I find it interesting that Car and Driver notes the increase in size and weight over time of models such as the civic. They come close, but don't state the obvious -- comparing today's Civic to the one from 20 years ago is like comparing two completely different vehicles. The only thing they have in common is the name.
The real story is the lack of small, efficient vehicles. That's why I am glad to see the smart come to the US. I won't buy one though -- it's more energy (and financially) efficient to buy a used car than a new one.
You're the second poster I've seen make that claim -- I'd like to see some backup, please. How much does ABS weigh? Airbags? Maybe side-impact beams add a substantial amount, but I am calling bullshit on this until someone shows me some numbers.
...they weren't weighed down with airbags, ABS, etc.
Honestly, how much do you think ABS weighs? It's four sensors and some software. Add that to 6 airbags, and I don't think you'd get to 200lbs -- a lot less than just having a passenger in the car.
And if you don't need a passenger, why not ride a scooter? I get 72mpg that way, at 60mph.
I think you are confusing two meanings of the terms "right" and "wrong". The killing of mentally retarded babies may be wrong in an ethical sense, but is neither right nor wrong in a scientific sense.
Ethics can be informed by science, and the practice of science should be informed by ethics. But like you say, science only tells us about the world, without consideration for its impact. The Universe doesn't care whether excess exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer, for example.
I work in the printing industry, too, and I agree to a point. We typically get files from our customers and process them into the resources we need for digital variable printing. The originals might be in any format, though we usually request Adobe inDesign or Quark. However, at least half the time we have to convert from RGB to CMYK, and/or do significant color correction. All this to print in 4-color process on a digital press, so it's not like we are going to hit a spot pantone color anyway.
My point is that it kind of doesn't matter what you are using to create the originals -- somebody is going to have to mess with it anyway. And if you're going to take the files down to Kinko's and print them on a Xerox WorkCenter or something like that it matters even less. The rip will take care of the color conversion from RGB.
If you or your business really needs to have spot-on accuracy when it comes to color, the $2500 for the Adobe suite will be a drop in the bucket compared to the %50,000 print run on a conventional press.
Look out, your anthropomorphism is showing. True, it is unlikely that humans would have resulted from adaptation to an environment different than our own. But that's how adaptation works.
We may very well find "life" on planets that fall far outside your narrow definition of it -- but, as Dr. McCoy said, "not as we know it".
I concur, as I witnessed the ineffectual side of this reactive tendency last night.
As my friends and I were leaving a pub, the bartender warned us that the police were stopping everyone on the northbound route out of town, because earlier that evening a drunk driver had struck and killed a car full of people. We had nothing to worry about (Designated Drivers) so we went on our way.
This type of situation happens all the time, and people seem to accept this as a rational reaction. In reality this is like opening your umbrella after it's done raining. The chances of two drunk driving incidents on the same road in the same evening are very slim (this is not an urban area). Once the tragic accident had happened, it could not be prevented, and working to prevent the very unlikely event of another accident the same night is a waste of resources.
Think of it this way -- if DWI accidents are really that likely, shouldn't the police be stopping everyone all the time?
You can draw parallels with our airport security as well. Seems the terrorists are always one step ahead, threat-wise. You can do whatever you want until someone threatens a plane, and then that particular method -- and only that exact method -- are added to the list.
Perhaps the bottom line is the goal is not truly security or protection, but only the appearance of it.
If we wait around for people to decide whether they "like it" we'll never have dollar coins.
Our neighbor to north made the switch to dollar -- and two-dollar -- coins by going cold turkey. (And by convincing vending machine manufacturers to comply)
I'm thinking the same thing -- I wonder whether the broswer plugin works on Linux?
I'm a huge MythTV and NetFlix user, though my fiancee and I have slowed our NetFlix usage to a crawl compared to before Myth. If we could integrate the two, we'd probably never leave the couch.
Thank you for pointing this out. This is a symptom of one of the worst (in my opinion) aspects of American culture -- the idea that, as if the Highlander were running things, There Can Be Only One!
Choice and Freedom are supposed to be at the root of not just the Free Software Movement, but the American Way Of Life. In reality, the US is a conformist culture at its heart, and is run by people who seek to force their choices onto others because they cannot imagine a case where someone who chooses differently does not, ipso facto, choose wrongly.
Just as multiculturalism is seen as a threat, heterogeneity in desktop platforms is taken a symptom on non-conformism.
Now that I think of it, the Linux v. Microsoft v. Apple battle for the desktop may work as a microcosm for the US as a whole. In much the same way as celebrities get to break all the puritanical rules laid down by mainstream culture while wallowing in the spotlight, Apple can 'Think Different' and be the media darling. Meanwhile, Linux is derided as difficult to use and fit only for "geeks". Heck, it might even be illegal -- it's definitely un-American! Probably Communist!
I wonder what the outcome would be for the same command on a Linux box? Just because it is patched for OpenBSD does not mean it isn't also patched for Linux.
I can live without the standby time or long life. Really, the way I use my sidekick2, I only need it to last one day -- it gets plugged in at night anyway.
I also think 8Gb is plenty of space for me. I can't stand watching the same thing twice anyway, so my movie/tv collection is pretty small. It'd be cool if there is an SD slot or something, though.
I tend to agree with you on this, although a bit reluctantly. I also think a large reason why this part of the problem persists is the general laziness of senior developers. Speaking from personal experience interacting with senior developers and so-called 'software architects', coders suck at communication and leadership skills. Whether it's ego or shyness, they don't seem to be able to do much beyond just coding.
Where I work the end result of this is that the 8 or 10 senior developers all have discrete areas of expertise, rarely interact even with each other outside of a rowdy lunch or two, and cannot effectively back each other up when one is out of town. In addition, junior developers struggle to get up to speed on our crazy chewing gum-and-duct-tape "platform", and our attrition rate is about 50%.
I'd love to work someplace where the senior developers actually design the application, provide detailed instructions to their subordinates, and consistent coding practices are followed -- but it sounds like those places are few and far between.
Then again, if I'm going to complain about the MythTV project, I'll start with MythMusic. Whoever designed the user interface to that plugin should be drawn and quartered. I am honestly planning to use it as a case study in how NOT to design an interface.
Thank you for making my point for me. I was ready to reply, as I have had this argument with a friend (usually in the context of Israel vs. Palestine) and he typically throws this definition of sovereignty out, along with a "conquest is ownership" argument as to why it would be ok to invade Mexico or Canada.
Willful ignorance of international law and diplomacy is frighteningly abundant in the US these days.
Sounds like you got lucky. I've set up Myth about 4 times so far, and my record for getting the remote to work is 4 hours. Keep in mind this is the same model of remote each time as well.
Problems varied, and all but one can be blamed on Ubuntu making things more difficult, but I would never charactize Lirc setup as easy.
However, now that I've torn it down and rebuilt it about a dozen times per myth installation, I feel pretty comfortable using it.
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I find it interesting that Car and Driver notes the increase in size and weight over time of models such as the civic. They come close, but don't state the obvious -- comparing today's Civic to the one from 20 years ago is like comparing two completely different vehicles. The only thing they have in common is the name.
The real story is the lack of small, efficient vehicles. That's why I am glad to see the smart come to the US. I won't buy one though -- it's more energy (and financially) efficient to buy a used car than a new one.
You're the second poster I've seen make that claim -- I'd like to see some backup, please. How much does ABS weigh? Airbags? Maybe side-impact beams add a substantial amount, but I am calling bullshit on this until someone shows me some numbers.
Honestly, how much do you think ABS weighs? It's four sensors and some software. Add that to 6 airbags, and I don't think you'd get to 200lbs -- a lot less than just having a passenger in the car.
And if you don't need a passenger, why not ride a scooter? I get 72mpg that way, at 60mph.
Of course it is true that "life is like a shit sandwich -- the bread you have, the less shit you have to eat."
I think you are confusing two meanings of the terms "right" and "wrong". The killing of mentally retarded babies may be wrong in an ethical sense, but is neither right nor wrong in a scientific sense.
Ethics can be informed by science, and the practice of science should be informed by ethics. But like you say, science only tells us about the world, without consideration for its impact. The Universe doesn't care whether excess exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer, for example.
I work in the printing industry, too, and I agree to a point. We typically get files from our customers and process them into the resources we need for digital variable printing. The originals might be in any format, though we usually request Adobe inDesign or Quark. However, at least half the time we have to convert from RGB to CMYK, and/or do significant color correction. All this to print in 4-color process on a digital press, so it's not like we are going to hit a spot pantone color anyway.
My point is that it kind of doesn't matter what you are using to create the originals -- somebody is going to have to mess with it anyway. And if you're going to take the files down to Kinko's and print them on a Xerox WorkCenter or something like that it matters even less. The rip will take care of the color conversion from RGB.
If you or your business really needs to have spot-on accuracy when it comes to color, the $2500 for the Adobe suite will be a drop in the bucket compared to the %50,000 print run on a conventional press.
Just checking to see if you were paying attention...
Look out, your anthropomorphism is showing. True, it is unlikely that humans would have resulted from adaptation to an environment different than our own. But that's how adaptation works.
We may very well find "life" on planets that fall far outside your narrow definition of it -- but, as Dr. McCoy said, "not as we know it".
Maybe this could a new project -- "Zimbuntu" ?
If you plan to sell it, you may want to leave out the part about using on the john.
I think you meant 1984, unless you are referring to another dystopian novel...
Keep in mind the key phrase in your paragraph is "From what we've been told..."
I concur, as I witnessed the ineffectual side of this reactive tendency last night.
As my friends and I were leaving a pub, the bartender warned us that the police were stopping everyone on the northbound route out of town, because earlier that evening a drunk driver had struck and killed a car full of people. We had nothing to worry about (Designated Drivers) so we went on our way.
This type of situation happens all the time, and people seem to accept this as a rational reaction. In reality this is like opening your umbrella after it's done raining. The chances of two drunk driving incidents on the same road in the same evening are very slim (this is not an urban area). Once the tragic accident had happened, it could not be prevented, and working to prevent the very unlikely event of another accident the same night is a waste of resources.
Think of it this way -- if DWI accidents are really that likely, shouldn't the police be stopping everyone all the time?
You can draw parallels with our airport security as well. Seems the terrorists are always one step ahead, threat-wise. You can do whatever you want until someone threatens a plane, and then that particular method -- and only that exact method -- are added to the list.
Perhaps the bottom line is the goal is not truly security or protection, but only the appearance of it.
If we wait around for people to decide whether they "like it" we'll never have dollar coins.
Our neighbor to north made the switch to dollar -- and two-dollar -- coins by going cold turkey. (And by convincing vending machine manufacturers to comply)
I'm thinking the same thing -- I wonder whether the broswer plugin works on Linux?
I'm a huge MythTV and NetFlix user, though my fiancee and I have slowed our NetFlix usage to a crawl compared to before Myth. If we could integrate the two, we'd probably never leave the couch.
If it weren't for curling, that is.
Thank you for pointing this out. This is a symptom of one of the worst (in my opinion) aspects of American culture -- the idea that, as if the Highlander were running things, There Can Be Only One!
Choice and Freedom are supposed to be at the root of not just the Free Software Movement, but the American Way Of Life. In reality, the US is a conformist culture at its heart, and is run by people who seek to force their choices onto others because they cannot imagine a case where someone who chooses differently does not, ipso facto, choose wrongly.
Just as multiculturalism is seen as a threat, heterogeneity in desktop platforms is taken a symptom on non-conformism.
Now that I think of it, the Linux v. Microsoft v. Apple battle for the desktop may work as a microcosm for the US as a whole. In much the same way as celebrities get to break all the puritanical rules laid down by mainstream culture while wallowing in the spotlight, Apple can 'Think Different' and be the media darling. Meanwhile, Linux is derided as difficult to use and fit only for "geeks". Heck, it might even be illegal -- it's definitely un-American! Probably Communist!
I wonder what the outcome would be for the same command on a Linux box? Just because it is patched for OpenBSD does not mean it isn't also patched for Linux.
Cingular offers a SmartPhone Connect package with unlimited data for $20.00, I believe.
Wonder if a bluetooth keyboard would work?
I can live without the standby time or long life. Really, the way I use my sidekick2, I only need it to last one day -- it gets plugged in at night anyway.
I also think 8Gb is plenty of space for me. I can't stand watching the same thing twice anyway, so my movie/tv collection is pretty small. It'd be cool if there is an SD slot or something, though.
I tend to agree with you on this, although a bit reluctantly. I also think a large reason why this part of the problem persists is the general laziness of senior developers. Speaking from personal experience interacting with senior developers and so-called 'software architects', coders suck at communication and leadership skills. Whether it's ego or shyness, they don't seem to be able to do much beyond just coding.
Where I work the end result of this is that the 8 or 10 senior developers all have discrete areas of expertise, rarely interact even with each other outside of a rowdy lunch or two, and cannot effectively back each other up when one is out of town. In addition, junior developers struggle to get up to speed on our crazy chewing gum-and-duct-tape "platform", and our attrition rate is about 50%.
I'd love to work someplace where the senior developers actually design the application, provide detailed instructions to their subordinates, and consistent coding practices are followed -- but it sounds like those places are few and far between.
Or at least a working frontend.
Then again, if I'm going to complain about the MythTV project, I'll start with MythMusic. Whoever designed the user interface to that plugin should be drawn and quartered. I am honestly planning to use it as a case study in how NOT to design an interface.
Thank you for making my point for me. I was ready to reply, as I have had this argument with a friend (usually in the context of Israel vs. Palestine) and he typically throws this definition of sovereignty out, along with a "conquest is ownership" argument as to why it would be ok to invade Mexico or Canada.
Willful ignorance of international law and diplomacy is frighteningly abundant in the US these days.
I can relate to McKay's character -- he's a lot like the developers at work.
Sounds like you got lucky. I've set up Myth about 4 times so far, and my record for getting the remote to work is 4 hours. Keep in mind this is the same model of remote each time as well.
Problems varied, and all but one can be blamed on Ubuntu making things more difficult, but I would never charactize Lirc setup as easy.
However, now that I've torn it down and rebuilt it about a dozen times per myth installation, I feel pretty comfortable using it.