I am proving that your argument absolutely fails to establish any causal relationship between having creature comforts and producing wealth.
You're right. You have proven that. That's easy to do because what you have proven IS my point: creature comforts, marginal effects aside, do not lead to production of wealth.
What has been proven is your level of reading comprehension is atrocious, probably due to blind rage induced by sheer bigotry regarding "conservatives".
You "demand data and experiments demonstrating the assertion that student's 'willingness to learn' is the biggest obstacle"? Fine.
I'm a professor. Long stories short, every opportunity, tool, and motivation is afforded my students. Those who do the work pass, those who don't don't. One third don't - not because the chairs are not comfortable, not because of the level of funds spent, but because they opt to not do work which they are entirely capable of doing. There is no excuse.
I teach the same material at the same time using the same resources at different locations. There is a discernible difference in results, traceable to motivation.
Sure other issues have an effect, but if the student will not do the work they will not pass, no matter the money thrown at education.
While adults park their butts in $700 Aeron chairs
Hah. Most of my career my butt has been parked in whatever aging POS I could scrounge that wouldn't fall apart.
Insofar as I do have a nice new chair now (my first), may I observe that those who DO have $700 Aeron chairs do so because they are creating wealth, not just absorbing material. (Those unclear on rules of logic are reminded that the last sentence does not mean those who do not have an expensive chair are not creating wealth.) One EARNS comfort as a matter of surplus, it is not "deserved" by simple existence and presence. The expensive chair sat upon is a consequence of productivity, not a primary means thereto.
The "to improve education, throw more money at it" crowd fails to realize that by far the biggest factor in education is the student's own willingness to learn. If they don't want to be there, students will squirm just as much in an expensive chair as a cheap one, and get just as little out of the experience.
Seems the app allowed the user to mount and access the iOS root storage - looking like a massive security breach discovered within the first 3 hours of release (see macrumors.com forum).
Doesn't help that the "demo" games are big copyright violations (Ms. PacMan, Dig Dug - hardly "abandonware")
Has there been any updates to the xkcd Map of the Internet? I mean filling in the unused green pastures, not the amusing but (AFAIK) artistic-license layout of the recent one.
Better CGI-to-stopmotion comparison is SW2 with Corpse Bride, with budgets of $115M vs. $40M respectively, which lines up pretty well accounting for subtracting non-animation costs, and considering they were made only 3 years apart and done within the same general Hollywood system.
Even better would be pure-animation Robots vs. Corpse Bride, made same year with $75M vs. $40M budgets.
My wife & I have 5 degrees between us. One thing we've learned: if you're paying for an education, you're doing it wrong. Work hard, shop around, get creative, leverage, relocate. Done right, they'll pay you to learn.
And yes, a degree is worthwhile (whatever you paid): it ensures you have learned what you need to. Without it, you don't know what it is you should know but don't. You may think you're doing well, while others better trained quietly shake their heads watching you make the same mistakes others learned the hard way not to - and they can't explain this to you because you don't have the framework to recognize that there is a better way.
Having a degree is simply stating, "I can put up with bullshit, fill out forms when needed, and listen to those with power," and really has nothing to do with actual, real-world ability.
As others note, dealing with BS, forms, and directives is a great deal of "real world ability". If you can't manage to get a degree in the subject, you probably can't manage everything which comes with the subject.
Better summary is: having a degree is simply stating "I can commit to a 4-10 year goal, and do whatever it takes to achieve it."
Best summary is: "I am wise enough to expend good money & time to listen to what 30-60 experts tell me what I need to know, instead of re-inventing the wheel with little guidance." In my 20 years in industry, I've observed that while having a degree is not a guarantee of competence, not having a degree is a good predictor of incompetence. Those lacking formal training all too often do not see the gaping holes in their knowledge and skills. We as an industry have paid a high price (in time & $$$) to learn some very difficult lessons; those who are not humble enough to ask "what must I know?" of the experienced are doomed to retrace the long-beaten path of mistakes, failures, and waste - and all too often never to learn there is, in fact, a better way if only they took time to ask.
Ditto mine. Considering how she adores & coddles her inanimate doll, methinks "sentience" to the very young is a matter of affinity & affection, not activity.
Yeah, you can get a 3G laptop for less. But then you'd have to use it...
See, the problem with a laptop is the need for a lap. For most practical purposes, you have to set it down, unfold it, and use it with both hands. The iPad, being a slim tablet less than half the thickness & weight of your laptop, excels at anytime-anywhere use: checking email while walking down a hall, reading ebooks in bed, web browsing on the train, games while curled up on the couch, listening to noise-suppressing music at work, checking house prices while driving thru a neighborhood, writing a book in the few-minute gaps between tasks/events, looking up conversation subjects over lunch, making VoIP calls walking to the car, checking traffic & weather when starting the car, trading stocks the moment you hear news of market activity, looking up & ordering books when a friend suggests one, reviewing news over breakfast, finding a suitable nearby restaurant while going out with friends,... and yes, browsing pictures and watching YouTube - all when dragging your bigger, heavier, origami of a laptop just isn't feasible, and doing it on a phone is just to small to stand.
Adding 3D ability to a TV costs (AFIAK) nearly zero. So long as the refresh rate is there, stick on a dirt-cheap IR transmitter to sync the glasses and add mundane 3D support to the software. It's a no brainer: support should just be there for new models; sure, you can leave off the extra-cost glasses, but then the ability is there and customers can get those when they see fit for a relatively low cost.
So why is 3D a premium on the price, and yet another decision buyers must make? Between price and confusion they'll opt for the non-3D version, and then sellers won't have another chance to sell 3D for another decade or so (cycle time on TVs is pretty long).
Want 3D out there? Stop making it a big deal. Build in the support cheap. Stop charging a premium. Stop making it confusing. Just include it, quietly, and be done with it. People will spring the $75 for the glasses when they're ready - they won't spring another $1500 until the screen dies years hence.
With all the overlapping WiFi routers, computers, phones, etc. out there, why not set all up for a mundane ad-hoc network? In time, could overtake wired networks; the consequences could be useful, fascinating, and perhaps staggering...
I thought the whole point of having a laptop was to be able to work in a vehicle or in a restaurant.
P mentions iPad as an option.
Laptops are a compromise: reduce a full-blown computer by sacrificing whatever doesn't fit in a ~4lb clamshell.
Of late I've been pushing the notion that the iPad model restores the viability of the desktop computer by separating what must be portable from what must be parked. Those posters whining about being unable to rotate their laptop displays perhaps should consider that what they need is a big/multi-screen configuration at their workstation (I've got dual 1280x1024 monitors set sideways to form a 2048x1280 screen - great for editing A4-format documents) and opt for an iPad or other tablet for lightweight high-mobility needs.
Honest question: how many coders really need to program anywhere anytime? how about leaving the multi-screen multi-core multi-terabyte behemoth and run about with an ultimate thin client where you do most work, instead of compromising everything down to fitting into a notebook?
Current space-travel technology, even accounting for an Orion ship powered by every nuke on Earth, would take so long to get there as to receive a warm welcome by the travelers' own great^N-grandchildren, whose ancestors stayed behind long enough to develop Dilithium Crystals, Warp Drives, and/or whatever technology will whisk travelers there on the order of a few hours.
The "Tea Party" movement, like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was started and sustained by a top-down organization.
To the contrary, nothing like it. There is no top-down organization. Anyone claiming or imputed to be a leader thereof assuredly isn't. Insofar as big names, leadership, and funding occurs, that is only because there is such a groundswell of resentment toward the federal government that some will inevitably make use thereof.
I've been following, and part of, the movement for well before any alleged organization started. The "Tax Day Tea Party" was in fact a viral meme, a very popular idea that many were looking for. Many people suggested marching on Washington DC 4/15/09 - not because of some top-down organization, but because like-minded people could contact each other and say "hey, wouldn't it be great to march on Washington DC 4/15/09" - "yeah, I'm there if you are". Deep pockets participated because it was obvious participation was worthwhile. Outsiders saw those deep pockets as organizers because they want to find and vilify organizers of such a movement. It has sustained for way over a year (longer than you realize) not because it's a fad, but because millions of like-minded people were finally able to contact and coordinate each other thru social media networking - people who really do believe in Tea Party type views, and won't be giving up on their opinions any time soon.
The Tea Party is the kind of grassroots, high-tech, anarchistic, viral-meme, spontaneous-organization happening/. & Wired types have been predicting for some time. Just pisses a lot of 'em off that it was the "right wing" that actually did it.
You, and TFA, are grossly underestimating the scale of Internet-based social networking on creating & facilitating the Tea Party movement. Fox barely scratches the surface, and is way behind the curve.
The Internet is much, much bigger than you realize.
it will be a long while before it's a complete laptop replacement for a the majority
Naysayers keep missing a critical point about the iPad: the iPad is NOT a computer/notebook/netbook replacement. It augments.
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that. While it may spend most of its time unconnected, it still relies on a host computer.
Some 20% of what you do with a computer (YMMV) is hardcore computing requiring full keyboard, nuanced/specialized input device, big/multiple screens, mass storage unto terabytes, etc. - stuff which either requires an all-out desktop computer or severe compromises for a notebook. The remaining 80% is lightweight stuff which can be done, and you want to do, anywhere anytime in a superlight package - THAT is what the iPad is for. By breaking out the 80% from the 20%, you no longer have to compromise the 100% into a tiny under-capacity notebook.
Put your textbooks, email, browsing, and suitable lightweight apps on the iPad so you can take info & access everywhere easily. Use the iPad's microphone (! hey naysayers, ya didn't know it had one, eh?) to record the lectures while you focus thereon and Dragon Dictate (or some such) them into editable/searchable text later. Work on assignments whenever/wherever you find a few minutes to....and when you need to do "real work", go home, sync up, and do the work on a real computer. [insert notebook-vs-desktop type parody of naysayer rhetoric here]
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't. If a product doesn't do everything you want, then - brainstorm! - maybe it's not for you.
1.5 pounds, smaller than a sheet of paper, no unfolding & setup, instant on, always connected. What's not to solve?
Key thing most miss: it's not an outright computer replacement. It gives you about 80% of what you need a computer for, anywhere anytime. You don't have to drag around the mass storage, bulky input devices, larger screen, etc. you need for about 20% of your use. To the contrary, by putting 80% of what you do on a tiny superduperportable tablet, you're freed to leave a big bulky powerhouse computer behind, rather than trying to cram everything into a compromise notebook shell.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone have a port of (or source to) DUNGEON for the DEC-10?
If I spent that many hours playing it, I should acquire a copy for my legacy library...
You're right. You have proven that. That's easy to do because what you have proven IS my point: creature comforts, marginal effects aside, do not lead to production of wealth.
What has been proven is your level of reading comprehension is atrocious, probably due to blind rage induced by sheer bigotry regarding "conservatives".
You "demand data and experiments demonstrating the assertion that student's 'willingness to learn' is the biggest obstacle"? Fine.
I'm a professor. Long stories short, every opportunity, tool, and motivation is afforded my students. Those who do the work pass, those who don't don't. One third don't - not because the chairs are not comfortable, not because of the level of funds spent, but because they opt to not do work which they are entirely capable of doing. There is no excuse.
I teach the same material at the same time using the same resources at different locations. There is a discernible difference in results, traceable to motivation.
Sure other issues have an effect, but if the student will not do the work they will not pass, no matter the money thrown at education.
Hah. Most of my career my butt has been parked in whatever aging POS I could scrounge that wouldn't fall apart.
Insofar as I do have a nice new chair now (my first), may I observe that those who DO have $700 Aeron chairs do so because they are creating wealth, not just absorbing material. (Those unclear on rules of logic are reminded that the last sentence does not mean those who do not have an expensive chair are not creating wealth.) One EARNS comfort as a matter of surplus, it is not "deserved" by simple existence and presence. The expensive chair sat upon is a consequence of productivity, not a primary means thereto.
The "to improve education, throw more money at it" crowd fails to realize that by far the biggest factor in education is the student's own willingness to learn. If they don't want to be there, students will squirm just as much in an expensive chair as a cheap one, and get just as little out of the experience.
Seems the app allowed the user to mount and access the iOS root storage - looking like a massive security breach discovered within the first 3 hours of release (see macrumors.com forum).
Doesn't help that the "demo" games are big copyright violations (Ms. PacMan, Dig Dug - hardly "abandonware")
Has there been any updates to the xkcd Map of the Internet? I mean filling in the unused green pastures, not the amusing but (AFAIK) artistic-license layout of the recent one.
Better CGI-to-stopmotion comparison is SW2 with Corpse Bride, with budgets of $115M vs. $40M respectively, which lines up pretty well accounting for subtracting non-animation costs, and considering they were made only 3 years apart and done within the same general Hollywood system.
Even better would be pure-animation Robots vs. Corpse Bride, made same year with $75M vs. $40M budgets.
My wife & I have 5 degrees between us.
One thing we've learned: if you're paying for an education, you're doing it wrong.
Work hard, shop around, get creative, leverage, relocate.
Done right, they'll pay you to learn.
And yes, a degree is worthwhile (whatever you paid): it ensures you have learned what you need to.
Without it, you don't know what it is you should know but don't. You may think you're doing well, while others better trained quietly shake their heads watching you make the same mistakes others learned the hard way not to - and they can't explain this to you because you don't have the framework to recognize that there is a better way.
As others note, dealing with BS, forms, and directives is a great deal of "real world ability". If you can't manage to get a degree in the subject, you probably can't manage everything which comes with the subject.
Better summary is: having a degree is simply stating "I can commit to a 4-10 year goal, and do whatever it takes to achieve it."
Best summary is: "I am wise enough to expend good money & time to listen to what 30-60 experts tell me what I need to know, instead of re-inventing the wheel with little guidance." In my 20 years in industry, I've observed that while having a degree is not a guarantee of competence, not having a degree is a good predictor of incompetence. Those lacking formal training all too often do not see the gaping holes in their knowledge and skills. We as an industry have paid a high price (in time & $$$) to learn some very difficult lessons; those who are not humble enough to ask "what must I know?" of the experienced are doomed to retrace the long-beaten path of mistakes, failures, and waste - and all too often never to learn there is, in fact, a better way if only they took time to ask.
Ditto mine. Considering how she adores & coddles her inanimate doll, methinks "sentience" to the very young is a matter of affinity & affection, not activity.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)
I could sell you a desktop computer powered by a car battery for even less.
Yes, useful form factor costs extra.
Yeah, you can get a 3G laptop for less. But then you'd have to use it...
See, the problem with a laptop is the need for a lap. For most practical purposes, you have to set it down, unfold it, and use it with both hands. ... and yes, browsing pictures and watching YouTube - all when dragging your bigger, heavier, origami of a laptop just isn't feasible, and doing it on a phone is just to small to stand.
The iPad, being a slim tablet less than half the thickness & weight of your laptop, excels at anytime-anywhere use: checking email while walking down a hall, reading ebooks in bed, web browsing on the train, games while curled up on the couch, listening to noise-suppressing music at work, checking house prices while driving thru a neighborhood, writing a book in the few-minute gaps between tasks/events, looking up conversation subjects over lunch, making VoIP calls walking to the car, checking traffic & weather when starting the car, trading stocks the moment you hear news of market activity, looking up & ordering books when a friend suggests one, reviewing news over breakfast, finding a suitable nearby restaurant while going out with friends,
[quietly gloats over $30/mo unlimited]
[quietly laments strangling of XX&X users with subsequent bandwidth-capped service]
Adding 3D ability to a TV costs (AFIAK) nearly zero. So long as the refresh rate is there, stick on a dirt-cheap IR transmitter to sync the glasses and add mundane 3D support to the software. It's a no brainer: support should just be there for new models; sure, you can leave off the extra-cost glasses, but then the ability is there and customers can get those when they see fit for a relatively low cost.
So why is 3D a premium on the price, and yet another decision buyers must make? Between price and confusion they'll opt for the non-3D version, and then sellers won't have another chance to sell 3D for another decade or so (cycle time on TVs is pretty long).
Want 3D out there? Stop making it a big deal. Build in the support cheap. Stop charging a premium. Stop making it confusing. Just include it, quietly, and be done with it. People will spring the $75 for the glasses when they're ready - they won't spring another $1500 until the screen dies years hence.
...on a TV? Four?
With all the overlapping WiFi routers, computers, phones, etc. out there, why not set all up for a mundane ad-hoc network? In time, could overtake wired networks; the consequences could be useful, fascinating, and perhaps staggering...
Do that, and he'll spend the rest of his life and gross income fighting interminable libel suits.
GP mentions
P mentions iPad as an option.
Laptops are a compromise: reduce a full-blown computer by sacrificing whatever doesn't fit in a ~4lb clamshell.
Of late I've been pushing the notion that the iPad model restores the viability of the desktop computer by separating what must be portable from what must be parked. Those posters whining about being unable to rotate their laptop displays perhaps should consider that what they need is a big/multi-screen configuration at their workstation (I've got dual 1280x1024 monitors set sideways to form a 2048x1280 screen - great for editing A4-format documents) and opt for an iPad or other tablet for lightweight high-mobility needs.
Honest question: how many coders really need to program anywhere anytime? how about leaving the multi-screen multi-core multi-terabyte behemoth and run about with an ultimate thin client where you do most work, instead of compromising everything down to fitting into a notebook?
Current space-travel technology, even accounting for an Orion ship powered by every nuke on Earth, would take so long to get there as to receive a warm welcome by the travelers' own great^N-grandchildren, whose ancestors stayed behind long enough to develop Dilithium Crystals, Warp Drives, and/or whatever technology will whisk travelers there on the order of a few hours.
To the contrary, nothing like it. There is no top-down organization. Anyone claiming or imputed to be a leader thereof assuredly isn't. Insofar as big names, leadership, and funding occurs, that is only because there is such a groundswell of resentment toward the federal government that some will inevitably make use thereof.
I've been following, and part of, the movement for well before any alleged organization started. The "Tax Day Tea Party" was in fact a viral meme, a very popular idea that many were looking for. Many people suggested marching on Washington DC 4/15/09 - not because of some top-down organization, but because like-minded people could contact each other and say "hey, wouldn't it be great to march on Washington DC 4/15/09" - "yeah, I'm there if you are". Deep pockets participated because it was obvious participation was worthwhile. Outsiders saw those deep pockets as organizers because they want to find and vilify organizers of such a movement. It has sustained for way over a year (longer than you realize) not because it's a fad, but because millions of like-minded people were finally able to contact and coordinate each other thru social media networking - people who really do believe in Tea Party type views, and won't be giving up on their opinions any time soon.
The Tea Party is the kind of grassroots, high-tech, anarchistic, viral-meme, spontaneous-organization happening /. & Wired types have been predicting for some time. Just pisses a lot of 'em off that it was the "right wing" that actually did it.
You, and TFA, are grossly underestimating the scale of Internet-based social networking on creating & facilitating the Tea Party movement. Fox barely scratches the surface, and is way behind the curve.
The Internet is much, much bigger than you realize.
Naysayers keep missing a critical point about the iPad: the iPad is NOT a computer/notebook/netbook replacement. It augments.
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that. While it may spend most of its time unconnected, it still relies on a host computer.
Some 20% of what you do with a computer (YMMV) is hardcore computing requiring full keyboard, nuanced/specialized input device, big/multiple screens, mass storage unto terabytes, etc. - stuff which either requires an all-out desktop computer or severe compromises for a notebook. The remaining 80% is lightweight stuff which can be done, and you want to do, anywhere anytime in a superlight package - THAT is what the iPad is for. By breaking out the 80% from the 20%, you no longer have to compromise the 100% into a tiny under-capacity notebook.
Put your textbooks, email, browsing, and suitable lightweight apps on the iPad so you can take info & access everywhere easily. Use the iPad's microphone (! hey naysayers, ya didn't know it had one, eh?) to record the lectures while you focus thereon and Dragon Dictate (or some such) them into editable/searchable text later. Work on assignments whenever/wherever you find a few minutes to. ...and when you need to do "real work", go home, sync up, and do the work on a real computer. [insert notebook-vs-desktop type parody of naysayer rhetoric here]
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't.
If a product doesn't do everything you want, then - brainstorm! - maybe it's not for you.
I've seen a half-dozen in the mall food court alone lately.
At least two friends have bought theirs within days of seeing mine.
1.5 pounds, smaller than a sheet of paper, no unfolding & setup, instant on, always connected. What's not to solve?
Key thing most miss: it's not an outright computer replacement. It gives you about 80% of what you need a computer for, anywhere anytime. You don't have to drag around the mass storage, bulky input devices, larger screen, etc. you need for about 20% of your use. To the contrary, by putting 80% of what you do on a tiny superduperportable tablet, you're freed to leave a big bulky powerhouse computer behind, rather than trying to cram everything into a compromise notebook shell.
Apple said it sold 3.27 million iPads in Q2.
That's 4% of the market - for a single "it sucks, it's gonna go nowhere" radical new product out of the starting gate, that's awesome.