So you think doing nothing will change the way other companies operate?
No, I don't. But I don't think the proposed legislation will fix the real problem.
A certain portion of consumers do, yes. They absolutely care how and where the products they buy are made. I wish more people did this, but lets face it, its a small portion that do. A simple example of this is Walmart. Walmart has long been known to have caused a lot of problems for wholesalers, local economies, etc. Yet they're growing and expanding everywhere because of their lower prices.
Lets see, I work in the security area for my employer and have done web development (not design) work as well. I say that PHP can be used to create rich dynamic sites that are secure. So, now, would you care to back up your accusation of PHP as a programming language being insecure with some real facts?
Sure, there have been holes in countless PHP applications. However, this is not the fault of the language. In fact, almost all of these problems come down to programmers not properly validating user input before processing it. This is true of pretty much all languages. PHP gets a bad name because its easy to learn and people pick it up and write insecure apps with it. Thats like blaming the hammer when the house falls down.
All you've done then is to open the door for other companies with lower standards to move in. If you really want to change the way another company operates, the way to do is not by hampering your own companies. Suppose some eithical company, lets call them USAEthletics, only makes shoes by following all of the US's labour, environmental, and other laws. They're shoes wholesale cost $80. Another company, Vike, based outside of the US, makes shoes as cheap as they can, using child labour, etc. They're shoes wholesale at $20. Now, you go into the store, see two pairs of shoes, same overall quality. One pair costs $80, one costs $320. Even if there is some bad publicity with the Vike brand, but I'll bet that the store barely stocks the USAEthletics brand because they'll rarely, if ever sell.
This could only come out of the US. Sure, I don't agree with the techniques and laws of the countries in question, but trying to pass legislation on where a private or publically held company can open its business to... that's just ridiculous. Its also going to be interesting to enforce. Suppose Google splits off google.ca (Canada) as a seperate company (maybe it already has). Then google.ca opens/runs/maintains google.cn. What can the US gov really do about it?
Yes, and he should eat more vegetables too. Regardless of how much physical/outdoor activity my son is involved in, issues such as which movie to watch, what cd/mp3 to listen to, and what computer game to play are still likely to arise. Trying to ignore that these types of entertainment are out there will not be effective in restricting access to those items I feel are inappropriate for his maturity level.
I see your point, and sort of agree with you. I'm a new parent (he's almost 3 months old). I plan to decide what games he can play and what movies he can watch. I watch a lot of movies and play a lot of (PC) games. However, when it comes to music, I'm not at all up on what's current and what "artists" would be considered acceptable to various ages. Now, if the material is rated like movies, and retailers only sell to those who meet the minimum age, there's less chance of my son getting material that I consider inappropriate.
Now, if my son wants to have the newest games thats rated too high for him to buy himself, I want him to ask me to get it. Then, I as a parent can make the decision myself. If I belive that the material is too mature for him, I can refuse. However, If I believe that he is mature enough for the content, then I can purchase the material for him.
This is the solution I want to see. Games, movies, music, heck, even books, should be rated, and unless someone meets the minimum age requirements, retailers should not sell to them. If they do, there should be penalties, just like there are for alcohol and tobacco.
I realize that this isn't perfect, I remember getting buddies to "pull" beer for my friends and I when we were underage. It will however, reduce the amount of mature content my son can view without my knowledge and consent. I still plan to pay attention to what games he has installed on his computer, know what music he listens to, and what shows he watching. Having a legislated rating system will let me know why content was rated high, and as a parent, let me make an informed decision about allowing my son access to it.
Aside from the monetary aspect, this has been going on for years. Look at the mod community for most of the FPS. Heck, I remember user created content on a bunch of MUDs at least 10 years ago.
Of course you have to consider the fact that (s)he may be in a very tight job market when quitting could litteraly mean having no place to live, or not being able to support a family.
Morals and values are great and when don't conflict with survival, or reasonable living conditions, are okay to stand up for.
To the submitter, if you have a problem with the work and can afford to, I suggest quitting. If you can't afford to, I suggest starting to job hunt immediately. Feeding yourself and your family should take priority over most(all?) beliefs.
This works for me. I try and get on our treadmill at least 4 times per week (we have a 3 month old, so I'm finally starting to get back some time to spend running again). Lots of water, every day. I try for at least 2L per day. I don't drink coffee. I maybe have 3 cups of tea a week, and maybe 5 bottles (~600ml) of coke a week. Belive it or not, the more I run and drink water, the more energy and concentration I have.
Look at it this way, if the stock price falls, they're not going to get nearly as much (either in additional stocks, or for selling stocks they already own). This means it is very much in their intrest to keep the stock prices high and moving upward. This looks good to (potential) investors.
True, but do what I do, every system I build, I add that to cron. If I were to build a linux box for [insert computer-illeterate friend/relative], that's the first thing I would do.
While I can sympathize (my wife has mentioned the number of remotes to me many times), you can actually reduce the number of remotes with something like MythTV. For example, you don't really need a VCR (unless you're watching old VHS tapes), a DVD player (its in your mythbox), Stereo (volume controlled by myth), CD remote (myth can happily play your mp3/ogg collection), etc.
... next, you'll be wanting a remote so you can turn me off instead of talking to... *click*
Actually, I want a remote to turn my wife on!
Maybe some of these cases are better, but I haven't found a case yet that didn't make some fan noise. Eventually I put my Myth box in the basement and ran cables up to the TV. Works great, no noise from fans, but all the benefits of MythTV. Of course I can't drop a DVD into the Myth box without going downstairs, but I just keep a regular DVD player in the stand along with the other components.
Okay, this is a shameless plug, but I started work sometime ago on http://aomis.net/ (I won't href it). Anyways, the idea was instead of CAPTCHA, which I don't really like, I thought why not let users identify different types of media. Now, I hadn't considered folks who were blind and deaf, but I did build the system to handle multiple types of media, like pictures and audio, which would help folks that are blind or deaf, but not both.
Now, the sites not quite ready, I'm still playing with a few things, like getting more media into it, but I'll have to watch this Ask Slashdot for good ideas on how to handle those who are blind and deaf.
Yes it was Jamie that went down. Apparently Adam has some sort of inner ear problem that would prevent him from diving, thought it seems to me he did go down in a sort of specialized device that kept his head out of the water. And I belive the conclusion they did draw at the end was "plausible". Hey, if you're getting attacked by a shark, I'd punch it in the nose, and anywhere else I could reach.
It was nice seeing both of them answer most of the questions. I think most of us would agree that its not pure science, but aside from some notable exceptions, they more or less accomplish what they set out to do. Its entertainment and it obviously makes people think critically about what they are seeing on TV... all in all a good thing. Keep up the good work guys.
Ah, so your arguments obviously fail in the big picture, so we should only apply your arguments to the teaching of one specific theory in one specific class. Wow, has this been a waste of time. I'm not going to try and provide evidence of evolution to you. If you want evidence, to a quick search on the internet, its not tough, I'll even get you started. Just click this link and start reading the information there.
The THEORY of gravity is not scientifically proven at this point, and if you want to get philisophical, its not provent that life exists either.
Understanding that life evolves may not be used in your everyday life, but it is for some people. Ask anyone at a pharmaceutical company, biologist, heck even your doctor understands that evolutions take place.
With your logic, there's not point in studying anything in English class except rules of grammar and spelling. I mean, poetry is all theory and isn't used in my everday life.
Maybe not where you come from, but I was introduced to gravity in either grade five or six. Lots of teachings have, and continue to contradict with religous beliefs. There are so many conflicting religious beliefs, there would be very little that could be taught in schools that wouldn't contradict with some religions. Remember, some religions teach that women are not equal. Guess we shouldn't let females in the classrooms at all.
The cafeterias I guess just shouldn't server meat... I mean is it kosher, or halal? No female teachers would be allowed of course, since working women is against some religions. We should of course never mention contraception, or sex being pleasurable since some religions view sex as being purely for the purpose of procreation. Of course if that's the case, we don't need to bring up STDs at all.
So, we should teach them nothing about the origins of life? Nothing about gravity? Nothing about life? So, since it is unlikely that we will ever be able to prove how life and the universe began, there's no point in even researching it really. I mean, if you're not going to pass that knowledge on by teaching it, there's not much point at all.
I challenge you to prove anything that we teach scientifically (math, phyisics, etc...) in school that has not been proved absolutely.
Let me get this straight. You want me to prove things like the theory of relativity, gravity, etc? Okay, I'll work on that as soon as you scale Mt. Everest backwards, walking on your hands.
Yes Evolution is taught in schools, but should (and for the most part is) taught as a theory. Teachers are not standing up (or at least shouldn't be) and saying that this is what happend. Just that the theory fits what we see
.
There is no harm in teaching children what we believe to be true, as long as it is taught as a theory, not fact.
Don't quote half a thought and go off on a rant about it. Leading theories should be taught because showing how these theories are developed teaches students about the scientific process.
Evolution is not fact. Lots of things we take for granted every day are not fact. Just because we can't (currently) prove something, does not mean we should not believe it. There is no proof of God, or that the sun will come up tomorrow.
Because, in a science class, the leading theories should be taught, but taught as theories. Don't take a class of kids and say, "Evolution, this is what happened". This is wrong. Instead, it should be taught that given this evidence, this is what seems to make sense.
Slashdot Mirror
So you think doing nothing will change the way other companies operate?
No, I don't. But I don't think the proposed legislation will fix the real problem.
A certain portion of consumers do, yes. They absolutely care how and where the products they buy are made. I wish more people did this, but lets face it, its a small portion that do. A simple example of this is Walmart. Walmart has long been known to have caused a lot of problems for wholesalers, local economies, etc. Yet they're growing and expanding everywhere because of their lower prices.
Lets see, I work in the security area for my employer and have done web development (not design) work as well. I say that PHP can be used to create rich dynamic sites that are secure. So, now, would you care to back up your accusation of PHP as a programming language being insecure with some real facts?
Sure, there have been holes in countless PHP applications. However, this is not the fault of the language. In fact, almost all of these problems come down to programmers not properly validating user input before processing it. This is true of pretty much all languages. PHP gets a bad name because its easy to learn and people pick it up and write insecure apps with it. Thats like blaming the hammer when the house falls down.
All you've done then is to open the door for other companies with lower standards to move in. If you really want to change the way another company operates, the way to do is not by hampering your own companies. Suppose some eithical company, lets call them USAEthletics, only makes shoes by following all of the US's labour, environmental, and other laws. They're shoes wholesale cost $80. Another company, Vike, based outside of the US, makes shoes as cheap as they can, using child labour, etc. They're shoes wholesale at $20. Now, you go into the store, see two pairs of shoes, same overall quality. One pair costs $80, one costs $320. Even if there is some bad publicity with the Vike brand, but I'll bet that the store barely stocks the USAEthletics brand because they'll rarely, if ever sell.
This could only come out of the US. Sure, I don't agree with the techniques and laws of the countries in question, but trying to pass legislation on where a private or publically held company can open its business to... that's just ridiculous. Its also going to be interesting to enforce. Suppose Google splits off google.ca (Canada) as a seperate company (maybe it already has). Then google.ca opens/runs/maintains google.cn. What can the US gov really do about it?
Yes, and he should eat more vegetables too. Regardless of how much physical/outdoor activity my son is involved in, issues such as which movie to watch, what cd/mp3 to listen to, and what computer game to play are still likely to arise. Trying to ignore that these types of entertainment are out there will not be effective in restricting access to those items I feel are inappropriate for his maturity level.
I see your point, and sort of agree with you. I'm a new parent (he's almost 3 months old). I plan to decide what games he can play and what movies he can watch. I watch a lot of movies and play a lot of (PC) games. However, when it comes to music, I'm not at all up on what's current and what "artists" would be considered acceptable to various ages. Now, if the material is rated like movies, and retailers only sell to those who meet the minimum age, there's less chance of my son getting material that I consider inappropriate.
Now, if my son wants to have the newest games thats rated too high for him to buy himself, I want him to ask me to get it. Then, I as a parent can make the decision myself. If I belive that the material is too mature for him, I can refuse. However, If I believe that he is mature enough for the content, then I can purchase the material for him.
This is the solution I want to see. Games, movies, music, heck, even books, should be rated, and unless someone meets the minimum age requirements, retailers should not sell to them. If they do, there should be penalties, just like there are for alcohol and tobacco.
I realize that this isn't perfect, I remember getting buddies to "pull" beer for my friends and I when we were underage. It will however, reduce the amount of mature content my son can view without my knowledge and consent. I still plan to pay attention to what games he has installed on his computer, know what music he listens to, and what shows he watching. Having a legislated rating system will let me know why content was rated high, and as a parent, let me make an informed decision about allowing my son access to it.
Aside from the monetary aspect, this has been going on for years. Look at the mod community for most of the FPS. Heck, I remember user created content on a bunch of MUDs at least 10 years ago.
Of course you have to consider the fact that (s)he may be in a very tight job market when quitting could litteraly mean having no place to live, or not being able to support a family.
Morals and values are great and when don't conflict with survival, or reasonable living conditions, are okay to stand up for.
To the submitter, if you have a problem with the work and can afford to, I suggest quitting. If you can't afford to, I suggest starting to job hunt immediately. Feeding yourself and your family should take priority over most(all?) beliefs.
This works for me. I try and get on our treadmill at least 4 times per week (we have a 3 month old, so I'm finally starting to get back some time to spend running again). Lots of water, every day. I try for at least 2L per day. I don't drink coffee. I maybe have 3 cups of tea a week, and maybe 5 bottles (~600ml) of coke a week. Belive it or not, the more I run and drink water, the more energy and concentration I have.
Look at it this way, if the stock price falls, they're not going to get nearly as much (either in additional stocks, or for selling stocks they already own). This means it is very much in their intrest to keep the stock prices high and moving upward. This looks good to (potential) investors.
True, but do what I do, every system I build, I add that to cron. If I were to build a linux box for [insert computer-illeterate friend/relative], that's the first thing I would do.
While I can sympathize (my wife has mentioned the number of remotes to me many times), you can actually reduce the number of remotes with something like MythTV. For example, you don't really need a VCR (unless you're watching old VHS tapes), a DVD player (its in your mythbox), Stereo (volume controlled by myth), CD remote (myth can happily play your mp3/ogg collection), etc.
Actually, I want a remote to turn my wife on!
Maybe some of these cases are better, but I haven't found a case yet that didn't make some fan noise. Eventually I put my Myth box in the basement and ran cables up to the TV. Works great, no noise from fans, but all the benefits of MythTV. Of course I can't drop a DVD into the Myth box without going downstairs, but I just keep a regular DVD player in the stand along with the other components.
I always heard it as:
I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming like his passengers.
Okay, this is a shameless plug, but I started work sometime ago on http://aomis.net/ (I won't href it). Anyways, the idea was instead of CAPTCHA, which I don't really like, I thought why not let users identify different types of media. Now, I hadn't considered folks who were blind and deaf, but I did build the system to handle multiple types of media, like pictures and audio, which would help folks that are blind or deaf, but not both.
Now, the sites not quite ready, I'm still playing with a few things, like getting more media into it, but I'll have to watch this Ask Slashdot for good ideas on how to handle those who are blind and deaf.
Yes it was Jamie that went down. Apparently Adam has some sort of inner ear problem that would prevent him from diving, thought it seems to me he did go down in a sort of specialized device that kept his head out of the water. And I belive the conclusion they did draw at the end was "plausible". Hey, if you're getting attacked by a shark, I'd punch it in the nose, and anywhere else I could reach.
It was nice seeing both of them answer most of the questions. I think most of us would agree that its not pure science, but aside from some notable exceptions, they more or less accomplish what they set out to do. Its entertainment and it obviously makes people think critically about what they are seeing on TV... all in all a good thing. Keep up the good work guys.
Ah, so your arguments obviously fail in the big picture, so we should only apply your arguments to the teaching of one specific theory in one specific class. Wow, has this been a waste of time. I'm not going to try and provide evidence of evolution to you. If you want evidence, to a quick search on the internet, its not tough, I'll even get you started. Just click this link and start reading the information there.
The THEORY of gravity is not scientifically proven at this point, and if you want to get philisophical, its not provent that life exists either.
Understanding that life evolves may not be used in your everyday life, but it is for some people. Ask anyone at a pharmaceutical company, biologist, heck even your doctor understands that evolutions take place.
With your logic, there's not point in studying anything in English class except rules of grammar and spelling. I mean, poetry is all theory and isn't used in my everday life.
Maybe not where you come from, but I was introduced to gravity in either grade five or six. Lots of teachings have, and continue to contradict with religous beliefs. There are so many conflicting religious beliefs, there would be very little that could be taught in schools that wouldn't contradict with some religions. Remember, some religions teach that women are not equal. Guess we shouldn't let females in the classrooms at all.
The cafeterias I guess just shouldn't server meat... I mean is it kosher, or halal? No female teachers would be allowed of course, since working women is against some religions. We should of course never mention contraception, or sex being pleasurable since some religions view sex as being purely for the purpose of procreation. Of course if that's the case, we don't need to bring up STDs at all.
So, we should teach them nothing about the origins of life? Nothing about gravity? Nothing about life? So, since it is unlikely that we will ever be able to prove how life and the universe began, there's no point in even researching it really. I mean, if you're not going to pass that knowledge on by teaching it, there's not much point at all.
I challenge you to prove anything that we teach scientifically (math, phyisics, etc...) in school that has not been proved absolutely.
Let me get this straight. You want me to prove things like the theory of relativity, gravity, etc? Okay, I'll work on that as soon as you scale Mt. Everest backwards, walking on your hands.
Yes Evolution is taught in schools, but should (and for the most part is) taught as a theory. Teachers are not standing up (or at least shouldn't be) and saying that this is what happend. Just that the theory fits what we see
.There is no harm in teaching children what we believe to be true, as long as it is taught as a theory, not fact.
Don't quote half a thought and go off on a rant about it. Leading theories should be taught because showing how these theories are developed teaches students about the scientific process.
Evolution is not fact. Lots of things we take for granted every day are not fact. Just because we can't (currently) prove something, does not mean we should not believe it. There is no proof of God, or that the sun will come up tomorrow.
Because, in a science class, the leading theories should be taught, but taught as theories. Don't take a class of kids and say, "Evolution, this is what happened". This is wrong. Instead, it should be taught that given this evidence, this is what seems to make sense.