'm told this year the democratic party is stationing lawyers in these problem areas to look out for abuse. (Now if anyone has more specific details on this report, I'd like to hear 'em because it just caught the story ony my way out the other day.) Now, my question is if voting doesn't matter, then why to this day do bigots try to block minorities from voting--let me be blunt, why do bigots try to prevent people of a different color from voting. Simple, they fear a change in power. When this kind of stuff went on, and is still going on, in this country, how can you not vote? Its obvious that at least some people think the vote is important enough to block other froms using it.
The reason outsiders are concerned about this US election is that the US exerts such a strong influence on the rest of the world. Politically, economically, militarily and even academically. For better or for worse, the US is one of the only nations that can broker deals between other nations, our economy does drive much of the world's economy, and the US is the only nation that effectively project military power these days. On the academic front, many of the world's leading scientific institutions are based in the US. If I lived in another nation, you bet I'd bet I'd be interested in the US elections. I'd be glued to the coverage if I lived in country with US peace keepers stationed. And, I'd keep a keen eye on immigration issues if I was a student looking to go to grad school. Look around, there's a lot of foreign grad students in US universities. The reason for that is simple, some of the best places to study a particular field are in the US. Even though most Americans don't care about the rest of hte world, their governments influence dominates it. Darned right outsiders should be concerned. What they can do about it is not much. You are right, the elections are for Americans, and Americans only. I would suggest that other nations pick up some of the slack in leadership, both for their own, and our own good.
I always get a sense that the high tech force is a young one that may not even have kids to put in daycare--or ones that are old enough. So, any demand for daycare as high tech perk may only just be starting. The other thing is that day care is a fairly rare benefit. A lot of government and university positions may have it, but I've seldom seen it offered as a benefit in any corporate position I've bid on. And, when I have its almost always available only at the company HQ. The other reason why we may not see this at high tech firms is because the need is being filled to some extent elsewhere. First off, how many us actually work at a high tech firm as opposed to the info tech department in a place that does someting else as its main business? Secondly, I often see sort of parental split among couples. The guy takes the job at the wizzo high paying tech haus, while the gal takes the government/university job with the lower pay and top notch benefits. So, I don't know if techies are actually asking for daycare as benefit or option.
Great, just what I needed. Another chair that my boss will love. Ever notice how the geek chairs never make it down to geek level. We always get those cruddy chairs from the last decade that no one else wants. Seriously, we need some ergonomic chairs that are cheap enough that the brass won't hesitate to purchase them. Oh, wait, thats right I work for a midwestern university that doesn't expect me to live on the job. Actually, keep the chair, I'm taking the afternoon off.
So, he gets suspended for disrupting an extracuriccular, non academic activity outside of shcool hours? Man, talk about petty and vindictive. All he did was poke eliteism in the eye. Sure, the diehard school boosters and their ilk were cheesed, but did this really disrupt school and students learning? Was it on the same level as fighting on school grounds?
Meanwhile, given what I read about the guy in the Daily Breeze, he sounds like a hard core eccentric. Its interesting and hopeful that his peers elected a stand out non-conformist guy like him. To me it sounds like the student body is a whole lot more mature and well adjusted than the adults running the place.
Whether or not it happens through this set of standards or not, its going to happen. For a long time now, cgis and other dynamic web thingys--real technical term here---have been blurring the line between posting and retrieving information and full fledged applications. Look at the level of sophistication we take for granted on dynamic web sites. If it doesn't move and get exactly what we want when we want it, we don't use it. Already we have sites that track your finances--qfn.com--, numerous corporate calendaring and scheduling systems, and more stupid web tricks than you shake a button at. So, whether or not Web Services adheres to this standard or any other is moot, the demand is already there, and the first group to meet it is going to be a big player.
As a side note, before they actually flew that brave volunteer, the Air Force--I dunno if NASA was around then--pitched dummies in pressure suits out the balloons. Some people speculate that witnesses finding the dummies on the ground led to a lot of the alien crash stories. I think they were doing this from the late forties to the early fifties. The project was called "Man High" and there's a History Channel documentary on it. Way cool footage on that show. There's also a web page somewhere. Try searching for "Man High" on google. You'll have to wade through lots of gay porn hits to get to it, but thats the nature of search engines.
As I remember the debate that unfolded, the question centered more around who deserved credit either in name or in out and out royalties. Katz was going include the words of those who posted as a substantial part of the body of his book. Its one thing to quote with permission here and there, but its quite another to publish a book thats little more than an anthology of other people's comments. For myself, I saw the potential in such a work and wholeheartedly supported it. If my comments made the cut, then great, that amounted to someone hearing my side. But, that was just me. Everyone is very strongly attached to their words, which after are a part of themselves. And not everyone agreed with what should have been done. The only thing to do then is table it.
The issue of violent crime always inflames people's passions because it deals with our perception of our fellow humans. Only problem is that a lot of people don't really look at the numbers. The truth is that violent crime is down compared to earlier this decade. However, we still have a high rate compared to the rest of the world. I read a study profiling offenders in prison and got some pretty weird data out of that. Of all the violent offenders in prison in 1991, less than half(slightly) used any kind of weapon in their crime. So, there goes a lot of arguements for gun control. Most violent offenders had very small incomes, I mean we're talking less than $10,000 per yr. That one figure alone seems to support that the reprieve we have in violent crime is due to the booming economy. Even though the study is about 9 or 10 years old, I suggest giving it a read. It provides a lot of insight into who we're talking about when we talk about violent criminals. Check it out here
For those tuning in late, like myself, would some mind making a brief post explaining what WIPO stands and what they do, or at least claim to do? Thanks. I feel like I'm tuning into an interesting TV show half way through.
Check out the FBI story a couple stories more recent than this one. This guy got a search warrant served just because he was curious to see what had been done to a defaced site. Basically, he did little more than look at the site, but that was enough to get served. Check out the a href-"http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/10/31/ 025228&mode=thread">full story. Just to give an idea of how inocuous this is, its what any I-Noc op does to trouble shoot a problem. Yet, the system labels it suspect. They can do this because we--the techies--don't bother get involved in politics. We don't try to explain, and when an outsider is dumb enough to ask a question, we tend to crap on 'em. But, worst of all, we don't do anything except sit in our rooms, code, chat, and play net games. The world is out there, and its reacting fearfully to something that it does not understand.
You pointed up a good difference between open source products and proprietary ones: cost vs value. I haven't used Cold Fusion myself, but I have used Lasso extensively and that's one of the main proprietary competitors for ColdFusion. One of the big problems I've had with Lasso is getting help when I'm stuck. For a product that costs at least $1100--for a fairly stripped down package--, I want to have some kind of support at least for the first 90 days. About all you seem to get from the vendor these days is a mailing list and searchable archives. Big deal. You get that with PHP, and its free. So, my question given that Lasso, ColdFusion, and PHP do the same things, is what is the business case for using one of these closed source products? And in terms of a DB API, you're right everyone is using either ODBC or JDBC these days and PHP supports ODBC, so again, what do products like ColdFusion and Lasso give you that open source systems like PHP don't? Is it a warm fuzzy feeling that some corporation is "supporting" the thing? BTW, I'd like to point out that I'm not singling Blue World(Lasso) out by any means, its just that I've noticed a trend for diminshing support and candor among vendors in general thats been going on for a decade. This is one reason why open source appeals to me so much.
Novell's Gonna Be Here for a While
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Is Novell Doomed?
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· Score: 2
One thing Novell has going for it is a huge installed base. Especially in higher ed institutions. This gives Novell a lot of inertia. While they can go only so far without some serious innovation, they can coast long enough to find a new niche, or perhaps, even a purpose.
Its not as if either party is on the right side of this issue. Sometime ago I was evaluating different database systems for a project. Postgres had a nice page benchmarking it against various other sytems. They had comparisons with Mysql, Primebase, Openbase and several others. What they did not have was comparisons against Oracle or Microsoft's server. They stated right on the page that the licensing agreement of both companies forbids publishing of benchmarks. What we have here is two repressive giant corporations trying strangle each other to death. In course of their battles they're stepping on a whole lot of little people. Meanwhile, I'm still wondering if this provision would infact stand up in court. In no other industry are their licensing agreements that forbid the independent testing of one product against another and publishing the results. If there were, Car and Driver and other such magazines would've been out of business a long time ago. Not to mention Consumer Reports. The question I would have for a judge is "What makes software different?" Actually, that's something I would have to ask on many different issues. What makes software different than other tools and devices we purchase in the real world?
Right on the money here! Seriously, its not the system that's broke. If you look around at things and come to the conclusion that something is broke, that something has got to be the electorate itself. There's nothing that says there has to be a two party system. The headway the Greens are making is a good example. However, the bottom line is that if the people do not participate something will move in to fill the vaccuum. That something is special interests. If you think things are going the wrong way, take a good look at who's participating in government. The system is designed to do two things: 1) Reflect the will of the people participating. 2)Keep any one party or person from getting a monopoly on power. So now look at who's participating, and the US government in all of its nonsensical contradiction begins to make sense. If it seems as though the government is not reflecting your wishes and is not representing you, there's a good chance it because you and your
peers are not particpating. Look at some of the people who actively and reliably particpate: The AARP, the NRA--you bet they go out and vote--, the wealthy elite, and anyone with a narrow, focused agenda. If you're upset because college funding is going down, then just realize that a good part of the electorate is over 60 and votes reliably. If you're upset because gun control isn't happening, then just consider the fact that NRA members vote reliably, and even more reliably contact their reps. If you're upset that abortion and the right to generally have control over one's body is being threatend, then remember the Christian Colation and their ilk have been very good about getting their people out to vote and to write letters. Frustrated that affirmative action still skews hiring and college admissions, then look to groups like the NAACP. These forces are even more important than the parties because they communicate to political leaders, incumbnant, and candiate alike the views of the American people. Granted its a skewed and contradictory view, but its all a politican has to go on. No can read the collective mind of the majority that does not vote or otherwise participate.
PS. The issues I cited were just some that I could dredge up from memory of recent news stories locally and nationally. The fact that I included them in my comments does not indicate how I may or may not feel about them.
Take a look at the numbers. This is not necessarily the case. Teen pregnancy seems to mirror the adult out of wedlock pregnancy rate. I don't have the stats handy, but its worth wandering over someplace like Statitiscal Universe--paid suscription--and check it out. Regardless of the numbers, here's a question: Do you want to deal with the consequences when this impoverished and disadvantaged generation comes of age? You think we have youth crime problem now? It's really a matter of philosophy I guess. Another thing to look at when discussing the teen pregnancy issue is how the teens get pregnant. The majority of the time its some older guy in his late twenties or early thirties porking a minor and stiffing her--no pun intended--with the check--the kid. Least according to the studies I've seen. I know nothing of the methodolgy for gathering the data, so regard such things as the least bit suspect.
Well, I believe that regardless of the media, news agencies should hold to good journalistic standards. I'm not sure what accountable means exactly, but I imagine if a news agency were to deliberately print or broadcast a false or misleading story, they would be liable for damage done to the affected parties. Good examples in recent memory would be that bogus Gulf War story CNN ran and the Izuzu flip tests on ABC--correct me if I'm wrong. And, as has been decided in court, if the reporters falsify their story without their superiors' knowledge,the company is still liable. Which brings us to Slashdot. I do not think that Slashdot can even be remotely considered a news entity. Like the person who posted the question noted, Slashdot is more of a discussion forum. Slashdot does not report the news, it merely collects stories from other sources and provides forums for discussion. In one respect Slashdot is very much like the Reader's Digest of the tech world. In another sense, Slashdot is sorta a coffee house that does not serve coffee. People hang out, talk, and express views on the establishment's grounds, but the establishment does not necessarily agree with, endorse, or condone the views expressed therin. Can Slashdot be held liable for a defamtory statement made by a patron--for lack of a better word? Recent decisons seem to indicate maybe so. Meanwhile the brick and mortar establishment would never be held liable, even if they did maintain a bulletin board on which people could post defamtory statements. Whatever transpires at the coffee house's bulletin board or on its open mike is between the defamed party and the defamer. I hope that's how the courts will regard forums such as Slashdot, but the justices are obviously searching for a precedent in the past with a narrow view. As a result, I have a bad feeling that courts will wind up treating discussion forums as something other than a place where people express individual views.
Its decent piece of rhetoric. I don't agree with the ultimate conclusio, but hey its free society aint't it? Well, it used to be. Anyway, the point about how the old people who vote in numbers are robbing the youth of this country is one worth noting. I'm reading a very good book right now called The Scapegoat Generation. One of the points in that book is that the over 40 crowd who have benefitted the most from social spending is consistently voting to deny younger people such benefits largely gain an opulent subsidized lifestyle. Now, I know I just touched a major hot button there, but hear me out a sec. The child as in under 18 poverty rate is twelve times the senior poverty rate. Where does social spending go? Not to the young. Anyway, I strongly encourage Slashdot readers to check this book out at your library. The points about the organized political war on youth are well worth noting, especially since it was published two years before the whole Columbine mess.
The article mentions using this to revive victims of hypothermia, but try this one on for size. The patient is in deep in shock for no apparent reason. Lab tests will tell for sure what's going on. It could be anaphylaxis. Could be poisoning, or something else. The doctors don't know what's causing it or how to counteract it. The patient will be dead inside of five minutes, but the lab tests will be ready in fifteen minutes at the earliest--if they're lucky and depending on which test shows positive. What do they do? Chill the patient rapidly to 16 degrees C and buy themselves some time. The lab tests come in, the doctors ready whatever treatment is appropriate--adrenallin and cortico steriods in the case of anaphylaxis--and revive the patient with the drug in the article.
I dunno how practical this would really be. Still, based on my own near death experience, I would certainly consider freezer burn to be an acceptable side effect of such a treatment.
I would point out that my question is somewhat leading and most definitely biased. I "know" what the answer is, I just wanna see the candidates wrestle with this one. In the meantime, there are already many databases that track the stats you mentioned. Some private, some government, and some public. One of the best if the Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics. Its the one that Hemos cited in his article recently. This collects information form law enforcements agencies the nation over and publishes them on the web.
Many in the technology community are concerned with the rise business practice patents. Many of the patents represent trivial applications of existing technology with Amazon's One-Click-Shopping patent being a notorius example. In addition, trademarks are becoming more all encompassing as Pepsi's trademark application of the color royal blue indicates. In light of these trends do feel that the US patent and trademark systems need to be reviewed and possibly reformed? Does the patent office need more resources to process the intellectual productivity of the new economy? How do you see broad patents affecting indidual creatvity and the ablity of smaller companies entering the tech industry late to innovate?
Recent comments at the presidential debates indicate that this issue is on the public policy radar. Moreover, we have heard from media and politicians alike that there is a growing epidemic of youth violence precipated from depictions of violence in the media and on the Internet. My first question is 1) Do the numbers actually show an epidemic of violence, or are we all caught up in the hype of recent abberant mass murders? Please indicate the source of your statistics. 2) Throurghout the nineties and starting in the eighties, real spending on education and youth programs have declined dramatically. What impact do you think this has had on youth crime and violence, and what do you propose to do about it? 3) Do you believe that filtering the Internet and other media can have a real impact on youth violence, especially when compared with racial, income, educational, and regional indicators on violence? If so why.
In lieu of the above, or in addition to, please summarize your social and educations policies and how they will effect the lives of young people. Of interest to me personally is what programs do you propose for high school age kids, and what plans if any do you have to make attaining higher education easier.
I cannot say that belonging or not belonging leads to youth violence. I look at gangs and see a bunch of adolescents who belong somewhere. Namely in the gang. They've got an identity, supportive peers, and they've got a stable place in the world. Yet, they commit crimes and kill. Crime is not due to one, and only one cause. Rampage killers like the ones in Colombine are often loners, socially isolated, and abused. However, rampage killings account for such a small amount of violence, youth or otherwise that when they happen they make national news. And, that's something to be aware of: crimes that make the headlines are by their very nature novel--or abberant--from what is otherwise going on.
Meanwhile a good followup to the numbers in this article would be an anylsis of who in fact is commiting the crimes. Are the indeed loners? Do they have Internet access? What level of education do they have? Where do they live? I've got a hunch that's biased by my political views and background so I'm not going to speculate too much. I will say that one reason often cited for the down turn in crime is the good economy. That's a trend going on throughout the same period mentioned in the article. Of course, you'd have to be a doofus not see the sarcastic aspect of the article.
Slashdot Mirror
Do some of these filers block by graphical content? One of the blocks sites I lokked had a lot soft focus imagery--the typical mom, apple pie & the American flag stuff. Now, I also know that a lot of pron and erotica stuff also use the soft focus effect. Can anyone comment on this?
Your comments are very well taken. I'll also throw out some completely domestic reasons to vote. I'll point out that within living memory--40 or so years--a lot of people in this country couldn't vote. And, they couldn't vote for the color of their skin. That's what a large part of civil rights movement was about. People weren't prohibited from voting by law of course, but by intimidation--and a whole lot of blatantly illegal local ordinances. If you don't think voting is important, then why were volunteers for voter registration drives in the South attacked, and one occasion murdered? Think about that. It was not so very long ago. For many--if not most of us--this era was something our parents can remember even if we cannot. If you think voting is not important, then why in parts of the Southwest have hispanic voters been subjected to harrassment in recent elections? Specifically, I'm refering to an NPR story which reported that election officals required extra identification for hispanic voters in the areas last election. I'm told this year the democratic party is stationing lawyers in these problem areas to look out for abuse. (Now if anyone has more specific details on this report, I'd like to hear 'em because it just caught the story ony my way out the other day.) Now, my question is if voting doesn't matter, then why to this day do bigots try to block minorities from voting--let me be blunt, why do bigots try to prevent people of a different color from voting. Simple, they fear a change in power. When this kind of stuff went on, and is still going on, in this country, how can you not vote? Its obvious that at least some people think the vote is important enough to block other froms using it.
The reason outsiders are concerned about this US election is that the US exerts such a strong influence on the rest of the world. Politically, economically, militarily and even academically. For better or for worse, the US is one of the only nations that can broker deals between other nations, our economy does drive much of the world's economy, and the US is the only nation that effectively project military power these days. On the academic front, many of the world's leading scientific institutions are based in the US. If I lived in another nation, you bet I'd bet I'd be interested in the US elections. I'd be glued to the coverage if I lived in country with US peace keepers stationed. And, I'd keep a keen eye on immigration issues if I was a student looking to go to grad school. Look around, there's a lot of foreign grad students in US universities. The reason for that is simple, some of the best places to study a particular field are in the US. Even though most Americans don't care about the rest of hte world, their governments influence dominates it. Darned right outsiders should be concerned. What they can do about it is not much. You are right, the elections are for Americans, and Americans only. I would suggest that other nations pick up some of the slack in leadership, both for their own, and our own good.
I always get a sense that the high tech force is a young one that may not even have kids to put in daycare--or ones that are old enough. So, any demand for daycare as high tech perk may only just be starting. The other thing is that day care is a fairly rare benefit. A lot of government and university positions may have it, but I've seldom seen it offered as a benefit in any corporate position I've bid on. And, when I have its almost always available only at the company HQ. The other reason why we may not see this at high tech firms is because the need is being filled to some extent elsewhere. First off, how many us actually work at a high tech firm as opposed to the info tech department in a place that does someting else as its main business? Secondly, I often see sort of parental split among couples. The guy takes the job at the wizzo high paying tech haus, while the gal takes the government/university job with the lower pay and top notch benefits. So, I don't know if techies are actually asking for daycare as benefit or option.
Great, just what I needed. Another chair that my boss will love. Ever notice how the geek chairs never make it down to geek level. We always get those cruddy chairs from the last decade that no one else wants. Seriously, we need some ergonomic chairs that are cheap enough that the brass won't hesitate to purchase them. Oh, wait, thats right I work for a midwestern university that doesn't expect me to live on the job. Actually, keep the chair, I'm taking the afternoon off.
So, he gets suspended for disrupting an extracuriccular, non academic activity outside of shcool hours? Man, talk about petty and vindictive. All he did was poke eliteism in the eye. Sure, the diehard school boosters and their ilk were cheesed, but did this really disrupt school and students learning? Was it on the same level as fighting on school grounds?
Meanwhile, given what I read about the guy in the Daily Breeze, he sounds like a hard core eccentric. Its interesting and hopeful that his peers elected a stand out non-conformist guy like him. To me it sounds like the student body is a whole lot more mature and well adjusted than the adults running the place.
Whether or not it happens through this set of standards or not, its going to happen. For a long time now, cgis and other dynamic web thingys--real technical term here---have been blurring the line between posting and retrieving information and full fledged applications. Look at the level of sophistication we take for granted on dynamic web sites. If it doesn't move and get exactly what we want when we want it, we don't use it. Already we have sites that track your finances--qfn.com--, numerous corporate calendaring and scheduling systems, and more stupid web tricks than you shake a button at. So, whether or not Web Services adheres to this standard or any other is moot, the demand is already there, and the first group to meet it is going to be a big player.
As a side note, before they actually flew that brave volunteer, the Air Force--I dunno if NASA was around then--pitched dummies in pressure suits out the balloons. Some people speculate that witnesses finding the dummies on the ground led to a lot of the alien crash stories. I think they were doing this from the late forties to the early fifties. The project was called "Man High" and there's a History Channel documentary on it. Way cool footage on that show. There's also a web page somewhere. Try searching for "Man High" on google. You'll have to wade through lots of gay porn hits to get to it, but thats the nature of search engines.
As I remember the debate that unfolded, the question centered more around who deserved credit either in name or in out and out royalties. Katz was going include the words of those who posted as a substantial part of the body of his book. Its one thing to quote with permission here and there, but its quite another to publish a book thats little more than an anthology of other people's comments. For myself, I saw the potential in such a work and wholeheartedly supported it. If my comments made the cut, then great, that amounted to someone hearing my side. But, that was just me. Everyone is very strongly attached to their words, which after are a part of themselves. And not everyone agreed with what should have been done. The only thing to do then is table it.
The issue of violent crime always inflames people's passions because it deals with our perception of our fellow humans. Only problem is that a lot of people don't really look at the numbers. The truth is that violent crime is down compared to earlier this decade. However, we still have a high rate compared to the rest of the world. I read a study profiling offenders in prison and got some pretty weird data out of that. Of all the violent offenders in prison in 1991, less than half(slightly) used any kind of weapon in their crime. So, there goes a lot of arguements for gun control. Most violent offenders had very small incomes, I mean we're talking less than $10,000 per yr. That one figure alone seems to support that the reprieve we have in violent crime is due to the booming economy. Even though the study is about 9 or 10 years old, I suggest giving it a read. It provides a lot of insight into who we're talking about when we talk about violent criminals. Check it out here
For those tuning in late, like myself, would some mind making a brief post explaining what WIPO stands and what they do, or at least claim to do? Thanks. I feel like I'm tuning into an interesting TV show half way through.
Check out the FBI story a couple stories more recent than this one. This guy got a search warrant served just because he was curious to see what had been done to a defaced site. Basically, he did little more than look at the site, but that was enough to get served. Check out the a href-"http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/10/31/ 025228&mode=thread">full story. Just to give an idea of how inocuous this is, its what any I-Noc op does to trouble shoot a problem. Yet, the system labels it suspect. They can do this because we--the techies--don't bother get involved in politics. We don't try to explain, and when an outsider is dumb enough to ask a question, we tend to crap on 'em. But, worst of all, we don't do anything except sit in our rooms, code, chat, and play net games. The world is out there, and its reacting fearfully to something that it does not understand.
You pointed up a good difference between open source products and proprietary ones: cost vs value. I haven't used Cold Fusion myself, but I have used Lasso extensively and that's one of the main proprietary competitors for ColdFusion. One of the big problems I've had with Lasso is getting help when I'm stuck. For a product that costs at least $1100--for a fairly stripped down package--, I want to have some kind of support at least for the first 90 days. About all you seem to get from the vendor these days is a mailing list and searchable archives. Big deal. You get that with PHP, and its free. So, my question given that Lasso, ColdFusion, and PHP do the same things, is what is the business case for using one of these closed source products? And in terms of a DB API, you're right everyone is using either ODBC or JDBC these days and PHP supports ODBC, so again, what do products like ColdFusion and Lasso give you that open source systems like PHP don't? Is it a warm fuzzy feeling that some corporation is "supporting" the thing? BTW, I'd like to point out that I'm not singling Blue World(Lasso) out by any means, its just that I've noticed a trend for diminshing support and candor among vendors in general thats been going on for a decade. This is one reason why open source appeals to me so much.
One thing Novell has going for it is a huge installed base. Especially in higher ed institutions. This gives Novell a lot of inertia. While they can go only so far without some serious innovation, they can coast long enough to find a new niche, or perhaps, even a purpose.
Its not as if either party is on the right side of this issue. Sometime ago I was evaluating different database systems for a project. Postgres had a nice page benchmarking it against various other sytems. They had comparisons with Mysql, Primebase, Openbase and several others. What they did not have was comparisons against Oracle or Microsoft's server. They stated right on the page that the licensing agreement of both companies forbids publishing of benchmarks. What we have here is two repressive giant corporations trying strangle each other to death. In course of their battles they're stepping on a whole lot of little people. Meanwhile, I'm still wondering if this provision would infact stand up in court. In no other industry are their licensing agreements that forbid the independent testing of one product against another and publishing the results. If there were, Car and Driver and other such magazines would've been out of business a long time ago. Not to mention Consumer Reports. The question I would have for a judge is "What makes software different?" Actually, that's something I would have to ask on many different issues. What makes software different than other tools and devices we purchase in the real world?
Right on the money here! Seriously, its not the system that's broke. If you look around at things and come to the conclusion that something is broke, that something has got to be the electorate itself. There's nothing that says there has to be a two party system. The headway the Greens are making is a good example. However, the bottom line is that if the people do not participate something will move in to fill the vaccuum. That something is special interests. If you think things are going the wrong way, take a good look at who's participating in government. The system is designed to do two things: 1) Reflect the will of the people participating. 2)Keep any one party or person from getting a monopoly on power. So now look at who's participating, and the US government in all of its nonsensical contradiction begins to make sense. If it seems as though the government is not reflecting your wishes and is not representing you, there's a good chance it because you and your peers are not particpating. Look at some of the people who actively and reliably particpate: The AARP, the NRA--you bet they go out and vote--, the wealthy elite, and anyone with a narrow, focused agenda. If you're upset because college funding is going down, then just realize that a good part of the electorate is over 60 and votes reliably. If you're upset because gun control isn't happening, then just consider the fact that NRA members vote reliably, and even more reliably contact their reps. If you're upset that abortion and the right to generally have control over one's body is being threatend, then remember the Christian Colation and their ilk have been very good about getting their people out to vote and to write letters. Frustrated that affirmative action still skews hiring and college admissions, then look to groups like the NAACP. These forces are even more important than the parties because they communicate to political leaders, incumbnant, and candiate alike the views of the American people. Granted its a skewed and contradictory view, but its all a politican has to go on. No can read the collective mind of the majority that does not vote or otherwise participate.
PS. The issues I cited were just some that I could dredge up from memory of recent news stories locally and nationally. The fact that I included them in my comments does not indicate how I may or may not feel about them.
Take a look at the numbers. This is not necessarily the case. Teen pregnancy seems to mirror the adult out of wedlock pregnancy rate. I don't have the stats handy, but its worth wandering over someplace like Statitiscal Universe--paid suscription--and check it out. Regardless of the numbers, here's a question: Do you want to deal with the consequences when this impoverished and disadvantaged generation comes of age? You think we have youth crime problem now? It's really a matter of philosophy I guess. Another thing to look at when discussing the teen pregnancy issue is how the teens get pregnant. The majority of the time its some older guy in his late twenties or early thirties porking a minor and stiffing her--no pun intended--with the check--the kid. Least according to the studies I've seen. I know nothing of the methodolgy for gathering the data, so regard such things as the least bit suspect.
Well, I believe that regardless of the media, news agencies should hold to good journalistic standards. I'm not sure what accountable means exactly, but I imagine if a news agency were to deliberately print or broadcast a false or misleading story, they would be liable for damage done to the affected parties. Good examples in recent memory would be that bogus Gulf War story CNN ran and the Izuzu flip tests on ABC--correct me if I'm wrong. And, as has been decided in court, if the reporters falsify their story without their superiors' knowledge,the company is still liable. Which brings us to Slashdot. I do not think that Slashdot can even be remotely considered a news entity. Like the person who posted the question noted, Slashdot is more of a discussion forum. Slashdot does not report the news, it merely collects stories from other sources and provides forums for discussion. In one respect Slashdot is very much like the Reader's Digest of the tech world. In another sense, Slashdot is sorta a coffee house that does not serve coffee. People hang out, talk, and express views on the establishment's grounds, but the establishment does not necessarily agree with, endorse, or condone the views expressed therin. Can Slashdot be held liable for a defamtory statement made by a patron--for lack of a better word? Recent decisons seem to indicate maybe so. Meanwhile the brick and mortar establishment would never be held liable, even if they did maintain a bulletin board on which people could post defamtory statements. Whatever transpires at the coffee house's bulletin board or on its open mike is between the defamed party and the defamer. I hope that's how the courts will regard forums such as Slashdot, but the justices are obviously searching for a precedent in the past with a narrow view. As a result, I have a bad feeling that courts will wind up treating discussion forums as something other than a place where people express individual views.
Its decent piece of rhetoric. I don't agree with the ultimate conclusio, but hey its free society aint't it? Well, it used to be. Anyway, the point about how the old people who vote in numbers are robbing the youth of this country is one worth noting. I'm reading a very good book right now called The Scapegoat Generation. One of the points in that book is that the over 40 crowd who have benefitted the most from social spending is consistently voting to deny younger people such benefits largely gain an opulent subsidized lifestyle. Now, I know I just touched a major hot button there, but hear me out a sec. The child as in under 18 poverty rate is twelve times the senior poverty rate. Where does social spending go? Not to the young. Anyway, I strongly encourage Slashdot readers to check this book out at your library. The points about the organized political war on youth are well worth noting, especially since it was published two years before the whole Columbine mess.
Guess we get to see if that space fungus infesting MIR can survive re-entry.
The article mentions using this to revive victims of hypothermia, but try this one on for size. The patient is in deep in shock for no apparent reason. Lab tests will tell for sure what's going on. It could be anaphylaxis. Could be poisoning, or something else. The doctors don't know what's causing it or how to counteract it. The patient will be dead inside of five minutes, but the lab tests will be ready in fifteen minutes at the earliest--if they're lucky and depending on which test shows positive. What do they do? Chill the patient rapidly to 16 degrees C and buy themselves some time. The lab tests come in, the doctors ready whatever treatment is appropriate--adrenallin and cortico steriods in the case of anaphylaxis--and revive the patient with the drug in the article.
I dunno how practical this would really be. Still, based on my own near death experience, I would certainly consider freezer burn to be an acceptable side effect of such a treatment.
I would point out that my question is somewhat leading and most definitely biased. I "know" what the answer is, I just wanna see the candidates wrestle with this one. In the meantime, there are already many databases that track the stats you mentioned. Some private, some government, and some public. One of the best if the Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics. Its the one that Hemos cited in his article recently. This collects information form law enforcements agencies the nation over and publishes them on the web.
Many in the technology community are concerned with the rise business practice patents. Many of the patents represent trivial applications of existing technology with Amazon's One-Click-Shopping patent being a notorius example. In addition, trademarks are becoming more all encompassing as Pepsi's trademark application of the color royal blue indicates. In light of these trends do feel that the US patent and trademark systems need to be reviewed and possibly reformed? Does the patent office need more resources to process the intellectual productivity of the new economy? How do you see broad patents affecting indidual creatvity and the ablity of smaller companies entering the tech industry late to innovate?
Recent comments at the presidential debates indicate that this issue is on the public policy radar. Moreover, we have heard from media and politicians alike that there is a growing epidemic of youth violence precipated from depictions of violence in the media and on the Internet. My first question is 1) Do the numbers actually show an epidemic of violence, or are we all caught up in the hype of recent abberant mass murders? Please indicate the source of your statistics. 2) Throurghout the nineties and starting in the eighties, real spending on education and youth programs have declined dramatically. What impact do you think this has had on youth crime and violence, and what do you propose to do about it? 3) Do you believe that filtering the Internet and other media can have a real impact on youth violence, especially when compared with racial, income, educational, and regional indicators on violence? If so why.
In lieu of the above, or in addition to, please summarize your social and educations policies and how they will effect the lives of young people. Of interest to me personally is what programs do you propose for high school age kids, and what plans if any do you have to make attaining higher education easier.
I cannot say that belonging or not belonging leads to youth violence. I look at gangs and see a bunch of adolescents who belong somewhere. Namely in the gang. They've got an identity, supportive peers, and they've got a stable place in the world. Yet, they commit crimes and kill. Crime is not due to one, and only one cause. Rampage killers like the ones in Colombine are often loners, socially isolated, and abused. However, rampage killings account for such a small amount of violence, youth or otherwise that when they happen they make national news. And, that's something to be aware of: crimes that make the headlines are by their very nature novel--or abberant--from what is otherwise going on.
Meanwhile a good followup to the numbers in this article would be an anylsis of who in fact is commiting the crimes. Are the indeed loners? Do they have Internet access? What level of education do they have? Where do they live? I've got a hunch that's biased by my political views and background so I'm not going to speculate too much. I will say that one reason often cited for the down turn in crime is the good economy. That's a trend going on throughout the same period mentioned in the article. Of course, you'd have to be a doofus not see the sarcastic aspect of the article.