Yep. And my point is that it's a much bigger problem than phones.
All of a sudden I hate you..
So be it. I'm having a frank and honest discussion here. I'm quite willing to trumpet where I do well (driving while talking on the phone), so I should be willing to admit my faults.
Some people can drive and talk safely. From my post on the "supertaskers" story:
I believe the reason I can safely drive and talk on the cell phone is because I tend to ignore people talking when I'm doing something else.
In effect, I'm an inattentive listener, so it pretty much doesn't affect my driving, because if I have to do anything driving related, I tune out the person talking to me.
I'm also not afraid to drop the phone (literally) and deal with something if I need to. Anecdote: I was rear-ended once while on the phone. I was watching the rear view, noted the car behind me was going *way* too fast, threw it into gear and punched the gas onto the shoulder. (I dropped the phone in the process) She clipped the driver's side tail of my bumper, then plowed into the car that was (previously) directly in front of me. Picked back up the phone, apologized, briefly explained, then hung up.
That said, I *cannot* dial the phone or send a text. Both are dangerous when I'm driving.
"Click it or Ticket", "Over the limit, Under arrest", and its ilk irritate me to no end. I *loathe* being talked down to like a child, with these cutesy slogans. I hate the TV commercials where they say: "If you drink and drive, you WILL get arrested!" Anyone with half a brain knows that such a certain assertion is clearly false. Doesn't really do much for their credibility.
This anti-cellphone jihad really makes no sense to me. If we're going to waste money on "educating" people about the dangers of cell phones, why don't we educate them on the dangers of distracted driving in general? For example, I believe that I personally am probably 10 times more likely to kill someone out of my habit of driving without enough sleep than when I'm talking on the phone. I've seen statistics that falling asleep while driving causing upwards around 20% of fatal accidents.
Come to think of it, it happened last week when I was driving down FL-528 back to Orlando from the shuttle launch - I had been up all night. You know what I did to keep myself awake and alert? Whipped out the phone and talked to someone.
the point is: the days of needing pilots and astronauts is over. everything can be done remotely for orders of magnitude of less cash outlay, for much greater amounts of quality science
One of the STS-125 astronauts (I forget which) was asked this question at an event I attended.
He told an anecdotal story about having asked a geologist about the science being done on Mars by the rovers, and how long it would take a geologist to do the same science if he were on the surface of Mars.
The geologist did some back of the envelope calculations, and replied back "About 15 minutes."
The point was that there is absolutely a place for both manned space exploration as well as unmanned exploration. Yes, human space flight technology is still primitive. It will need to improve for us to do more practical manned exploration. But that doesn't mean we sit on our butts and expect the technology to magically appear.
Did Balboa or Columbus wait for diesel-powered cargo ships to do their dangerous trips? Did Lewis and Clark wait for a transcontinental railroad to magically appear?
I believe the reason I can safely drive and talk on the cell phone is because I tend to ignore people talking when I'm doing something else.
In effect, I'm an inattentive listener, so it pretty much doesn't affect my driving, because if I have to do anything driving related, I tune out the person talking to me.
I'm also not afraid to drop the phone (literally) and deal with something if I need to. Anecdote: I was rear-ended once while on the phone. I was watching the rear view, noted the car behind me was going *way* too fast, threw it into gear and punched the gas onto the shoulder. (I dropped the phone in the process) She clipped the driver's side tail of my bumper, then plowed into the car that was (previously) directly in front of me. Picked back up the phone, apologized, briefly explained, then hung up.
That said, I *cannot* dial the phone or send a text. Both are dangerous when I'm driving.
That's right, if you're going to tell me that I'm unsafe while driving and talking on the phone (I'm not), then make darn sure all the cops driving around aren't talking on their phones, or using their radios.
Virii... has established itself as the plural for computer virii (at least it has in the scene)
No one in the antivirus industry I've ever talked to said "virii". Heck, I remember a whole discusison of this being in the alt.comp.virus FAQ back in the day.
If you want to be convinced that you sound like a tool to people in the industry when you say "virii", try googling:
It's time for armed rebellion. We must storm the capital, while the military is stretched thin, and execute the majority of our legislators.
You first.
No, seriously. Why would we do that, when our electoral system is functioning perfectly fine? Newsflash: The American people get the government they elect. Yes, the system is stacked, but all that really stands in the way of true change is the electorate.
I don't understand why you think a populace that is too dumb to vote for someone of quality is somehow not going to be too dumb to properly execute an armed rebellion.
Stupid idea. You know how many times I've gotten tickets to a football game because someone else couldn't use their tickets? I've been on both ends of that, and it's great to be able to pass on tickets to someone and brighten their day.
Screw that. The venue has its money, it's irrelevant who is sitting in the seat or how much they paid for the ticket.
If they can keep their own codebreaking and intelligence records secure (when was the last time you heard about the NSA getting hacked?), they can do it for the government as a whole.
Sorry, you touched a nerve...
Where does the NSA have a need (or a MANDATE) to interact with the public with their data?
I do contract work at NASA. We have an actual requirement to share data. Actual Internet exposure. People doing science. That sort of thing. Guess what? The agency gets hacked. Relatively speaking among federal agencies, fairly often. It's not surprising.
The IRS collects data online. Social Security. NHTSA. NIST. NOAA. FDA. Ad nauseum. All of them have heavy interaction with the public.
So yeah, when your requirements are, like the NSA, mostly to keep it all on the property at Fort Meade (or maybe a little bit to remote sites), it's (relatively) easy.
I have taken my iPhone several times outside of its altitude constraints while skydiving. I forgot a few times to turn it off, and thus had it at 12,500-14,000 feet operating. The maximum operating altitude is 10,000 feet.
Let's hope there isn't a little red dot for THAT.:)
Any idea that Google is going to get into the electricity business is patently absurd.
Agree. By my estimation, this is similar to Wal-Mart wanting to start a bank a few years ago solely to save money on credit, debit, and check processing.
The Constitution is not in place to "grant" the people rights, the Constitution is in place to limit what the government is allowed to do.
Close, but you're missing an important distinction. The Constitution exists to grant rights to the Federal government. All other rights not explicitly enumerated for the Federal government in the Constitution are reserved for the States or the People.
The Bill of Rights is a non-exhaustive list of rights that in particular the Government must absolutely never be permitted to infringe.
This is the kind of shit that is going to be responsible for blood in the streets. Like this year.
Oh, give me a break. The same people who can't be bothered to vote intelligently, which would immediately fix most every problem in our country, are suddenly going to rise up in arms against the very government they just elected, and which they could remove non-violently by simply electing someone else?
Bingo. If you ask me, this is all going to come down to *data quality*.
While the video in the story is certainly impressive, I think that comparatively speaking it's not difficult to develop these types of apps -- It's all evolutionary.
The real issue is obtaining the data to feed into the apps. Obtaining, assimilating, and keeping up to date images, being able to accurately place a given address on a map, those sorts of things.
Yeah, it's really awesome that Microsoft's map app can actually go indoors, but it'll be pointless if relatively few indoor locations are actually imaged.
Slashdot Mirror
Pretty nasty habit you got there..
Yep. And my point is that it's a much bigger problem than phones.
All of a sudden I hate you..
So be it. I'm having a frank and honest discussion here. I'm quite willing to trumpet where I do well (driving while talking on the phone), so I should be willing to admit my faults.
Some people can drive and talk safely. From my post on the "supertaskers" story:
I believe the reason I can safely drive and talk on the cell phone is because I tend to ignore people talking when I'm doing something else.
In effect, I'm an inattentive listener, so it pretty much doesn't affect my driving, because if I have to do anything driving related, I tune out the person talking to me.
I'm also not afraid to drop the phone (literally) and deal with something if I need to. Anecdote: I was rear-ended once while on the phone. I was watching the rear view, noted the car behind me was going *way* too fast, threw it into gear and punched the gas onto the shoulder. (I dropped the phone in the process) She clipped the driver's side tail of my bumper, then plowed into the car that was (previously) directly in front of me. Picked back up the phone, apologized, briefly explained, then hung up.
That said, I *cannot* dial the phone or send a text. Both are dangerous when I'm driving.
"Click it or Ticket", "Over the limit, Under arrest", and its ilk irritate me to no end. I *loathe* being talked down to like a child, with these cutesy slogans. I hate the TV commercials where they say: "If you drink and drive, you WILL get arrested!" Anyone with half a brain knows that such a certain assertion is clearly false. Doesn't really do much for their credibility.
This anti-cellphone jihad really makes no sense to me. If we're going to waste money on "educating" people about the dangers of cell phones, why don't we educate them on the dangers of distracted driving in general? For example, I believe that I personally am probably 10 times more likely to kill someone out of my habit of driving without enough sleep than when I'm talking on the phone. I've seen statistics that falling asleep while driving causing upwards around 20% of fatal accidents.
Come to think of it, it happened last week when I was driving down FL-528 back to Orlando from the shuttle launch - I had been up all night. You know what I did to keep myself awake and alert? Whipped out the phone and talked to someone.
I say we use bricks for exploration. They don't even require DC current!
My goodness, you're an angry person.
the point is: the days of needing pilots and astronauts is over. everything can be done remotely for orders of magnitude of less cash outlay, for much greater amounts of quality science
One of the STS-125 astronauts (I forget which) was asked this question at an event I attended.
He told an anecdotal story about having asked a geologist about the science being done on Mars by the rovers, and how long it would take a geologist to do the same science if he were on the surface of Mars.
The geologist did some back of the envelope calculations, and replied back "About 15 minutes."
The point was that there is absolutely a place for both manned space exploration as well as unmanned exploration. Yes, human space flight technology is still primitive. It will need to improve for us to do more practical manned exploration. But that doesn't mean we sit on our butts and expect the technology to magically appear.
Did Balboa or Columbus wait for diesel-powered cargo ships to do their dangerous trips? Did Lewis and Clark wait for a transcontinental railroad to magically appear?
Did you see how much effort it took to take apart? Maybe you missed him narrating all of the things he broke in the process of taking it apart...
It has nothing to do with "supertasking", though.
I believe the reason I can safely drive and talk on the cell phone is because I tend to ignore people talking when I'm doing something else.
In effect, I'm an inattentive listener, so it pretty much doesn't affect my driving, because if I have to do anything driving related, I tune out the person talking to me.
I'm also not afraid to drop the phone (literally) and deal with something if I need to. Anecdote: I was rear-ended once while on the phone. I was watching the rear view, noted the car behind me was going *way* too fast, threw it into gear and punched the gas onto the shoulder. (I dropped the phone in the process) She clipped the driver's side tail of my bumper, then plowed into the car that was (previously) directly in front of me. Picked back up the phone, apologized, briefly explained, then hung up.
That said, I *cannot* dial the phone or send a text. Both are dangerous when I'm driving.
Or, oh, say, don't put anything on Facebook that you wouldn't want the world to see?
My boss's boss's boss is a friend on Facebook. It doesn't bother or scare me because I am comfortable with my public actions.
And you went to court and had it thrown out because there is no such law, right?
Forget Hollywood, how about cops?
That's right, if you're going to tell me that I'm unsafe while driving and talking on the phone (I'm not), then make darn sure all the cops driving around aren't talking on their phones, or using their radios.
Fat chance that will happen, of course.
Did you know that if you have a debt forgiven, that the amount of the forgiven debt is treated as income, and thus taxable?
So theoretically, the tax on that money isn't lost, it's shifted to the debtor.
Virii ... has established itself as the plural for computer virii (at least it has in the scene)
No one in the antivirus industry I've ever talked to said "virii". Heck, I remember a whole discusison of this being in the alt.comp.virus FAQ back in the day.
If you want to be convinced that you sound like a tool to people in the industry when you say "virii", try googling:
site:mcafee.com viruses
site:mcafee.com virii
site:symantec.com viruses
site:symantec.com virii
and so on.
Add in the sign-recognition system GM’s Opel division has developed and the head-up display can tell you when you’re exceeding the speed limit
Ummm, is this thing susceptible to screen burn-in?
It's time for armed rebellion. We must storm the capital, while the military is stretched thin, and execute the majority of our legislators.
You first.
No, seriously. Why would we do that, when our electoral system is functioning perfectly fine? Newsflash: The American people get the government they elect. Yes, the system is stacked, but all that really stands in the way of true change is the electorate.
I don't understand why you think a populace that is too dumb to vote for someone of quality is somehow not going to be too dumb to properly execute an armed rebellion.
Print the owners name on the frecking ticket.
Stupid idea. You know how many times I've gotten tickets to a football game because someone else couldn't use their tickets? I've been on both ends of that, and it's great to be able to pass on tickets to someone and brighten their day.
Screw that. The venue has its money, it's irrelevant who is sitting in the seat or how much they paid for the ticket.
If they can keep their own codebreaking and intelligence records secure (when was the last time you heard about the NSA getting hacked?), they can do it for the government as a whole.
Sorry, you touched a nerve...
Where does the NSA have a need (or a MANDATE) to interact with the public with their data?
I do contract work at NASA. We have an actual requirement to share data. Actual Internet exposure. People doing science. That sort of thing. Guess what? The agency gets hacked. Relatively speaking among federal agencies, fairly often. It's not surprising.
The IRS collects data online. Social Security. NHTSA. NIST. NOAA. FDA. Ad nauseum. All of them have heavy interaction with the public.
So yeah, when your requirements are, like the NSA, mostly to keep it all on the property at Fort Meade (or maybe a little bit to remote sites), it's (relatively) easy.
I'm sorry, driving is not a right in the US.
I pay for roads. It's a right. A revokeable right, but a right nonetheless.
I have taken my iPhone several times outside of its altitude constraints while skydiving. I forgot a few times to turn it off, and thus had it at 12,500-14,000 feet operating. The maximum operating altitude is 10,000 feet.
Let's hope there isn't a little red dot for THAT. :)
Any idea that Google is going to get into the electricity business is patently absurd.
Agree. By my estimation, this is similar to Wal-Mart wanting to start a bank a few years ago solely to save money on credit, debit, and check processing.
The Constitution is not in place to "grant" the people rights, the Constitution is in place to limit what the government is allowed to do.
Close, but you're missing an important distinction. The Constitution exists to grant rights to the Federal government. All other rights not explicitly enumerated for the Federal government in the Constitution are reserved for the States or the People.
The Bill of Rights is a non-exhaustive list of rights that in particular the Government must absolutely never be permitted to infringe.
This is the kind of shit that is going to be responsible for blood in the streets. Like this year.
Oh, give me a break. The same people who can't be bothered to vote intelligently, which would immediately fix most every problem in our country, are suddenly going to rise up in arms against the very government they just elected, and which they could remove non-violently by simply electing someone else?
Nonsense.
I *knew* there was a reason I hadn't changed the tab on my filing folder filled with Comcast bills that is currently labeled: "Adelphia"
How could you leave out WD-40?!
Bingo. If you ask me, this is all going to come down to *data quality*.
While the video in the story is certainly impressive, I think that comparatively speaking it's not difficult to develop these types of apps -- It's all evolutionary.
The real issue is obtaining the data to feed into the apps. Obtaining, assimilating, and keeping up to date images, being able to accurately place a given address on a map, those sorts of things.
Yeah, it's really awesome that Microsoft's map app can actually go indoors, but it'll be pointless if relatively few indoor locations are actually imaged.
I, for one, welcome the ante being upped.