Not disagreeing with you. I just want to expand on this one statement.
No matter what size vehicle you are on the road, unless you're a bus or a semi, there are much heavier vehicles out there than you. Which means that you need to be able to withstand sudden deceleration.
And even if you are a bus or a semi, there's always 1) bridge abutments, and 2) mountainsides. The moral of the story is that there's always something out there with more inertia than you.
Once again, in less than 30 minutes the Slashdot crowd finds multiple fatal flaws in the results of years of work by highly-trained educated people. And frequently without even bothering to RTFA! Is there nothing we can't do?
NOBODY expects the Slashdot Community! The chief weapon of the Slashdot Community is presumption...presumption and arrogance...arrogance and presumption.... Our *two* weapons are presumption and arrogance...and cynicism.... Our *three* weapons are presumption, arrogance, and cynicism...and an overweening sense of entitlement.... Our *four*...no.... *Amongst* our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as arrogance, presumption...I'll come in again.
From all I've seen over the years,/. readers are as likely to ignore inconvenient facts as any other demographic out there.
Slashdot's chief weapon is ignorance! Ignorance and cynicism. Cynicism and ignorance. Our two weapons are cynicism and ignorance. And arrogance. Our three weapons are cynicism, ignorance, and arrogance. And an overweening sense of entitlement. Our four...no. Amongst our weaponry are such elements as cynicism, ignorance...I'll come in again.
Buckley says she was texting her sister to let her know she'd be there soon.
"There was a wreck up ahead, and I didn't see the other cars slow down," Tyler said. "I looked up at some point." She rear-ended another car.
"A lot of times I feel like I can just look at my phone for one second, but that one second can be enough," Tyler said. "There can be something in front of me that one second that I don't see."
Are you arguing that texting wasn't the cause of this accident? 'Cause if you are, you'd better explain that to Tyler.
No, you can't legislate good judgment, but that doesn't mean we have to allow all kinds of bad judgment, either. Otherwise we should take the laws against reckless driving, speeding, driving while intoxicated, etc., off the books. Laws against driving while doing things that are known to be stupid are useful because they give society a way to punish (and hopefully inhibit) the violators short of letting them kill themselves.
Further, I'm going to go against the Slashdot Common Wisdom and claim that texting is in fact different from other kinds of distractions such as conversing with other people in the car, eating, changing the channel on the radio, etc. Texting takes more time, you frequently have to take your eyes off the road, you have to use your hands to do it, and you tend to spend more time doing it. So, yes, it's a special kind of distraction and one that's worthy of exceptional prohibition.
Here's a story from my local newspaper about a 20-something woman who's totaled 3 cars in the past 3 years because she was texting while driving. Apparently she learned this from her dad, who is unable to spend 2 hours just driving and must spend the time on the phone and doing his email.
Don't waste it on education. $30M is much better spent fighting hunger.
And working for world peace. Spend the $30M fighting hunger and working for world peace.
And manned space exploration. Spend the $30M fighting hunger, working for world peace, and manned space exploration.
Where in all the linked articles did you find any notion that Google intends to do this? Isn't it more likely that Google is thinking about inserting a 1" square ad in the upper-right corner for something of interest in the area you're looking at? Say, I look at an intersection downtown and Google shows an ad for a restaurant near that intersection.
...line up here on the left. No need to crowd, there'll be plenty of room for everybody. This is Slashdot, so remember the rules. Only fags and hipsters use Macs. "Fanboys" is spelled "fanbois." Macs are expensive, shiny and there aren't any games worth playing.
Why does the world need a non-free web server that only runs on Windows when there's already plenty of free (as in speech) ones out there (http://www.apache.org/, http://www.lighttpd.net/) that run everywhere?
Nobody expects jurors to know the law. Before the jury starts deliberating, the judge explains the law and how the jury is supposed to assess the evidence and testimony according to the law. This is called "instructing the jury." Typically the judge and the lawyers for each side work out the exact wording of the instruction so that it's fair to both sides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_instructions
Hmmm...You're right, we can't trust the FDA. We should rely on the geniuses of the Slashdot community instead. The ones who can read the summary and immediately come up with 10 or a dozen weaknesses that the professionals who've been thinking about the problems for years have somehow overlooked.
We should set up a vote. You know, take the top 10 highest-modded questions or something.
Can somebody explain how this idiotic idea came about
It comes from the music industry executives.
Well, actually, no. Close, but no. It got started by the only group capable of giving the music industry executives competition in the stupidity race, politicians. Politicians learn very quickly that you can't go wrong by being tough on crime, so every year they enact increasingly medieval laws designed to make the populace think "there, that'll get those criminals off the street!" "Three strikes" originally meant "if you get convicted of three felonies then we'll put you in jail forever."
"Three strikes" sounds good until you fill up the jails and you have to ask the voters for money to build more jails. (The only thing voters hate more than criminals is taxes.) Of course your average politician is unable think past the next election, so the jails filling up with struck-out felons naturally came as a surprise to them.
And of course, once you've made a crime law you can't undo it, no matter how stupid and counter-productive it is, because then your opponent in the next election will accuse you of "being soft on crime."
There, now I've gone and gotten off-topic. Damn hot-button topics.
Slashdot Mirror
If I had a bazillion +1 Informative mod points I'd give them to you.
And even if you are a bus or a semi, there's always 1) bridge abutments, and 2) mountainsides. The moral of the story is that there's always something out there with more inertia than you.
Once again, in less than 30 minutes the Slashdot crowd finds multiple fatal flaws in the results of years of work by highly-trained educated people. And frequently without even bothering to RTFA! Is there nothing we can't do?
NOBODY expects the Slashdot Community! The chief weapon of the Slashdot Community is presumption...presumption and arrogance...arrogance and presumption.... Our *two* weapons are presumption and arrogance...and cynicism.... Our *three* weapons are presumption, arrogance, and cynicism...and an overweening sense of entitlement.... Our *four*...no.... *Amongst* our weapons... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as arrogance, presumption...I'll come in again.
I'm not convinced this is true. Healthy young people may decide to forego health insurance, but at the same time couldn't live without a cell phone.
Slashdot's chief weapon is ignorance! Ignorance and cynicism. Cynicism and ignorance. Our two weapons are cynicism and ignorance. And arrogance. Our three weapons are cynicism, ignorance, and arrogance. And an overweening sense of entitlement. Our four...no. Amongst our weaponry are such elements as cynicism, ignorance...I'll come in again.
Are you arguing that texting wasn't the cause of this accident? 'Cause if you are, you'd better explain that to Tyler.
No, you can't legislate good judgment, but that doesn't mean we have to allow all kinds of bad judgment, either. Otherwise we should take the laws against reckless driving, speeding, driving while intoxicated, etc., off the books. Laws against driving while doing things that are known to be stupid are useful because they give society a way to punish (and hopefully inhibit) the violators short of letting them kill themselves.
Further, I'm going to go against the Slashdot Common Wisdom and claim that texting is in fact different from other kinds of distractions such as conversing with other people in the car, eating, changing the channel on the radio, etc. Texting takes more time, you frequently have to take your eyes off the road, you have to use your hands to do it, and you tend to spend more time doing it. So, yes, it's a special kind of distraction and one that's worthy of exceptional prohibition.
FTFY.
Here's a story from my local newspaper about a 20-something woman who's totaled 3 cars in the past 3 years because she was texting while driving. Apparently she learned this from her dad, who is unable to spend 2 hours just driving and must spend the time on the phone and doing his email.
Why isn't she in jail? Why aren't we treating driving-while-texting the same way we treat driving while intoxicated? Do we have to wait until she (or her dad) kills somebody? http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/301086.html
Don't waste it on education. $30M is much better spent fighting hunger. And working for world peace. Spend the $30M fighting hunger and working for world peace. And manned space exploration. Spend the $30M fighting hunger, working for world peace, and manned space exploration.
I'll come in again.
You must be new here. Any Apple-related story draws 10x as many Apple-hating comments as it does Apple-friendly comments.
Where in all the linked articles did you find any notion that Google intends to do this? Isn't it more likely that Google is thinking about inserting a 1" square ad in the upper-right corner for something of interest in the area you're looking at? Say, I look at an intersection downtown and Google shows an ad for a restaurant near that intersection.
Use the Preview button!
Except that the iPhone has a 30% market share. http://www.investorplace.com/changewave-alliance/articles/smart-phone-market-aapl-palm-rimm.html/
Is that something you're likely to say?
Why does the world need a non-free web server that only runs on Windows when there's already plenty of free (as in speech) ones out there (http://www.apache.org/, http://www.lighttpd.net/) that run everywhere?
Data entry errors. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/17/looking-big-picture-recovery-act/
I don't know which state you're living in, but in North Carolina the health insurance companies are fighting the bill tooth and nail.
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/kinnaird_seconds_bcbs_probe_request/
Nobody expects jurors to know the law. Before the jury starts deliberating, the judge explains the law and how the jury is supposed to assess the evidence and testimony according to the law. This is called "instructing the jury." Typically the judge and the lawyers for each side work out the exact wording of the instruction so that it's fair to both sides. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_instructions
Hmmm...You're right, we can't trust the FDA. We should rely on the geniuses of the Slashdot community instead. The ones who can read the summary and immediately come up with 10 or a dozen weaknesses that the professionals who've been thinking about the problems for years have somehow overlooked.
We should set up a vote. You know, take the top 10 highest-modded questions or something.
Well, actually, no. Close, but no. It got started by the only group capable of giving the music industry executives competition in the stupidity race, politicians. Politicians learn very quickly that you can't go wrong by being tough on crime, so every year they enact increasingly medieval laws designed to make the populace think "there, that'll get those criminals off the street!" "Three strikes" originally meant "if you get convicted of three felonies then we'll put you in jail forever."
"Three strikes" sounds good until you fill up the jails and you have to ask the voters for money to build more jails. (The only thing voters hate more than criminals is taxes.) Of course your average politician is unable think past the next election, so the jails filling up with struck-out felons naturally came as a surprise to them.
And of course, once you've made a crime law you can't undo it, no matter how stupid and counter-productive it is, because then your opponent in the next election will accuse you of "being soft on crime."
There, now I've gone and gotten off-topic. Damn hot-button topics.
"Net neutrality" has nothing to do with freedom of speech. RTFA.
Maybe I'm being too literal here, but MIT-licensed source code is not in the public domain.
I don't know about you guys but I'm expecting the space aliens to show up any minute.
Okay, first there's a mysterious "scar" on Jupiter, and now the tides are inexplicably higher than normal. (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/1620869.html). I don't know about anybody else, but I'm waiting for the aliens to land.
Good thing I'm not a newspaper reporter...