Most religions prevent people from being able to distinguish fantasy from reality. They also prevent people from thinking with reason (instead using "faith").
You are right that this helps many people cope with their individual discontent/depression.
But you are dead wrong when you say this is good for society as a whole. These people, who think with "faith" instead of reason, and exist only within their own fantasies, VOTE.
Perhaps widespread adoption of reality-based philosophy or better use of antidepressant drugs would be a better solution.
Delusional people deciding who will run the country is VERY BAD for society at the macro level.
Have you watched TV recently? Ask.com is running a serious new ad campaign. It infers that all other search engines are primitive by comparison. Whether it is true or not, superior ad compaigns often matter more than slightly superior products.
This is a result of having multiple editors. What would you prefer? All the news spun in the same direction? It is well known that journalistic integrity isn't a priority at all for slashdot. The next best thing is having conflict in the spin.
I've seen few summaries so bad. First of all, it's so dripping with bias that it's hard to understand what is even being said. The write-up should include details, not opinion! Also, it fails to make the basic distinction between copyright infringement and theft.
Patents and IP rights are not crucial to innovation. Rewarding invention is crucial to innovation. Patents are just one possible way to do this.
And I don't think patents are even the right way to do that. To be compensated for his invention, a patent holder must stop inventing and start running a business. But business is not his specialization, invention is.
A better way to compensate patent holders may be to allow EVERYONE to use a patent, but they must always pay some percentage of revenue on sales of the invention the patent holder.
The enforcement of copyright law is a good thing. Some of the specifics of copyright law may be bad, but enforcement is good. The way to fix the problems you perceive with copyright law is to change the law, not to inhibit its enforcement.
Saying this is bad because it could help enforce copyright is like arguing that illegal immigrants should be given driver's licenses. It's absurd. Enforce the laws, and change them if they break things.
The problem isn't the debt. The problem is YOU willingly accepting the debt.
By paying with cash, you are overpaying for everything you buy. Cash-back credit cards, when paid on time, are the equivalent of giving yourself a few percent raise every year.
Also, I think it is probably good for stores to know what kinds of good I buy. It could potentially help them keep things in stock better.
But keep overpaying with cash if that is the only way you can handle finance psychologically...
Still, you could just carry around a credit card, a wallet with 2 pockets, and some monopoly money. When you spend $5 on your card, you can move $5 of monopoly money from one pocket in your wallet to the other. When you get a paycheck, you can move all the money back. When the one pocket is empty, you stop using your credit card. That way, you can use a card, with all the financial and convenience benefits that entails, but you will never go into debt.
Meanwhile, most people will just keep track of their income/expenses in their heads.
As a member of the/. community, I prefer quality to crap. And blurbs about obscure things that don't explain what they are are crap. Defend crap all you want. Call me lazy. But it's still crap.
I started to read the article. The first few questions told me nothing of why she is famous. That should have been in the blurb. I shouldn't have to search. It should be in the damn blurb.
I'm interested in cryptography, but could someobody explain to me why anyone should care about this person? Most of the posts so far are something like, "She's so cool! I met her!" or "I went on a date with her, look at me!" But what has she done that is significant other than socializing with the nerds of slashdot? Are there any widely-implemented algorithms to her name? Did she find a novel way to break a cipher? Will I find theories or equations named after her in a crypto textbook?
I'm hoping someone can post what it is that makes her famous, other than being a girl in one of the geekiest parts domains of CS.
What?? You don't have to "get" them to regrow. They do so on their own!
Want proof? I have Bell's Palsy. The nerve in the left side of my face died and my face was half-paralyzed. But now the nerve is growing back. Every day, some part of my face starts twitching as the newly-grown never attaches to it.
The moral of the story is: some nerves do grow back on their own. Nerve regrowth is a common thing that happens in animals all the time without any medicine of any kind.
You seem to think that following more fundamental interpretations of the bible and the koran will lead to some ideal civilization.
You're wrong. The Old Testement has some horrible, evil teachings about things like slavery and punishment for crime. The koran includes some of the same stuff, and some new stuff that's also nasty.
Humanity needs to move away from both the fundamental and the interpreted versions of the now-popular religions if we want to see it advance.
The submitter and editors need to learn their numeric prefixes. Come on! This web site is supposed to be for people who understand computer technology!
A petabyte == 1000 terrabytes A pebibyte == 1024 terrabytes
Which sounds reasonable, until you realize the evil interpretations the church has made (like the topics of witches, condoms in the face of aids, purgatory, etc.).
Well, if the bible can't be taken literally, it is worthless. If it's open for interpretation, I could interpret it to mean something good or terrible. I could do the same thing with an episode of startrek.
In such a case, startrek is as morally useful as the bible.
666 was just a hebrew code for Nero Caesar. Unless someone clones Nero and he takes over the world, regulating all commerce, the "Mark of the Beast" is a false prophecy.
Revelations should be removed from the bible. It was proven wrong when Nero died.
I have a solution. We build a mechanical computer entirely of stone.
Water can provide the mechanical energy needed to run it.
There are 2 buttons. One for "0" and one for "1" (or whatever). After a button is pressed, the water pops back up. After the 8th button has been pressed, it stays down, the wheels turn, and then a stone tablet with a letter carved in to it is raised. After a moment, the letter goes down, and the input buttons raise again for the user to input the next 8 bits.
As long as the users of this know how to read the raw 0's and 1's from our media of today, they could decode any ASCII document in this way. They wouldn't even have to know there are 8 bits/byte.
It would be build in a huge underground chamber. In this chamber, the most common words, along with pictures defining them, would be carved in to the wall.
This is simultaneously one of the coolest and stupidest ideas I've had.
Basically, what we have here is an OTP authentication mechanism (One Time Password, like SecurID) that uses a "knocking" transport mechanism instead of a "RADIUS/IP" (or whatever) mechanism.
From a security standpoint, it doesn't matter if this is via knocking, IR, RF, electrical contact, or a keypad. The reason "knocking" is interesting here is that it would be cheaper to implement than most other mechanisms.
This is an economics article, not a security article.
While the GP's details were off, his point is still valid: Solar sails do NOT work by the same principle light-mills work, because light-mills require an atmosphere.
Slashdot Mirror
Most religions prevent people from being able to distinguish fantasy from reality. They also prevent people from thinking with reason (instead using "faith").
You are right that this helps many people cope with their individual discontent/depression.
But you are dead wrong when you say this is good for society as a whole. These people, who think with "faith" instead of reason, and exist only within their own fantasies, VOTE.
Perhaps widespread adoption of reality-based philosophy or better use of antidepressant drugs would be a better solution.
Delusional people deciding who will run the country is VERY BAD for society at the macro level.
When google became popular, it was far superior to its competition. As such, your observation does nothing to invalidate my claim.
Have you watched TV recently? Ask.com is running a serious new ad campaign. It infers that all other search engines are primitive by comparison. Whether it is true or not, superior ad compaigns often matter more than slightly superior products.
This is a result of having multiple editors. What would you prefer? All the news spun in the same direction? It is well known that journalistic integrity isn't a priority at all for slashdot. The next best thing is having conflict in the spin.
I've seen few summaries so bad. First of all, it's so dripping with bias that it's hard to understand what is even being said. The write-up should include details, not opinion! Also, it fails to make the basic distinction between copyright infringement and theft.
Patents and IP rights are not crucial to innovation. Rewarding invention is crucial to innovation. Patents are just one possible way to do this.
And I don't think patents are even the right way to do that. To be compensated for his invention, a patent holder must stop inventing and start running a business. But business is not his specialization, invention is.
A better way to compensate patent holders may be to allow EVERYONE to use a patent, but they must always pay some percentage of revenue on sales of the invention the patent holder.
The enforcement of copyright law is a good thing. Some of the specifics of copyright law may be bad, but enforcement is good. The way to fix the problems you perceive with copyright law is to change the law, not to inhibit its enforcement.
Saying this is bad because it could help enforce copyright is like arguing that illegal immigrants should be given driver's licenses. It's absurd. Enforce the laws, and change them if they break things.
You "for one" need to find a new cliche "for one."
The problem isn't the debt. The problem is YOU willingly accepting the debt.
By paying with cash, you are overpaying for everything you buy. Cash-back credit cards, when paid on time, are the equivalent of giving yourself a few percent raise every year.
Also, I think it is probably good for stores to know what kinds of good I buy. It could potentially help them keep things in stock better.
But keep overpaying with cash if that is the only way you can handle finance psychologically...
Still, you could just carry around a credit card, a wallet with 2 pockets, and some monopoly money. When you spend $5 on your card, you can move $5 of monopoly money from one pocket in your wallet to the other. When you get a paycheck, you can move all the money back. When the one pocket is empty, you stop using your credit card. That way, you can use a card, with all the financial and convenience benefits that entails, but you will never go into debt.
Meanwhile, most people will just keep track of their income/expenses in their heads.
As a member of the /. community, I prefer quality to crap. And blurbs about obscure things that don't explain what they are are crap. Defend crap all you want. Call me lazy. But it's still crap.
I started to read the article. The first few questions told me nothing of why she is famous. That should have been in the blurb. I shouldn't have to search. It should be in the damn blurb.
And for you: -1 for not answering a question.
I'm interested in cryptography, but could someobody explain to me why anyone should care about this person? Most of the posts so far are something like, "She's so cool! I met her!" or "I went on a date with her, look at me!" But what has she done that is significant other than socializing with the nerds of slashdot? Are there any widely-implemented algorithms to her name? Did she find a novel way to break a cipher? Will I find theories or equations named after her in a crypto textbook?
I'm hoping someone can post what it is that makes her famous, other than being a girl in one of the geekiest parts domains of CS.
You can get nerves to regrow in a living animal?
What?? You don't have to "get" them to regrow. They do so on their own!
Want proof? I have Bell's Palsy. The nerve in the left side of my face died and my face was half-paralyzed. But now the nerve is growing back. Every day, some part of my face starts twitching as the newly-grown never attaches to it.
The moral of the story is: some nerves do grow back on their own. Nerve regrowth is a common thing that happens in animals all the time without any medicine of any kind.
You seem to think that following more fundamental interpretations of the bible and the koran will lead to some ideal civilization.
You're wrong. The Old Testement has some horrible, evil teachings about things like slavery and punishment for crime. The koran includes some of the same stuff, and some new stuff that's also nasty.
Humanity needs to move away from both the fundamental and the interpreted versions of the now-popular religions if we want to see it advance.
You're right. I misspelled "tera." That doesn't change my point at all. But thanks for pointing that out.
The submitter and editors need to learn their numeric prefixes. Come on! This web site is supposed to be for people who understand computer technology!
A petabyte == 1000 terrabytes
A pebibyte == 1024 terrabytes
Please see the NIST definition page:
http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
The idea that "natural" things are necessarily better than man-made things is a fallacy.
Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child which carries the heavy burden of genetic disease. - R. Edwards
Which sounds reasonable, until you realize the evil interpretations the church has made (like the topics of witches, condoms in the face of aids, purgatory, etc.).
I was thinking the GhostBusters, but whatever.
Well, if the bible can't be taken literally, it is worthless. If it's open for interpretation, I could interpret it to mean something good or terrible. I could do the same thing with an episode of startrek.
In such a case, startrek is as morally useful as the bible.
666 was just a hebrew code for Nero Caesar. Unless someone clones Nero and he takes over the world, regulating all commerce, the "Mark of the Beast" is a false prophecy.
Revelations should be removed from the bible. It was proven wrong when Nero died.
For more info on Nero and 666, go to the bottom of this page: http://www.bibleandscience.com/history/roman.htm
I have a solution. We build a mechanical computer entirely of stone.
Water can provide the mechanical energy needed to run it.
There are 2 buttons. One for "0" and one for "1" (or whatever). After a button is pressed, the water pops back up. After the 8th button has been pressed, it stays down, the wheels turn, and then a stone tablet with a letter carved in to it is raised. After a moment, the letter goes down, and the input buttons raise again for the user to input the next 8 bits.
As long as the users of this know how to read the raw 0's and 1's from our media of today, they could decode any ASCII document in this way. They wouldn't even have to know there are 8 bits/byte.
It would be build in a huge underground chamber. In this chamber, the most common words, along with pictures defining them, would be carved in to the wall.
This is simultaneously one of the coolest and stupidest ideas I've had.
Basically, what we have here is an OTP authentication mechanism (One Time Password, like SecurID) that uses a "knocking" transport mechanism instead of a "RADIUS/IP" (or whatever) mechanism.
From a security standpoint, it doesn't matter if this is via knocking, IR, RF, electrical contact, or a keypad. The reason "knocking" is interesting here is that it would be cheaper to implement than most other mechanisms.
This is an economics article, not a security article.
While the GP's details were off, his point is still valid: Solar sails do NOT work by the same principle light-mills work, because light-mills require an atmosphere.
Unipage is a PDF killer in the same way that oranges are the next apple killer.