Reports of ancient bacteria recovered
from the likes of rock, coal, and 2,400
year-old Egyptian temples have not
stood up to scientific scrutiny in the
past.
Before we go off and get into a tizzy over the end of the world & such, shouldn't we consider the above words found in the last paragraph of the BBC article.
Ok, I had a temporary brain imbalance and forgot about Babelfish. Of course all/.'ers used it and read the article, then posted wise and intelligent comments.
At the time of this writing, there were 478 replies to an article written in German. Now, I'm assuming that most of the respondants (who replied in English) didn't actually read the article, but yet somehow managed to form opinions based on a 1 paragraph blurb.
Ok, I probably will open pandora's box here, but could kind soul post a couple links to other e-books that are being published. I'd like to see for myself how other writers are using the net.
I like the idea of giving my money directly to an author, rather than a publishing house which already has too much money. But I don't necessarily want to buy an e-book if its just a publishing house in disguise.
I'm sure there has to be some centralized links to lots of on-line authors that have previously published books the old-fashioned way.
It seems as though whenever an anti-technology voice comes along, we all resort to calling him a Luddite. Seems to me that the Luddites were also rebeling against those in positions of power.
Here we have an opposite situation. The people in power are the supposed "Luddites."
Is calling Leiberman & Gore & Bennett Luddites really correct? Seems as though this might be closer to McCarthyism than Ludditism.
This article says that politics is dying. If its dying, then something has to fill the void. Could someone post some links to writers, editorialists, poets, programmers, or whoever has some concrete, serious (or funny) ideas on what could replace it?
I'm tired of people saying politics is dead without suggesting alternatives.
"Some call it a 6-pack. I call it a support group" - unknown.
How many techies who skipped college for high paying jobs have gone back to college?
My guess is that there are many because the real benefit of a 4-year institution is that it allows people the opportunity to discover themselves, where they want to go, etc. And when the skippies discover that, they may choose to go back.
If you really want to raise voter turnout, pocket some bucks and do it with out ethical or legal concerns then give people election days off work.
First, give everyone the day off. Then if they want to get paid for it, have them bring a voter registration receipt (something that might have to be created) to their employer for a full days pay.
How could you pocket some bucks? Either consider paid holidays like extra cash, or be the first to come up with a non-counterfeitable receipt and sell it to the government. Either way you're on top.
Of course the details would have to be figured out, but I know that I'd be more inclined to vote.
Gene testing and mapping are proceeding far ahead of humanity's ability to prepare for it or consider it. As testing becomes increasingly common, individual humans are already overwhelmed by social, moral and philosophical questions.
Tell me, has there been any technological advance that humans are morally, socially, or philosophically prepared for? I guess I'm disappointed in the commentary mostly because of lack of data (mentioned by others).
We've been genetically manipulating plants for 50 years. Heck, we've been controlling the output of plants (i.e. farming) for thousands more.
What was really needed in this article was how Dr. Michael W. Hunkapiller operates within the industry, what other experts in genetic mapping have to say about his practices, the possibilities, etc. etc.
I did it for a year. Maybe someday I'll do it again. There were many times where I would work evening hours after my wife got home, when normally, I wouldn't have gone into the office.
Was I more stressed? I'm not sure. My personal take is that it is the employers responsibilities to take stress off of the employees. How can they do this? Simple. Tell your employees to go screw around when they aren't working well. Give them toys. Tell them to stay at home for a day and play. Show them that its ok to play pinball at the next door arcade for an hour if the juices aren't flowing.
Why would this be effective? I think people put stress on themselves unnecessarily because they are conditioned to think they should be working just because they're at their work desk. I'm one of those. If I'm writing/. (as I am currently) I'm also building up some guilt because I feel I should be working. If my employer said & encouraged unscheduled breaks & demanded that I only work when I'm productive, I wouldn't feel guilty. Instead, I will feel like the last 15 minutes were unproductive, feel like I have to work harder to make up for them, and end up doing a worse job than normal because of that little bit of stress I'm putting on myself.
So translating that back to telecommuting. I had those same guilty feelings even though my boss was 2500 miles away. Based on that, I'd have to say that telecommuting didn't alleviate stresses as easily as one might think.
Here's the quote: "For the past 25 years, Lo said, Atlanta has lost about 55 acres of trees - the equivalent of 45 football fields - every day."
Doing a little bit of easy math, 55 * 365 * 25 + 220 (leap days) = 502,095 acres of trees have been cut down in the last 25 years around Atlanta.
Multiply that * the number of major cities in the US, say 50 and you get 2,509,395 acres of trees wiped out. I realize that this is a imprecise number, but you can start to grasp the enormity.
And all this is after the founding of the green movements in this country in the 70's. Anyone care to really reflect on and extrapolate some future numbers? It's somewhat mind-numbing to me at least.
How many of us had teachers growing up that relied exclusively on the textbook as a means for teaching? And how many of us remember what they were teaching? Very few I'll wager.
However, how many of us remember a teacher that taught us to think about things? Maybe things outside of his/her domain? The one that made us question things & want to learn more. I'll bet all of us remember those special teachers.
The point is that computers aren't really the problem, the problem is that some teachers use them as a crutch in a way that textbooks are often used.
Slashdot Mirror
same issue
Before we go off and get into a tizzy over the end of the world & such, shouldn't we consider the above words found in the last paragraph of the BBC article.
But who's gonna pay for the repairs? Betcha it ain't gonna be the good 'ol university.
You should probably go back to that teacher and ask him to teach his/her students to hold on to their calculators. :)
But a big 'here here' for your position!
If we lose our magnetic fields, I wonder if people would stop wearing those little magnets?
But when will the first Nanotech for Dummies be out?
It's pretty obvious that I get used by scores of people everyday, so why not make a little money on it?
Ok, I had a temporary brain imbalance and forgot about Babelfish. Of course all /.'ers used it and read the article, then posted wise and intelligent comments.
Gads, what does this say about the /. community?
Yes mold is a problem, but jumping in a big pile of explosives and orbiting the earth is of more immediate importance.
I like the idea of giving my money directly to an author, rather than a publishing house which already has too much money. But I don't necessarily want to buy an e-book if its just a publishing house in disguise.
I'm sure there has to be some centralized links to lots of on-line authors that have previously published books the old-fashioned way.
Here we have an opposite situation. The people in power are the supposed "Luddites."
Is calling Leiberman & Gore & Bennett Luddites really correct? Seems as though this might be closer to McCarthyism than Ludditism.
I'm tired of people saying politics is dead without suggesting alternatives.
"Some call it a 6-pack. I call it a support group" - unknown.
Perhaps, but if a community doesn't have members that "don't" fit, then the community would probably grow pretty stale.
I suppose that means that they won't be sending up any overclocked laptops anytime soon.
Pay UPS its fees to get it into Russia & then let an intermediate handle the details of getting it to your friend. Might work.
I dispute the notion that mobiles cause memory loss. I've never owned a mobile & I still can't remember what I did 10 minutes ago!
Like tv?
My guess is that there are many because the real benefit of a 4-year institution is that it allows people the opportunity to discover themselves, where they want to go, etc. And when the skippies discover that, they may choose to go back.
Not many jobs will allow you that freedom.
How could you pocket some bucks? Either consider paid holidays like extra cash, or be the first to come up with a non-counterfeitable receipt and sell it to the government. Either way you're on top.
Of course the details would have to be figured out, but I know that I'd be more inclined to vote.
Tell me, has there been any technological advance that humans are morally, socially, or philosophically prepared for? I guess I'm disappointed in the commentary mostly because of lack of data (mentioned by others).
We've been genetically manipulating plants for 50 years. Heck, we've been controlling the output of plants (i.e. farming) for thousands more.
What was really needed in this article was how Dr. Michael W. Hunkapiller operates within the industry, what other experts in genetic mapping have to say about his practices, the possibilities, etc. etc.
Was I more stressed? I'm not sure. My personal take is that it is the employers responsibilities to take stress off of the employees. How can they do this? Simple. Tell your employees to go screw around when they aren't working well. Give them toys. Tell them to stay at home for a day and play. Show them that its ok to play pinball at the next door arcade for an hour if the juices aren't flowing.
Why would this be effective? I think people put stress on themselves unnecessarily because they are conditioned to think they should be working just because they're at their work desk. I'm one of those. If I'm writing /. (as I am currently) I'm also building up some guilt because I feel I should be working. If my employer said & encouraged unscheduled breaks & demanded that I only work when I'm productive, I wouldn't feel guilty. Instead, I will feel like the last 15 minutes were unproductive, feel like I have to work harder to make up for them, and end up doing a worse job than normal because of that little bit of stress I'm putting on myself.
So translating that back to telecommuting. I had those same guilty feelings even though my boss was 2500 miles away. Based on that, I'd have to say that telecommuting didn't alleviate stresses as easily as one might think.
Doing a little bit of easy math, 55 * 365 * 25 + 220 (leap days) = 502,095 acres of trees have been cut down in the last 25 years around Atlanta.
Multiply that * the number of major cities in the US, say 50 and you get 2,509,395 acres of trees wiped out. I realize that this is a imprecise number, but you can start to grasp the enormity.
And all this is after the founding of the green movements in this country in the 70's. Anyone care to really reflect on and extrapolate some future numbers? It's somewhat mind-numbing to me at least.
However, how many of us remember a teacher that taught us to think about things? Maybe things outside of his/her domain? The one that made us question things & want to learn more. I'll bet all of us remember those special teachers.
The point is that computers aren't really the problem, the problem is that some teachers use them as a crutch in a way that textbooks are often used.
Great! Mickey & Minnie have finally reproduced. Probably through invitro. :)