Truman had to make one of the toughest calls ever made in human history. It's easy to second guess today. But put yourself in his shoes. I believe he weighed the information that he had and made the decision that he thought best, knowing full well that history would both praise and condemn him.
No one could possibly be happy about the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But no one is happy about all the lives that WWII claimed before that time and would have claimed had the war gone on. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of Enola Gay, famously said (rough quote) "I deeply regret the loss of life, but I do not apologize."
This was/is not a simple issue with a simple answer.
Can't we at least celebrate some progress? No, the job isn't done, not at all, but can't we be happy that we're at least moving a little in the right direction?
I'm not saying there's no problem any more, of course there is, but why does everything have to be 100% gloom and doom and disaster and condemnation?
I'm bad at Go (about 19k AGA, which is quite bad), but I really enjoy it. The Go community differs radically from the chess community. My experience (yours may vary) is that the Go community is more supportive, understanding, and genteel. There's a lot of tradition and protocol in Go and I think it means something.
You can be a clueless beginner (the writer raises his hand), go to a club (or online) and almost always find someone willing to give you a teaching game. If there is a club in your area, meeting some other players is a giant plus, but there are many great online sites.
I play for fun, which is the best reason, and I enjoy it immensely. Will I improve? Of course. Will I ever excel? No, but that's not the point for me.
Yes, there are many stereotypes and the stereotype today seems to be that all white males are evil and ought to feel bad and guilty just because they are white males. As someone who tries hard to do the right thing and treat everyone the right way, I resent that stereotype, and that's true even though none of us are perfect and none of us succeed 100% of the time.
The study quoted may well be valid, but if the motivation was another case of "proving whites are bad" then it raises real questions.
Maybe you think so. But my remarks were pretty straightforward. Especially compared to true audiophile nonsense, the kind where the listener thinks he can hear the purported acoustic qualities of Monster Cable.
I said that fit is important for isolation. I said that headphones sound more open. I said that some earbuds are decent.
Is that pretentious? Or is it that I used the word "audition" --- which is the right word, but whatever?
I've auditioned some pretty amazing earbuds. Admittedly, they don't stand up to something like Sony Professional headphones, but there are some good ones, superior to numerous trashy and even mid-range headphones.
With proper fit (referring generally to tip size) earbuds will give a LOT of acoustic isolation, enough to make them really dangerous if walking or jogging in any kind of traffic. I've never gotten headphones to isolate as close to 100% as properly fit, well-designed earbuds.
Of course, earbuds have issues. Sound stage can be one; you don't get the openness you get with headphones or of course speakers. Hearing damage can be another if you don't use them sensibly. Sanitation, too, if you don't wipe the tips with a little alcohol after use.
To the OP: I don't have advice on what to put in your videos, but I can only say that when my time comes, I hope to have a fraction of the courage, grace, strength, and selflessness that you do.
Your greatest legacy will be in the memory of the person that you are. Just by making your posting here, you've changed people for the better. I know you have changed me and I thank you for it. Perhaps the words are trite, but you're what I think of when I think of "hero" or "real man."
You're leaving an indelible gift behind, the gift of having helped others.
I was a technically literate manager, having done lots and lots of programming myself. My job was simple: run interference with the client so that my team stayed funded. The team was very happy to let me do that job, which required a lot of travel and unpleasant politics.
In turn I trusted the team. I asked them for realistic estimates to give the client. If the team thought they weren't going to make it on time, I asked them for a heads-up as far ahead as possible, and I would take the news/new estimate for the client. I did not criticize the team, either to them directly or to the client.
They knew they were asked to do their best but software being what it is, they were not held to preliminary estimates. (The only issue was with downright incompetence or negligence, which was very rare.)
It's interesting that I was considered a good manager by the staff and the client, but not by my own management, who said I wasn't hard enough on the staff. Well, sorry, I got results and I kept us funded.
So, was I a "useless manager"? I hope not. I didn't produce anything tangible, and that bothered me, but I hope I played a useful role.
A corollary sort of thing happened where I once worked. There had been a major change of upper management, and they "fixed" a bunch of things in the way that executive management sometimes does. A year into it we were asked to provide a memo telling executive management how things had improved, even though things had degraded so much that anyone except out-of-touch executive management couldn't possibly miss it.
When we told them the truth, they replied, "This isn't what we asked for."
The big downside is that the Google Docs UI is dramatically different from Word/Excel/etc.
Change 'downside' to 'upside'. I'd rather work with Google Docs any day. Yes, there may be a little retraining. Yes, Google Docs is missing features that you very likely don't need and are just time wasters. The only real downside I've found is that it's slow with very large documents.
I thought Google Drive did, but may be wrong; maybe it's just Google Docs that does version control?
Google Drive sort of offers version control for non-Google-docs. Previous versions are merely saved (which you can argue is not really version control, I suppose). However --- be careful --- they are only saved for 30 days unless you actively go in and retain them. I lost 7,000 words of a novel I was writing partly because I didn't realize this (and admittedly, partly because I overwrote the working copy).
It's worse than this. You're denied the rights to even use WHAT YOU PAID FOR in the way you wish. Witness Kindle books as one example. Want to read them in the reader of your choice, on the device of your choice? Sorry, can't do that, and DCMA outlaws decryption tools.
I really can't see the reason for buying a condominium though -- you pay just as much, and own no land
Not strictly true, in fee simple ownership, you own a share in the land under the condo complex. For us, a condo is a good choice as we're retired and don't want to deal with yard work and most infrastructure maintenance. Of course, we face a monthly condo fee that escalates somewhat.
Neil Armstrong was a great and honorable man. Nothing that trolling idiots or conspiracy-theory loonies can say will ever change that, or make them into the tiniest fraction of the man he was.
Nothing new about "you have to call." For my home internet I'm on Hawaiian telcom. When I signed up they gave me a "guaranteed rate for life." What they meant was that it was guaranteed not to drop when they lowered their prices.
I have to agree. The guy says it creates poetry that can't be distinguished from "real" poetry. Maybe so... if you consider any old junk that any self-styled "poet" writes.
Try comparing with a true poet like Tennyson or Teasdale or even Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll).
I am myself an MIT grad and I can testify to the fact that foreign language instruction at MIT was every bit as rigorous as CS instruction. That said, MIT did not have a specific admissions requirement for foreign language instruction in secondary school, although it was a distinguishing "plus" in a super-competitive admissions process.
If a university has a foreign language admissions requirement for a specific reason (as opposed to just something put in place by a non-knowledgeable regulator), then it's hard to see how CS can substitute for that. If the foreign language requirement doesn't have a particular reason, there's no purpose in it.
My own opinion, as someone who took the time to become conversant in numerous foreign languages, is that, particularly for Americans, foreign language study is an important means of learning about cultures beyond our shores... something Americans need to do a lot better at.
This last comment is very insightful and addresses something I've thought about from time to time.
You pay whatever it is that Windows costs (no, it isn't free just because it's bundled on a computer), and then what do you have? Actually, not much. You have an operating system and a few tools (and maybe a bunch of bundled demo crapware).
You install Ubuntu or Mint or similar, and you have a suite of tools, and the means to easily install more, for free. Like Inkscape, as the lead article discusses. Within half an hour or less you can have full-featured computing that should meet at least 90% of the needs of 90% of users (maybe even better than that). I'm not going to get into the arguments about specialized tools or high-end features or cutting-edge gaming; if you truly need such things, go buy them and put them on your Windows system.
Linux has served me for many years. In the early years, things were rougher around the edges, but today, it's night and day difference. As I'm not much of a gamer, there is little or nothing that I need Windows for. I "get by" just fine with GIMP, and the new Inkscape is amazing, as is LibreOffice... not to mention EMACS, of course:)
Sorry but I just don't see a personal need to spend money on software.
Slashdot Mirror
Truman had to make one of the toughest calls ever made in human history. It's easy to second guess today. But put yourself in his shoes. I believe he weighed the information that he had and made the decision that he thought best, knowing full well that history would both praise and condemn him.
No one could possibly be happy about the deaths at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But no one is happy about all the lives that WWII claimed before that time and would have claimed had the war gone on. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of Enola Gay, famously said (rough quote) "I deeply regret the loss of life, but I do not apologize."
This was/is not a simple issue with a simple answer.
Can't we at least celebrate some progress? No, the job isn't done, not at all, but can't we be happy that we're at least moving a little in the right direction?
I'm not saying there's no problem any more, of course there is, but why does everything have to be 100% gloom and doom and disaster and condemnation?
I'm bad at Go (about 19k AGA, which is quite bad), but I really enjoy it. The Go community differs radically from the chess community. My experience (yours may vary) is that the Go community is more supportive, understanding, and genteel. There's a lot of tradition and protocol in Go and I think it means something.
You can be a clueless beginner (the writer raises his hand), go to a club (or online) and almost always find someone willing to give you a teaching game. If there is a club in your area, meeting some other players is a giant plus, but there are many great online sites.
I play for fun, which is the best reason, and I enjoy it immensely. Will I improve? Of course. Will I ever excel? No, but that's not the point for me.
Yes, there are many stereotypes and the stereotype today seems to be that all white males are evil and ought to feel bad and guilty just because they are white males. As someone who tries hard to do the right thing and treat everyone the right way, I resent that stereotype, and that's true even though none of us are perfect and none of us succeed 100% of the time.
The study quoted may well be valid, but if the motivation was another case of "proving whites are bad" then it raises real questions.
Maybe you think so. But my remarks were pretty straightforward. Especially compared to true audiophile nonsense, the kind where the listener thinks he can hear the purported acoustic qualities of Monster Cable.
I said that fit is important for isolation. I said that headphones sound more open. I said that some earbuds are decent.
Is that pretentious? Or is it that I used the word "audition" --- which is the right word, but whatever?
I've auditioned some pretty amazing earbuds. Admittedly, they don't stand up to something like Sony Professional headphones, but there are some good ones, superior to numerous trashy and even mid-range headphones.
With proper fit (referring generally to tip size) earbuds will give a LOT of acoustic isolation, enough to make them really dangerous if walking or jogging in any kind of traffic. I've never gotten headphones to isolate as close to 100% as properly fit, well-designed earbuds.
Of course, earbuds have issues. Sound stage can be one; you don't get the openness you get with headphones or of course speakers. Hearing damage can be another if you don't use them sensibly. Sanitation, too, if you don't wipe the tips with a little alcohol after use.
I've heard that earbuds are also responsible for global warming.
To the OP: I don't have advice on what to put in your videos, but I can only say that when my time comes, I hope to have a fraction of the courage, grace, strength, and selflessness that you do.
Your greatest legacy will be in the memory of the person that you are. Just by making your posting here, you've changed people for the better. I know you have changed me and I thank you for it. Perhaps the words are trite, but you're what I think of when I think of "hero" or "real man."
You're leaving an indelible gift behind, the gift of having helped others.
I was a technically literate manager, having done lots and lots of programming myself. My job was simple: run interference with the client so that my team stayed funded. The team was very happy to let me do that job, which required a lot of travel and unpleasant politics.
In turn I trusted the team. I asked them for realistic estimates to give the client. If the team thought they weren't going to make it on time, I asked them for a heads-up as far ahead as possible, and I would take the news/new estimate for the client. I did not criticize the team, either to them directly or to the client.
They knew they were asked to do their best but software being what it is, they were not held to preliminary estimates. (The only issue was with downright incompetence or negligence, which was very rare.)
It's interesting that I was considered a good manager by the staff and the client, but not by my own management, who said I wasn't hard enough on the staff. Well, sorry, I got results and I kept us funded.
So, was I a "useless manager"? I hope not. I didn't produce anything tangible, and that bothered me, but I hope I played a useful role.
A corollary sort of thing happened where I once worked. There had been a major change of upper management, and they "fixed" a bunch of things in the way that executive management sometimes does. A year into it we were asked to provide a memo telling executive management how things had improved, even though things had degraded so much that anyone except out-of-touch executive management couldn't possibly miss it.
When we told them the truth, they replied, "This isn't what we asked for."
This is actually much better than I expected. I'll have to (shudder) give Microsoft due credit!
I think it also causes global warming.
No one will be able to tell if the translation is valid or not.
You've succinctly described the real issue here, since machine translators are still not very good.
Preserve the language? Not really.
These evil computer hackers need to be put away forever to protect the children
I believe they are also responsible for global warming.
The big downside is that the Google Docs UI is dramatically different from Word/Excel/etc.
Change 'downside' to 'upside'. I'd rather work with Google Docs any day. Yes, there may be a little retraining. Yes, Google Docs is missing features that you very likely don't need and are just time wasters. The only real downside I've found is that it's slow with very large documents.
I thought Google Drive did, but may be wrong; maybe it's just Google Docs that does version control?
Google Drive sort of offers version control for non-Google-docs. Previous versions are merely saved (which you can argue is not really version control, I suppose). However --- be careful --- they are only saved for 30 days unless you actively go in and retain them. I lost 7,000 words of a novel I was writing partly because I didn't realize this (and admittedly, partly because I overwrote the working copy).
A Google Doc has much better version control.
I mistyped. DMCA.
It's worse than this. You're denied the rights to even use WHAT YOU PAID FOR in the way you wish. Witness Kindle books as one example. Want to read them in the reader of your choice, on the device of your choice? Sorry, can't do that, and DCMA outlaws decryption tools.
I really can't see the reason for buying a condominium though -- you pay just as much, and own no land
Not strictly true, in fee simple ownership, you own a share in the land under the condo complex. For us, a condo is a good choice as we're retired and don't want to deal with yard work and most infrastructure maintenance. Of course, we face a monthly condo fee that escalates somewhat.
Neil Armstrong was a great and honorable man. Nothing that trolling idiots or conspiracy-theory loonies can say will ever change that, or make them into the tiniest fraction of the man he was.
Nothing new about "you have to call." For my home internet I'm on Hawaiian telcom. When I signed up they gave me a "guaranteed rate for life." What they meant was that it was guaranteed not to drop when they lowered their prices.
I have to agree. The guy says it creates poetry that can't be distinguished from "real" poetry. Maybe so ... if you consider any old junk that any self-styled "poet" writes.
Try comparing with a true poet like Tennyson or Teasdale or even Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll).
And suddenly Americans are speaking foreign languages! Shall we continue Slashdot in German?
Warum nicht?
I am myself an MIT grad and I can testify to the fact that foreign language instruction at MIT was every bit as rigorous as CS instruction. That said, MIT did not have a specific admissions requirement for foreign language instruction in secondary school, although it was a distinguishing "plus" in a super-competitive admissions process.
If a university has a foreign language admissions requirement for a specific reason (as opposed to just something put in place by a non-knowledgeable regulator), then it's hard to see how CS can substitute for that. If the foreign language requirement doesn't have a particular reason, there's no purpose in it.
My own opinion, as someone who took the time to become conversant in numerous foreign languages, is that, particularly for Americans, foreign language study is an important means of learning about cultures beyond our shores ... something Americans need to do a lot better at.
This last comment is very insightful and addresses something I've thought about from time to time.
You pay whatever it is that Windows costs (no, it isn't free just because it's bundled on a computer), and then what do you have? Actually, not much. You have an operating system and a few tools (and maybe a bunch of bundled demo crapware).
You install Ubuntu or Mint or similar, and you have a suite of tools, and the means to easily install more, for free. Like Inkscape, as the lead article discusses. Within half an hour or less you can have full-featured computing that should meet at least 90% of the needs of 90% of users (maybe even better than that). I'm not going to get into the arguments about specialized tools or high-end features or cutting-edge gaming; if you truly need such things, go buy them and put them on your Windows system.
Linux has served me for many years. In the early years, things were rougher around the edges, but today, it's night and day difference. As I'm not much of a gamer, there is little or nothing that I need Windows for. I "get by" just fine with GIMP, and the new Inkscape is amazing, as is LibreOffice ... not to mention EMACS, of course :)
Sorry but I just don't see a personal need to spend money on software.