Well, considering that that U.S. Government is the single most powerful organization in the world, maybe the PhD's did help...
What is poetry?
on
Spam as Poetry
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· Score: 4, Insightful
At this point you could probably combine random words from a dictionary and call it poetry.. Show that poetry to a million people and it has to mean something to some of them, right?
Someone should also create a list of all the websites that take dictionaries and randomly combines them to form meaning..
"The most obvious expression of Bush's choice of ignorance is that, at the age of 57, he knows nothing about policy or history."
"A second, more damning aspect of Bush's mind-set is that he doesn't want to know anything in detail, however important."
"Closely related to this aggressive ignorance is a third feature of Bush's mentality: laziness."
"A fourth and final quality of Bush's mind is that it does not think. The president can't tolerate debate about issues. Offered an option, he makes up his mind quickly and never reconsiders."
I'm surprised the White House isn't requesting $100 billion to fight this new threat to our national security. After all, if we can COMPLETELY make up a fear like potential weapons-of-mass-destruction....
I agree. The thing is, these people are as dumb as they come. They couldn't find the door if you pointed it to them. Consider this: their primary job is to KILL PEOPLE. What kind of sick fuck chooses a career who's main task is to filet the guts out of another human being because of where they live? They couldn't get a more productive job like construction or cooking or programming or something? They chose to KILL PEOPLE instead? Imagine being some Iraqi kid watching TV with your dad in your living room and suddenly hearing a thud and looking down and seeing your intestines on your lap because some US soldier had to shoot his 50 caliber into your house because he thought someone was hiding out in there. "But I was just doing my job, sir." Sorta puts in perspective what kind of person a soldier is, so it wasn't any surprise to me at all that these kinds of photos existed. The President is also incorrect when he states that this behavior represents only a small portion of our military, because, as I explained, you'd have to be a pretty sick fuck to even BE a soldier in the first place. Most soldiers would do the EXACT same thing had they been put in charge of that prison.
Actually, I wouldn't blame the soliders. Being as dumb as they are, they're actually the victims in this scenario: Soldiers are the most ABUSED members of our society. You can only blame those in CONTROL of our society for this situation. And, in a capitalist society like ours, the people in control are the wealthy upper-class. The tiny upper-class (let's say, Chris Rock's A+ students) figured out a genious marketing campaign to actully get other human beings, mainly members of the hated and completely stupid lower-class (D/F students) and the vast and barely qualified middle-class (B/C students), to DIE for them. This is the ultimate, most brilliant marketing campaign ever- to get someone to DIE for your product of "country". Just look at our citizenry- they absolutely LOVE the military! "How dare you cut our $500 billion military budget?!" Love 'em like they're heros! Why? Not because they did something productive like find a cure for cancer or anything like that, but becuase they did something destructive like bomb an Iraqi hut with a cruise missile launched from a boat some 900 miles away, to, ultimately, protect "country".
In this era of globalization, where the idea of "country" becomes diminished since the entire world is instantly connected and therefore seperated by one degree, this would be the equivalent of a factory owner in Columbus, Ohio to get the citizens of Columbus to invade Toledo. I'm sure the people in Columbus are mad as hell at the people of Toledo, but, come on, it's sorta meaningless to those that don't believe in "city", right? And, if you notice when you go country to country these days, they're all pretty much the same, with the trade of the wealthy upper-class defining each "country".
Re:As an ex-commercial photographer
on
Beyond Megapixels
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· Score: 1
I also started with a coolpix for digital work. The interface is the worst. Way too many menu options.
I actually am starting to think that my 8x10 view camera is easier to use than my Nikon Coolpix. And, it takes a whole day of planning and work to set up one shot for an 8x10...
Re:As an ex-commercial photographer
on
Beyond Megapixels
·
· Score: 1
You're largely missing my point. I was talking more about usability, rather than feature reduction. It's possible to improve usability without compromising features, when you look at the design of a digital camera in a Systems Level perspective. I also desire to create the highest quality photos in all situations with the least bit of effort. Remember- each little option and each little switch adds just a little bit more complexity to the camera.
It's time to get rid of some of the more useless options without compromising on features. You don't need small file sizes, JPG files, built in image processing, etc, if all you needed was to store the data in one big RAW file, like what Sigma is doing. (you can get 4GB CF microdrives for cheap , so it's pointless to have to micro-manage file sizes) I'll never understand why anyone would need in-camera image-processing for a digital, when ALL digital cameras go through image processing software later in the chain- as they download into the computer or print out. I guess the people that kind of marketing are the same kind of people that want an FM radio in everything they buy- a toaster, shower faucets, their pillows..
Another "feature" I hate: modal buttons. Sometimes, a single button sets the flash, the same button in another mode trashes the image, and in another mode, adjusts the shutter. Nothing is more frustrating than having to go through menus of setup to do exactly what you need to do. If you're going to make a camera, put a seperate button for each useless feature you put in. If you find that your camera has too many buttons- then that means your camera is TOO complicated! Get rid of some of the buttons. Use more "obvious" controls instead: Have your shutter/aperture/focus controls on individual lens rings with an "auto" mode when turned far left, which, when used as a digital control, should give you 1/3 stop on the shutters, for example. (you largely don't see 1/3 stop aperture settings on the lens because they're largely controlling a mechanical shutter, and therefore has a limited range of motion.. with a digital camera, the aperture ring can give you a large range of motion needed for 1/3 stop precision).
All the programmed metering modes are also largely useless. All you need is an "auto" setting on your focus/shutter/aperture/flash knobs. I'd like it if they also got rid of all the individual exposure modes..
Also, if you want image-processing, sell a seperate palmtop just for that- so that you don't have to go through menus to do any image processing. Don't sell me a camera with image processing- that's like having a shower-head with an FM radio- sure it's nice to have- but it IS possible to get by without it.
I'll see about going with a D70. Looks promising- especially the instant-on times. (again, another big frustration with digital cameras- the fact that they take 10 seconds from power-on to take the first picture). Or I may wait for a newer Sigma model. Also, there is also a new "retro" movement in digital cameras (Panasonic/Leica, etc), and they're not cheap either. I do believe there is a market for a 70's style digital SLR.
Re:As an ex-commercial photographer
on
Beyond Megapixels
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Agree that ergonomics should be prioritized. It's amazing how many useless "features" the camera makers are adding to jack up their marketing feature list at the expense of usability. There are just WAY too many options. They could get rid of almost all the buttons on a Digital camera for even the pros. I really wish they would simply cut out switches and menu options and make it so that you DON'T need a manual to operate it. My favorite camera is still a fully-manual 35mm Nikon FM2. Either that or an 8x10.
Things I wish manufacturers did:
1. Store data in RAW format. (Thanks to Sigma for pushing this.) This get rid of the useless "low/medium/high quality" switch on the camera. There goes one pointless switch.
2. Store all data at the highest resolution. Get rid of the "small/medium/large" switch. If I needed to store more pictures on my card, I would have bought a higher-capacity CF drive. I can get 4GB models now. That should be enough to store hundreds of pics. Another pointless switch, gone...
3. Get rid of in-camera white-balance setting, and do this on the computer or laptop or even palmtop to simplify the camera and force the complexity outside. (Again, thanks to Sigma) This can be done on the computer if needed with the RAW file. Most amateur users have NO idea what the hell white-balance means anyways. A third pointless switch gone..
4. Get rid of the Priority switches- Aperture, Shutter, Etc.. Instead, allow the user to adjust the Aperture & Shutter on a lens ring. The ring can also have a setting for Auto. This can also be done for focusing with a Focusing ring. There- 3 buttons eliminated just like that.
5. Get rid of on-camera flashes settings (Keep the wimpy on-camera flash if you must, but leave it on Auto always, and auto-disable when external flash is connected) Pro photographers would have an external flash anyways, and any flash settings can be made on that. Another switch, gone...
There's so many useless switches on a modern Digital SLR that can be completely thrown away and still provide all the functionality anyone would want.
Some people may want all these useless features.. for them the camera vendors can have their own special overfeatured model. I would rather have one that's simple and obvious... The first Digital SLR vendor that comes out with a Camera that DOESN'T include an INSTRUCTION MANUAL, I'm buying.
This could also show a problem with the Emergency services equipment. There really is no reason for any (consumer/commercial/military) communications equipment to not use the latest state-of-the-art modulation techniques. The emergency equipment should just as well be running off of cellular equipment, as should any other communications equipment. Digital channels take up less bandwidth than analog channels, is clearer, and is secure.
It's also good to get rid of AM/FM radio, Analog VHF/UHF TV, and free up those bands for more digital broadcasting. I'm hoping they all go away in 20 years.
See this article that introduces some of the complexities on why things aren't as simple for chip fabrication as it is for microscopy. It describes some of the challenges of immersion lithography in the latest processes. Problems include: not a lot of liquids transmit light well at 157nm wavelengths, contamination, lens/mask damage, and so on.
Still, the work of the researchers should eventually get us there.
Very little of our military spending is in IP development. Bad, un-marketable IP at that. Think about it- how many potential customers are there for a B-2 Stealth bomber?
Most of our military spending goes to soldiers, and fuel.
I would fire all soldiers. In a better economy, they would be more productive as construction workers or something else.
Unfortunately, our country LOVES our military- we LOVE killing people, encouraging people to join the military, dressing them up in pretty uniforms, giving them clean haircuts. For what? So that they can KILL people. Real honorable, huh? Pro-Government marketing at its best.
Are you sure about that? Also, random or not, the military is certainly a waste of money that no one needs.
>High-speed porn will not help the economy.
And I disagree on that one as well.
>We have the best higher-level educational >system on the planet. Less lawyers and >accountants sounds like a good idea, until you >have to pay for a lawyer or an accountant >because you have been sued or audited. Then you >will wish that this country was awash with them.
OK then, the moment the population feels the need for millions of low-valued lawyers and accountants, then you start to develop those professions. But, right now, we don't need low-IP professions. I have no fear of being sued or audited? Do you?
>I am already going to school on government >loans, and anybody who can get passing grades >can get government loans too.
The point was not to fund the loans, but to fund the programs. We need to make it accessible to anyone that desires it. Right now, if I wanted to be an engineer, I have to be admitted to an engineering program. Those aren't easy to get into. Why? Because there aren't enough engineering programs around the country, and so they set ridiculously high standards for admissions. This discourages even more people from applying. Should there be 10x many more engineering programs (supply) the pace of development would pick up.
Also, you can't get government loans to pay off all your school costs.
>I thought we would have learned by now that >blindly throwing money at MBA's with "a ?>brilliant new idea" is not good investment >practices.
That may be the case in YOUR business investments:) But believe it or not, there actually have been businesses that were successfully run by MBAs.
>This won't happen with your plan. You forgot to >steal people's underwear.
No need to steal- You just discourage them from desiring it.
Sorta like discouraging people from killing, and encouraging them to do something more productive instead.
The US could maintain an edge in the global economy. Alan Greenspan said a few weeks back that the world economy has developed around Intellectual Property, rather than goods. It would seem that all the US would therefore have to do would be to invest in IP development right here in the home turf.
Where would the investment money come from? I would say cut the $500 billion military budget and use for something more useful than killing random foreigners.
Here's how:
1. Spend $200 billions developing an high-bandwith communications infrastructure to every citizen.
2. Develop an National University level educational program that takes advantage of that infrastructure. The programs would be tailored for creative intellectual property development. It doesn't have to be high-tech engineering/science. Just stuff that people could use to come up with new ideas. Must include business-like entrepreneurial training (marketing/management...). It could be cooking school for chefs to come up with new recipes, it could be engineering programs, it could be the arts, and so on... Avoid churning out low-ip degrees, like accounting or law.:)
3. Allow every US citizen to get a new degree to raise their educational level. Call it the "Everybody-gets-a-new-job" program. Fund it with $200 billion. This could fund 10 million people a year at $20,000/person/year.
4. Create a $200 billion venture capital fund. This could be used as seed capital for 200,000 new starup businesses. (that's a lot of businesses..) Allocate funds to new companies based on ideas developed from educational program. The new businesses could be things like restaurants or engineering firms or movie studios, for example... Points for companies that can create more US jobs. Each new company probably could hire 10 people/million dollar investment. That would add about 2 million jobs.
5. Profit.
I think this would work out better than forcing businesses to keep jobs in the US. Let capitalism do it's thing. If the Indians do the same stuff for cheaper, let them. Instead, we should be developing new stuff right here, rather than forcing businesses to pay for overpriced labor.
If this does produce fusion then it should also produce some heat. If the liquid is heated, then that should be harnessable as an energy source. That's when you can start to optimize the energy output vs. the energy input.
Actually, politicking occurs in any group of 2 or more individuals- Congress, a dysfunctional family, a McDonalds restaurant, a study group at the library, and so on..
It's something you'll end up learning in high-power salesmanship courses- the ability to identify and play the politics of any organization to advance yourself.
They need to a standardize on a graphics API. I would say OpenGL, and not X.
OpenGL comes supported by the hardware guys, and X windows actually could be written on top of it, so that you don't need a new X server for each hardware revision. Harware accelerated anti-aliased alpha blended window manager running at 100fps. It's very doable. And, it'll be used by non-windowing devices (like game-boxes) that don't need X-windows.
This helps installation ease of use: Define the interface spec, and let the hardware vendors build on top of that, rather than defining the hardware spec, and writing device drivers for each indivdual hardware that desktop users have to go seek out and download.
The API spec should also be defined for other parts of the desktop. We shouldn't have to define individual ethernet drivers- it should just be one ethernet driver that all the hardware guys design their device around. Same for audio and other desktop functions.
If they're successful they'll be able to throw away all previous device drivers going forward into 3.0 or 3.2. If not, then they have to have device driver maintainers for the kernel.
We should make the desktop as easy to use as a game-box.
Remember, the "artists" are actually products of RIAA. They exist BECAUSE of the RIAA. Thus, the RIAA SHOULD be getting the money.
Remember, the artists could just have well not signed up to be in the RIAA, and remain independent. Instead, they "sold out".
There really is no reason to join the RIAA. You could have easily produced your art without them, and remain independent. If you wanna be rich as an artist, make the money yourself, and do your own promotions. If someone else is going to be doing all the promotions for you, then they rightfully deserve the resulting money for their work.
Great... 800,000 deaths from heart disease a year, 600,000 deaths from cancer, and the department that gets the budget increase, is the one that will be used to prevent 3000 lives from dying in an explosion.
Is death by terrorism really any different from death by cancer to warrant massive budget increases in the military and reductions in anything else? Especially considering that you were 20,000% more likely to die from cancer in 2001 than you were from terrorism?
1. Make something that people would demand. 2. Sell it. 3. Profit.
The key is step 1. It could be high tech, it could be gardening supplies, whatever. We simply people to come up with these ideas and the business acument to see the demand.
A more aggressive national educational system would help. There's 260 million people in the US so there's gotta be some revolutionary ideas between them to bump up the GDP some more.
Otherwise, everyone's gonna have to do what I did - leave the US to work... Or keep borrowing money like the government is doing.
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I'll vote for Europe replacing us... the beers of Belgium makes it sooo worth it.
Well, considering that that U.S. Government is the single most powerful organization in the world, maybe the PhD's did help...
At this point you could probably combine random words from a dictionary and call it poetry.. Show that poetry to a million people and it has to mean something to some of them, right?
Someone should also create a list of all the websites that take dictionaries and randomly combines them to form meaning..
They wouldn't have to buy 50 case fans when all they would need to do is stick their computers outside...
It's not like the White House cares for any sort of accuracy... It's a steamroller for ineptitude.
From How Bush Chose Stupidity:
"The most obvious expression of Bush's choice of ignorance is that, at the age of 57, he knows nothing about policy or history."
"A second, more damning aspect of Bush's mind-set is that he doesn't want to know anything in detail, however important."
"Closely related to this aggressive ignorance is a third feature of Bush's mentality: laziness."
"A fourth and final quality of Bush's mind is that it does not think. The president can't tolerate debate about issues. Offered an option, he makes up his mind quickly and never reconsiders."
I'm surprised the White House isn't requesting $100 billion to fight this new threat to our national security. After all, if we can COMPLETELY make up a fear like potential weapons-of-mass-destruction....
He's their leader. Any unprofessionalism or immorality of the leader of an organization applies to the entire organization as well.
I agree. The thing is, these people are as dumb as they come. They couldn't find the door if you pointed it to them. Consider this: their primary job is to KILL PEOPLE. What kind of sick fuck chooses a career who's main task is to filet the guts out of another human being because of where they live? They couldn't get a more productive job like construction or cooking or programming or something? They chose to KILL PEOPLE instead? Imagine being some Iraqi kid watching TV with your dad in your living room and suddenly hearing a thud and looking down and seeing your intestines on your lap because some US soldier had to shoot his 50 caliber into your house because he thought someone was hiding out in there. "But I was just doing my job, sir." Sorta puts in perspective what kind of person a soldier is, so it wasn't any surprise to me at all that these kinds of photos existed. The President is also incorrect when he states that this behavior represents only a small portion of our military, because, as I explained, you'd have to be a pretty sick fuck to even BE a soldier in the first place. Most soldiers would do the EXACT same thing had they been put in charge of that prison.
Actually, I wouldn't blame the soliders. Being as dumb as they are, they're actually the victims in this scenario: Soldiers are the most ABUSED members of our society. You can only blame those in CONTROL of our society for this situation. And, in a capitalist society like ours, the people in control are the wealthy upper-class. The tiny upper-class (let's say, Chris Rock's A+ students) figured out a genious marketing campaign to actully get other human beings, mainly members of the hated and completely stupid lower-class (D/F students) and the vast and barely qualified middle-class (B/C students), to DIE for them. This is the ultimate, most brilliant marketing campaign ever- to get someone to DIE for your product of "country". Just look at our citizenry- they absolutely LOVE the military! "How dare you cut our $500 billion military budget?!" Love 'em like they're heros! Why? Not because they did something productive like find a cure for cancer or anything like that, but becuase they did something destructive like bomb an Iraqi hut with a cruise missile launched from a boat some 900 miles away, to, ultimately, protect "country".
In this era of globalization, where the idea of "country" becomes diminished since the entire world is instantly connected and therefore seperated by one degree, this would be the equivalent of a factory owner in Columbus, Ohio to get the citizens of Columbus to invade Toledo. I'm sure the people in Columbus are mad as hell at the people of Toledo, but, come on, it's sorta meaningless to those that don't believe in "city", right? And, if you notice when you go country to country these days, they're all pretty much the same, with the trade of the wealthy upper-class defining each "country".
I also started with a coolpix for digital work. The interface is the worst. Way too many menu options.
I actually am starting to think that my 8x10 view camera is easier to use than my Nikon Coolpix. And, it takes a whole day of planning and work to set up one shot for an 8x10...
You're largely missing my point. I was talking more about usability, rather than feature reduction. It's possible to improve usability without compromising features, when you look at the design of a digital camera in a Systems Level perspective. I also desire to create the highest quality photos in all situations with the least bit of effort. Remember- each little option and each little switch adds just a little bit more complexity to the camera.
It's time to get rid of some of the more useless options without compromising on features. You don't need small file sizes, JPG files, built in image processing, etc, if all you needed was to store the data in one big RAW file, like what Sigma is doing. (you can get 4GB CF microdrives for cheap , so it's pointless to have to micro-manage file sizes) I'll never understand why anyone would need in-camera image-processing for a digital, when ALL digital cameras go through image processing software later in the chain- as they download into the computer or print out. I guess the people that kind of marketing are the same kind of people that want an FM radio in everything they buy- a toaster, shower faucets, their pillows..
Another "feature" I hate: modal buttons. Sometimes, a single button sets the flash, the same button in another mode trashes the image, and in another mode, adjusts the shutter. Nothing is more frustrating than having to go through menus of setup to do exactly what you need to do. If you're going to make a camera, put a seperate button for each useless feature you put in. If you find that your camera has too many buttons- then that means your camera is TOO complicated! Get rid of some of the buttons. Use more "obvious" controls instead: Have your shutter/aperture/focus controls on individual lens rings with an "auto" mode when turned far left, which, when used as a digital control, should give you 1/3 stop on the shutters, for example. (you largely don't see 1/3 stop aperture settings on the lens because they're largely controlling a mechanical shutter, and therefore has a limited range of motion.. with a digital camera, the aperture ring can give you a large range of motion needed for 1/3 stop precision).
All the programmed metering modes are also largely useless. All you need is an "auto" setting on your focus/shutter/aperture/flash knobs. I'd like it if they also got rid of all the individual exposure modes..
Also, if you want image-processing, sell a seperate palmtop just for that- so that you don't have to go through menus to do any image processing. Don't sell me a camera with image processing- that's like having a shower-head with an FM radio- sure it's nice to have- but it IS possible to get by without it.
I'll see about going with a D70. Looks promising- especially the instant-on times. (again, another big frustration with digital cameras- the fact that they take 10 seconds from power-on to take the first picture). Or I may wait for a newer Sigma model. Also, there is also a new "retro" movement in digital cameras (Panasonic/Leica, etc), and they're not cheap either. I do believe there is a market for a 70's style digital SLR.
Agree that ergonomics should be prioritized. It's amazing how many useless "features" the camera makers are adding to jack up their marketing feature list at the expense of usability. There are just WAY too many options. They could get rid of almost all the buttons on a Digital camera for even the pros. I really wish they would simply cut out switches and menu options and make it so that you DON'T need a manual to operate it. My favorite camera is still a fully-manual 35mm Nikon FM2. Either that or an 8x10.
Things I wish manufacturers did:
1. Store data in RAW format. (Thanks to Sigma for pushing this.) This get rid of the useless "low/medium/high quality" switch on the camera. There goes one pointless switch.
2. Store all data at the highest resolution. Get rid of the "small/medium/large" switch. If I needed to store more pictures on my card, I would have bought a higher-capacity CF drive. I can get 4GB models now. That should be enough to store hundreds of pics. Another pointless switch, gone...
3. Get rid of in-camera white-balance setting, and do this on the computer or laptop or even palmtop to simplify the camera and force the complexity outside. (Again, thanks to Sigma) This can be done on the computer if needed with the RAW file. Most amateur users have NO idea what the hell white-balance means anyways. A third pointless switch gone..
4. Get rid of the Priority switches- Aperture, Shutter, Etc.. Instead, allow the user to adjust the Aperture & Shutter on a lens ring. The ring can also have a setting for Auto. This can also be done for focusing with a Focusing ring. There- 3 buttons eliminated just like that.
5. Get rid of on-camera flashes settings (Keep the wimpy on-camera flash if you must, but leave it on Auto always, and auto-disable when external flash is connected) Pro photographers would have an external flash anyways, and any flash settings can be made on that. Another switch, gone...
There's so many useless switches on a modern Digital SLR that can be completely thrown away and still provide all the functionality anyone would want.
Some people may want all these useless features.. for them the camera vendors can have their own special overfeatured model. I would rather have one that's simple and obvious... The first Digital SLR vendor that comes out with a Camera that DOESN'T include an INSTRUCTION MANUAL, I'm buying.
This could also show a problem with the Emergency services equipment. There really is no reason for any (consumer/commercial/military) communications equipment to not use the latest state-of-the-art modulation techniques. The emergency equipment should just as well be running off of cellular equipment, as should any other communications equipment. Digital channels take up less bandwidth than analog channels, is clearer, and is secure.
It's also good to get rid of AM/FM radio, Analog VHF/UHF TV, and free up those bands for more digital broadcasting. I'm hoping they all go away in 20 years.
It's called "Alien".
Metroid itself pretty much ripped off everything from Alien- H.R. Giger imagery, ambient soundtrack, female lead, and so on..
Maybe John Woo will call it Alien 5: Metroid
See this article that introduces some of the complexities on why things aren't as simple for chip fabrication as it is for microscopy. It describes some of the challenges of immersion lithography in the latest processes. Problems include: not a lot of liquids transmit light well at 157nm wavelengths, contamination, lens/mask damage, and so on.
Still, the work of the researchers should eventually get us there.
That's kinda like asking the current government where the extra $100 billion comes from for invading another country?
:)
What's a $100 billion between friends, anyways?
Very little of our military spending is in IP development. Bad, un-marketable IP at that. Think about it- how many potential customers are there for a B-2 Stealth bomber?
Most of our military spending goes to soldiers, and fuel.
I would fire all soldiers. In a better economy, they would be more productive as construction workers or something else.
Unfortunately, our country LOVES our military- we LOVE killing people, encouraging people to join the military, dressing them up in pretty uniforms, giving them clean haircuts. For what? So that they can KILL people. Real honorable, huh? Pro-Government marketing at its best.
>They aren't random.
Are you sure about that? Also, random or not, the military is certainly a waste of money that no one needs.
>High-speed porn will not help the economy.
And I disagree on that one as well.
>We have the best higher-level educational >system on the planet. Less lawyers and >accountants sounds like a good idea, until you >have to pay for a lawyer or an accountant >because you have been sued or audited. Then you >will wish that this country was awash with them.
OK then, the moment the population feels the need for millions of low-valued lawyers and accountants, then you start to develop those professions. But, right now, we don't need low-IP professions. I have no fear of being sued or audited? Do you?
>I am already going to school on government >loans, and anybody who can get passing grades >can get government loans too.
The point was not to fund the loans, but to fund the programs. We need to make it accessible to anyone that desires it. Right now, if I wanted to be an engineer, I have to be admitted to an engineering program. Those aren't easy to get into. Why? Because there aren't enough engineering programs around the country, and so they set ridiculously high standards for admissions. This discourages even more people from applying. Should there be 10x many more engineering programs (supply) the pace of development would pick up.
Also, you can't get government loans to pay off all your school costs.
>I thought we would have learned by now that >blindly throwing money at MBA's with "a ?>brilliant new idea" is not good investment >practices.
That may be the case in YOUR business investments
>This won't happen with your plan. You forgot to >steal people's underwear.
No need to steal- You just discourage them from desiring it.
Sorta like discouraging people from killing, and encouraging them to do something more productive instead.
The US could maintain an edge in the global economy. Alan Greenspan said a few weeks back that the world economy has developed around Intellectual Property, rather than goods. It would seem that all the US would therefore have to do would be to invest in IP development right here in the home turf.
:)
Where would the investment money come from? I would say cut the $500 billion military budget and use for something more useful than killing random foreigners.
Here's how:
1. Spend $200 billions developing an high-bandwith communications infrastructure to every citizen.
2. Develop an National University level educational program that takes advantage of that infrastructure. The programs would be tailored for creative intellectual property development. It doesn't have to be high-tech engineering/science. Just stuff that people could use to come up with new ideas. Must include business-like entrepreneurial training (marketing/management...). It could be cooking school for chefs to come up with new recipes, it could be engineering programs, it could be the arts, and so on... Avoid churning out low-ip degrees, like accounting or law.
3. Allow every US citizen to get a new degree to raise their educational level. Call it the "Everybody-gets-a-new-job" program. Fund it with $200 billion. This could fund 10 million people a year at $20,000/person/year.
4. Create a $200 billion venture capital fund. This could be used as seed capital for 200,000 new starup businesses. (that's a lot of businesses..) Allocate funds to new companies based on ideas developed from educational program. The new businesses could be things like restaurants or engineering firms or movie studios, for example... Points for companies that can create more US jobs. Each new company probably could hire 10 people/million dollar investment. That would add about 2 million jobs.
5. Profit.
I think this would work out better than forcing businesses to keep jobs in the US. Let capitalism do it's thing. If the Indians do the same stuff for cheaper, let them. Instead, we should be developing new stuff right here, rather than forcing businesses to pay for overpriced labor.
If this does produce fusion then it should also produce some heat. If the liquid is heated, then that should be harnessable as an energy source. That's when you can start to optimize the energy output vs. the energy input.
Well, if ease-of-use is paramount, why aren't Macs more popular?
Actually, politicking occurs in any group of 2 or more individuals- Congress, a dysfunctional family, a McDonalds restaurant, a study group at the library, and so on..
It's something you'll end up learning in high-power salesmanship courses- the ability to identify and play the politics of any organization to advance yourself.
-bobby
Actually, with Einstein's relativity, doesn't Ptolemy's theories hold true? Everything is relative to a point of view?
Sorry I didn't ask this question in Modern Physics's class. It was a morning class, and I was sleeping.
They need to a standardize on a graphics API. I would say OpenGL, and not X.
OpenGL comes supported by the hardware guys, and X windows actually could be written on top of it, so that you don't need a new X server for each hardware revision. Harware accelerated anti-aliased alpha blended window manager running at 100fps. It's very doable. And, it'll be used by non-windowing devices (like game-boxes) that don't need X-windows.
This helps installation ease of use: Define the interface spec, and let the hardware vendors build on top of that, rather than defining the hardware spec, and writing device drivers for each indivdual hardware that desktop users have to go seek out and download.
The API spec should also be defined for other parts of the desktop. We shouldn't have to define individual ethernet drivers- it should just be one ethernet driver that all the hardware guys design their device around. Same for audio and other desktop functions.
If they're successful they'll be able to throw away all previous device drivers going forward into 3.0 or 3.2. If not, then they have to have device driver maintainers for the kernel.
We should make the desktop as easy to use as a game-box.
Remember, the "artists" are actually products of RIAA. They exist BECAUSE of the RIAA. Thus, the RIAA SHOULD be getting the money.
Remember, the artists could just have well not signed up to be in the RIAA, and remain independent. Instead, they "sold out".
There really is no reason to join the RIAA. You could have easily produced your art without them, and remain independent. If you wanna be rich as an artist, make the money yourself, and do your own promotions. If someone else is going to be doing all the promotions for you, then they rightfully deserve the resulting money for their work.
Great... 800,000 deaths from heart disease a year, 600,000 deaths from cancer, and the department that gets the budget increase, is the one that will be used to prevent 3000 lives from dying in an explosion.
Is death by terrorism really any different from death by cancer to warrant massive budget increases in the military and reductions in anything else? Especially considering that you were 20,000% more likely to die from cancer in 2001 than you were from terrorism?
1. Make something that people would demand.
2. Sell it.
3. Profit.
The key is step 1. It could be high tech, it could be gardening supplies, whatever. We simply people to come up with these ideas and the business acument to see the demand.
A more aggressive national educational system would help. There's 260 million people in the US so there's gotta be some revolutionary ideas between them to bump up the GDP some more.
Otherwise, everyone's gonna have to do what I did - leave the US to work... Or keep borrowing money like the government is doing.