You could probably save more lives by make driving a little bit safer.
Yep. I agree with that. People do take some things out of proportion and overreact (such as shark attacks in Australia as a prime example). But I'm not sure that this is one of those things.
Personally, I'm glad that I live in a country where we don't carry guns. The equivalent of a mass shooting here would be someone running around slashing people with a sword. Heard of any such incidents lately?
This statistic...
52 people died this year from falling off ladders.
...is small compared to...
More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country
More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day
Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds
And the primary cause of death among African Americans of that age group
And in other countries...
Gun Homicides (average annually):
Less than 50: Japan
Less than 150: Germany, Italy, France, etc.
Less than 200: Canada
More than 10,000: USA
This does not take into account population sizes, but even if it did, the US would still "win".
Of course there are murderous people all around the world, and accidents will always happen. But most types of guns (especially the ones US'ians seem to like to carry) are tools designed to make killing easier. So either US'ians don't know how to handle guns safely (in which case they should not be allowed to carry guns) or they rather like shooting each other (in which case they not should be allowed to carry guns).
Microsoft software is... well, I'm with you there. But Microsoft periferals tend to be rather good in my experience. Hopefully the Oculus will fall into the periferals category. (Please, oh please, let the Oculus software be only straight forward driver software.)
I don't live in the US, so I honestly don't know. Call me lazy if you like, but could someone please give a succinct explanation of what the Patriot Act is/means?
Still, that's pretty good for it's time. It took over 300 years for the general break to be published. Look at how quickly todays security is cracked and published, one ofter the other. I tell ya, they just don't make cryprographers like they used to.
I have also had to replace several in much less time than they were supposed to last, so perhaps they're working better for some homes than for others.
I wonder if it could be more to do with how often they're switched on/off. Looking at the other comment branch describing good experiences, it looks like they often leave those lights on for long periods of time.
Actually, GP is right. I also used WM5/6, and wrote software for them.
I'm not a shill, nor a fan boy, but I did actually use the things. (Disclaimer: Writing this in Win7 VM, on a Mac, using my Android phone for internet.)
WM6 was more developer friendly than iOS and Android until only 3 years ago, IMO.
But... they were not user friendly.
When I used my Dopod, people couldn't understand why I had such a bulky "phone". It was too foreign a concept for most people.
iOS showed ("educated") people about the idea of a phone that could do more. It did so by having a much better user interface/interaction. And by being so much simpler it successfully bridged the "concept gap" for people. But for a while there, iOS lacked many useful WM6 features. During that time iOS felt like a big step down from WM6.
Then Microsoft killed WM6 by introducing WP7, which was virtually unusable to developers spoilt using.Net 2 on WM6. (Various advantages with that.)
At this point I'm not sure that I want MS to succeed, because I don't want more fragmentation.
I find the interesting part is "conditions found in space".
Because then life would likely not have been seeded on a some planet as a rare event. Rather, because the components could be be scattered all over, and life could develop all over the place, some planets may even have been successfully seeded repeatedly.
And there may well be extremophiles on Mars that are completely unrelated to life on Earth, as might well be on/in other planets and moons in our solar system.
I sometimes like to play with the idea that we're being observed, specifically because it highlights why they probably would avoid contacting us.
Socially advanced species would probably not want to destroy us, because if we become space faring then we've earnt the right to join the galactic community.
On the other hand, we would be the equivalent of orcs: we like rough sports and martial arts (ah, the art of moving a sharp piece of metal right through...), we pride ourselves on our combustion engines (planes, cars, boats, sure those engines pollute, but it's high tech man), we still practice slavery (even if don't like to admit it), we're still very corrupt and often lack respect for each others safety, we breed uncontrollably, and we wage war.
I went to the top of Burj Dubai* in May last year, and I couldn't see anything that made it look useful for anything other than a tourist platform. If such buildings eventually bring in more tourist dollars than they cost to build, then I suppose they serve their purpose.
* Does that mean that I mounted Dubai's... oh, let's not go there.
Better Learning Through Expensive Software? One Principal Thinks Not
Professor: Young People Are "Lost Generation" Who Can No Longer Fix Gadgets
Writer: How My Mom Got Hacked
US CTO Tries To Wean the White House Off Floppy Disks
Perhaps some of those are interesting topics and it's just me who is picky. But really, topics such as these are why I came to/.:
Experiments Create Particles Out of a Vacuum Using Neutrinos
The Missing Piece of the Smart Home Revolution: The Operating System
Alas, what you say applies to so many more countries than just the US.
In my opinion, we need a new, more evolved version of democracy. It seems that most (all?) variants of modern democracy suffer from the same issues:
1. Imbalanced media ownership.
2. A party winning elections. It would be better if parties shared decision making based on proportion of public support. Yes, many governments are meant to work that way by voting in parliament, but in practice that doesn't seem to actually work due to reasons such as party loyalty and...
3. Decision making ministers/senators. I get that minister/senator are different roles, but my point is that each person is responsible for far too much. Instead we ought to have spokes people and team managers, but actual decision making should be left to specialist teams, a form of democratic technocracy.
Reasons for 2 & 3 are:
- No one party or senator/minister to lobby or bribe.
- Because all parties can expect to be partially in power uninterrupted for the long haul, that ought to reduce short term thinking.
- You don't have politicians making decisions on topics they have no training nor experience in (in my country most politicians are lawyers) such as various technologies and sciences, education, medicine, etc.
The problem is, of course, getting career politicians to agree to such changes.
Slashdot Mirror
You could probably save more lives by make driving a little bit safer.
Yep. I agree with that. People do take some things out of proportion and overreact (such as shark attacks in Australia as a prime example). But I'm not sure that this is one of those things.
Personally, I'm glad that I live in a country where we don't carry guns. The equivalent of a mass shooting here would be someone running around slashing people with a sword.
Heard of any such incidents lately?
This statistic...
52 people died this year from falling off ladders.
...is small compared to...
More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country
More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day
Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds
And the primary cause of death among African Americans of that age group
And in other countries...
Gun Homicides (average annually):
Less than 50: Japan
Less than 150: Germany, Italy, France, etc.
Less than 200: Canada
More than 10,000: USA
This does not take into account population sizes, but even if it did, the US would still "win".
Of course there are murderous people all around the world, and accidents will always happen. But most types of guns (especially the ones US'ians seem to like to carry) are tools designed to make killing easier. So either US'ians don't know how to handle guns safely (in which case they should not be allowed to carry guns) or they rather like shooting each other (in which case they not should be allowed to carry guns).
Reference: http://heedinggodscall.org/con...
Gives new meaning to "smoke and mirrors".
That makes sense: not selling to us, but selling us.
More years ago than I care to remember, I designed and self published a game
I see what you mean. From the link...
Game of the Second Boer War commencing October, 1899.
I'm just waiting for the x-gene to activate among people all around the world... ;)
Here's an example of that.. :)
Sooo... you're a software developer, right?
On a more serious note, should we not have this discussion about all greater apes first?
Microsoft software is... well, I'm with you there. But Microsoft periferals tend to be rather good in my experience. Hopefully the Oculus will fall into the periferals category. (Please, oh please, let the Oculus software be only straight forward driver software.)
To sidewalk, you move the left foot to the left, or the right foot to the right, then the other foot follows. Repeat.
Don't need a lab to work that out.
How that's supposed to help the cities in the future? Perhaps because they'll be really crowded with little space to move.
...with the help of MultiVAX intelligence will... (Won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet.)
I don't live in the US, so I honestly don't know. Call me lazy if you like, but could someone please give a succinct explanation of what the Patriot Act is/means?
Depends what kind of flyer. An AR Drone 2 will fly for about 12 minutes or 18 minutes depending on the battery. Commercial ones? Dunno.
Better yet, use a backup software that will do offsite backups automatically.
Still, that's pretty good for it's time. It took over 300 years for the general break to be published. Look at how quickly todays security is cracked and published, one ofter the other. I tell ya, they just don't make cryprographers like they used to.
I have also had to replace several in much less time than they were supposed to last, so perhaps they're working better for some homes than for others.
I wonder if it could be more to do with how often they're switched on/off. Looking at the other comment branch describing good experiences, it looks like they often leave those lights on for long periods of time.
Yes, because underdeveoped elephant sized chickens become dinosaurs!!!
Actually, GP is right. I also used WM5/6, and wrote software for them.
I'm not a shill, nor a fan boy, but I did actually use the things. (Disclaimer: Writing this in Win7 VM, on a Mac, using my Android phone for internet.)
WM6 was more developer friendly than iOS and Android until only 3 years ago, IMO.
But... they were not user friendly.
When I used my Dopod, people couldn't understand why I had such a bulky "phone". It was too foreign a concept for most people.
iOS showed ("educated") people about the idea of a phone that could do more. It did so by having a much better user interface/interaction. And by being so much simpler it successfully bridged the "concept gap" for people. But for a while there, iOS lacked many useful WM6 features. During that time iOS felt like a big step down from WM6.
Then Microsoft killed WM6 by introducing WP7, which was virtually unusable to developers spoilt using .Net 2 on WM6. (Various advantages with that.)
At this point I'm not sure that I want MS to succeed, because I don't want more fragmentation.
I find the interesting part is "conditions found in space".
Because then life would likely not have been seeded on a some planet as a rare event. Rather, because the components could be be scattered all over, and life could develop all over the place, some planets may even have been successfully seeded repeatedly.
And there may well be extremophiles on Mars that are completely unrelated to life on Earth, as might well be on/in other planets and moons in our solar system.
I suppose... With a chop: yes. With chemicals: no.
So is it legal? With a chop: no. With chemicals: yes (judging by GP)
I sometimes like to play with the idea that we're being observed, specifically because it highlights why they probably would avoid contacting us.
Socially advanced species would probably not want to destroy us, because if we become space faring then we've earnt the right to join the galactic community.
On the other hand, we would be the equivalent of orcs: we like rough sports and martial arts (ah, the art of moving a sharp piece of metal right through...), we pride ourselves on our combustion engines (planes, cars, boats, sure those engines pollute, but it's high tech man), we still practice slavery (even if don't like to admit it), we're still very corrupt and often lack respect for each others safety, we breed uncontrollably, and we wage war.
We would be a veritable plague.
I went to the top of Burj Dubai* in May last year, and I couldn't see anything that made it look useful for anything other than a tourist platform. If such buildings eventually bring in more tourist dollars than they cost to build, then I suppose they serve their purpose.
* Does that mean that I mounted Dubai's... oh, let's not go there.
This is just from today:
Better Learning Through Expensive Software? One Principal Thinks Not
Professor: Young People Are "Lost Generation" Who Can No Longer Fix Gadgets
Writer: How My Mom Got Hacked
US CTO Tries To Wean the White House Off Floppy Disks
Perhaps some of those are interesting topics and it's just me who is picky. But really, topics such as these are why I came to /. :
Experiments Create Particles Out of a Vacuum Using Neutrinos
The Missing Piece of the Smart Home Revolution: The Operating System
10% of infinity is...... hmmm, carry the one... Um 7?
42
Alas, what you say applies to so many more countries than just the US.
In my opinion, we need a new, more evolved version of democracy. It seems that most (all?) variants of modern democracy suffer from the same issues:
1. Imbalanced media ownership.
2. A party winning elections. It would be better if parties shared decision making based on proportion of public support. Yes, many governments are meant to work that way by voting in parliament, but in practice that doesn't seem to actually work due to reasons such as party loyalty and ...
3. Decision making ministers/senators. I get that minister/senator are different roles, but my point is that each person is responsible for far too much. Instead we ought to have spokes people and team managers, but actual decision making should be left to specialist teams, a form of democratic technocracy.
Reasons for 2 & 3 are:
- No one party or senator/minister to lobby or bribe.
- Because all parties can expect to be partially in power uninterrupted for the long haul, that ought to reduce short term thinking.
- You don't have politicians making decisions on topics they have no training nor experience in (in my country most politicians are lawyers) such as various technologies and sciences, education, medicine, etc.
The problem is, of course, getting career politicians to agree to such changes.