So true. As my biology professor loves to remind us, " organisms are the product of genes interacting with an environment". The notion that species wide changes must occur at the genetic level, and thus at evolutionary time scales, is a very blunt view of nature. If I took a swamp frog out of the swamp and left it in the desert, and it survived, it would no longer be a swamp frog. I think there is a lot of truth to this, especially when applied to autism (or any other psychological condition really).
We evolved to live in a very physical and socially collective world. In a few generations we have changed to a very cognitive and individual society. I would not be surprised if phenomena like autism were responses to this change. Not evolution and not social conditioning, but developmental responses. For instance, I read a lot growing up, and for better or worse it had a lasting effect. If I had been born 500 years ago, I could be genetically identical, but without growing up with books I would be biologically a totally different person.
€1.2M from hardware because demands are lower for Linux compared to Windows 7
This is an often overlooked additional benefit, especially if you use a lightweight environment. A modern distro running LXDE and LibreOffice can make 10 year old hardware an adequate machine for 90% of office uses. As a bonus, future upgrades to ARM PCs would be essentially transparent to the users.
In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.
Or it provides a convenient excuse for why the rest of the world is passing the US just about every technological pursuit, except maybe online advertising or "Cyber consulting".
The brief period of time during which it was a plausible business model to design things in the US and make them elsewhere has ended. Foreign engineers are just as capable as US ones.
I would love for someone with insight into LCD technology comment on why the ipad3's resolution is so much higher than what is available for monitors. I would almost sell my first born son for a 30" retina monitor that could double as a TV.
Perhaps you are talking about one of the Logitech Harmony remotes? Because I got one of those first, and let me assure you, THAT is the ripoff. Say you want to control stuff in a cabinet, you either have to buy a bunch of IR repeater stuff with a sensor outside the cabinet, or you can spend over $100 for the RF versions, which still have to use IR repeaters, but you get to skip the sensor on the outside of the cabinet. Then, just when you system is almost set up, you are bound to realize that you have five devices, and the repeater stuff you bought only supports four.
Or, 1 device (xbmc), no IR repeaters (use wifi), can play games, browse the web, check emails, read Slashdot, and is "programmable" in a much broader sense of the word.
Yup. XBMC can be more for the people you live with than it for yourself. For instance, there are iphone and android apps that work as a remote through the wifi. Not only is this practical because you skip the tedious IR remotes, but people absolutely LOVE the idea of using their phone as a remote. I even bought a $50 Samsung Repp (low end android phone, no contract) that just sits on the coffee table as an XBMC remote.
A nice added bonus is that it provides a way to retire old desktops without throwing them away or having to buy specialized AV gear. And it has even been demonstrated to run on the Raspberry Pi! In fact, now that I mention it, I REALLY LOVE XBMC!
I appreciate resolution, probably more than most. But when I used to go the video store (before it closed), I would grab the DVD even though my PS3 could play the Blu-Ray (which I bought for Other-OS). The price for a single Blu-Ray was usually near $5, but DVDs were 5 for $5. It's just not 5 times better.
Also, 1080p is just some arbitrary resolution goal set back in 2004ish because it was the highest they could manage on the very best consumer displays. In 15 years time 1080p will be rinky dink, and any Blu-Rays I bought will be worthless. I'd rather use good-enough and save the money.
Yup, when talking to someone about movies, a movie that you have seen and they haven't is bound to come up. The difference between owning and renting is whether you spend that night introducing someone to a great movie or twiddle your thumbs.
Unfortunately, for those of us that have completely moved passed optical disks, there are zero options to own without either DRM or copyright infringement.
I would like to see a design that leverages our huge legs instead of our tiny little t-rex arms. It would be a hell of a workout, and it probably wouldn't work, but it's worth a shot.
Can't please everybody, but just the other day I thought about how I will mount my Pi when it comes, and now I have a solution handed to me, which even has an incentive that goes beyond meeting my material need.
That's the thing with slashvertisements, they don't bring much discussion value, but they are usually something unique and interesting that I would not have thought to search for. And as long as they don't seriously dilute the more substantial submissions, what's the harm?
start with reproduction-competent vectors, and that some bits of the machinery get left behind.
So they would splice an engineered gene into the genome which somehow shortens the viral DNA with each generation. So the viruses get busy infecting cells in the lab, and after some point, the cells begin bursting with a bunch of viral pieces instead of whole functional viruses. After enough time, all the functional viruses have been used up, and all you have left is viral fragments. What are you going to use to attack the cancer cells?
I expect we'll even see synthetic virus printers some day.
Yes, but at that point you just manufacture virus sized machines which do what you tell them. No need to mess with the kludgy biological organisms. It really is amazing to think about how much simpler lab techniques will be when you can actually handle individual molecules by simply making a function call.
Well let's agree that the article is really light on information, but assuming you are able to remove enough of the viral DNA to prevent reproduction, how are you going to produce the billions of them required for treatment? You can't make them individually, so they have to be capable of reproduction to be useful.
However, I think they are using the word "engineered" too liberally. They basically just want to inject a particular viral strain which happens to kill a higher percentage of cancerous cells than normal cells. This approach is just the viral version of chemotherapy, which is an extraordinarily blunt, shotgun approach.
A real "engineered" solution would be viruses which only recognize cancerous cells, and leave normal cells unharmed. But it still doesn't solve the problem of unexpected mutations.
The problem with using living solutions to medical problems (as opposed to drugs) is the high rate of mutation. Perhaps you engineered the virus to kill the cancer cells, but 2 months and 40k generations later it could be doing something completely different.
By placing these issues in conflict, it forces students to think about them. Separating the issues only legitimizes the idea that critical thinking at school is compatible with made up certainties at home.
Perhaps 2 years ago, but it is far too late for that. I'm sure that part of their agreement with Microsoft was a clause preventing them from using Android. And even if they somehow could switch, it just means they have to compete with the asian companies, and I have serious doubts about their capabilities there (unless they charged at least iPhone prices).
If they would have stuck to their guns on MeeGo, I would have bought one. If I have to deal with Android as a consolation prize, I'm going to Samsung.
Gaming is key. Linux can't increase market share over night, and the next most logical group to be assimilated are gamers. The younger windows users who don't write programs or run servers, but are otherwise very computer savy. People who are capable of installing an ISO, and won't switch back if they have to edit a few configuration files, but are numerous enough to move linux towards the mainstream. Going after any other market at this point is unrealistic.
But somehow, gaming seems to be the one area of actual distros that is least ready for prime time. I don't game too often, but last time I checked WINE ran zero of my windows games and there were zero killer linux games. Now I realize this is not entirely under the control of the linux crowd, you would need support from third party developers. But hey, Valve released the Steam client for Mac, and of all things, the PS3. Why can't we get a linux client? If Valve made the Steam client and their game library available on Linux, that would be a HUGE step in the right direction.
If I was a credit card company, the last thing I would do is cooperate with NFC. It holds the promise of money moving from bank accounts to retailers smoothly without the banks having to mess with a CC affiliation. Banks could even let you buy things on credit if they wanted.
This has tremendous potential to diversify the electronic purchasing world. Any small bank that can get certified can offer service worldwide. The achilles heel is the NFC protocol that brokers the transaction between the retailer and the bank. Is it too much to ask to have an open standard, instead of a mandatory Google/Verizon/Apple account? The last thing I want is to trade one unnecessary middleman for another.
There was a very detailed thread here a while back (which I am too lazy to find) where someone explained why you can't get Debian running on a "modern mobile device". It basically involves the vast fragmentation of platforms, and the lax GPL adherence to include SOC firmware source when shipping with the kernel. You would basically have to go to China and bang on doors to get what you need.
However, I have a theory that this fragmentation is just a result of the rapid growth of mobile ARM devices. Once it gets to the point where everyone has a smartphone that is "good enough" the pace of development should slow, and a Debian friendly platform like the N9 will emerge. Heck, if you were the sporting type, you could make a Debian tablet with a Raspberry pi and a suitable screen.
They could make baby steps first though, like sending a manned capsule around Mars and back way before they attempt to land. That would be a publicity boon and might get them the resources needed to push further.
Although now that I think about it, is it even possible to go to mars and back in one trip, or do you HAVE to wait at Mars for planetary alignment every time?
Condemning video games for an increase in school shootings is such an irresponsible leap of logic it wouldn't survive a freshman debate class. It is insulting to suggest that humans are incapable of handling imaginary and real-life situations differently.
What's next, should all Tolkien books be sold in black plastic wrap with a label warning parents of epic slaughter?
Slashdot Mirror
So true. As my biology professor loves to remind us, " organisms are the product of genes interacting with an environment". The notion that species wide changes must occur at the genetic level, and thus at evolutionary time scales, is a very blunt view of nature. If I took a swamp frog out of the swamp and left it in the desert, and it survived, it would no longer be a swamp frog. I think there is a lot of truth to this, especially when applied to autism (or any other psychological condition really).
We evolved to live in a very physical and socially collective world. In a few generations we have changed to a very cognitive and individual society. I would not be surprised if phenomena like autism were responses to this change. Not evolution and not social conditioning, but developmental responses. For instance, I read a lot growing up, and for better or worse it had a lasting effect. If I had been born 500 years ago, I could be genetically identical, but without growing up with books I would be biologically a totally different person.
€1.2M from hardware because demands are lower for Linux compared to Windows 7
This is an often overlooked additional benefit, especially if you use a lightweight environment. A modern distro running LXDE and LibreOffice can make 10 year old hardware an adequate machine for 90% of office uses. As a bonus, future upgrades to ARM PCs would be essentially transparent to the users.
Fascinating. For those who are curious:
In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.
Or it provides a convenient excuse for why the rest of the world is passing the US just about every technological pursuit, except maybe online advertising or "Cyber consulting".
The brief period of time during which it was a plausible business model to design things in the US and make them elsewhere has ended. Foreign engineers are just as capable as US ones.
+5 Insightful
I would love for someone with insight into LCD technology comment on why the ipad3's resolution is so much higher than what is available for monitors. I would almost sell my first born son for a 30" retina monitor that could double as a TV.
Perhaps you are talking about one of the Logitech Harmony remotes? Because I got one of those first, and let me assure you, THAT is the ripoff. Say you want to control stuff in a cabinet, you either have to buy a bunch of IR repeater stuff with a sensor outside the cabinet, or you can spend over $100 for the RF versions, which still have to use IR repeaters, but you get to skip the sensor on the outside of the cabinet. Then, just when you system is almost set up, you are bound to realize that you have five devices, and the repeater stuff you bought only supports four.
Or, 1 device (xbmc), no IR repeaters (use wifi), can play games, browse the web, check emails, read Slashdot, and is "programmable" in a much broader sense of the word.
Yup. XBMC can be more for the people you live with than it for yourself. For instance, there are iphone and android apps that work as a remote through the wifi. Not only is this practical because you skip the tedious IR remotes, but people absolutely LOVE the idea of using their phone as a remote. I even bought a $50 Samsung Repp (low end android phone, no contract) that just sits on the coffee table as an XBMC remote.
A nice added bonus is that it provides a way to retire old desktops without throwing them away or having to buy specialized AV gear. And it has even been demonstrated to run on the Raspberry Pi! In fact, now that I mention it, I REALLY LOVE XBMC!
Technology CANNOT solve social problems. It can only hide symptoms.
I appreciate resolution, probably more than most. But when I used to go the video store (before it closed), I would grab the DVD even though my PS3 could play the Blu-Ray (which I bought for Other-OS). The price for a single Blu-Ray was usually near $5, but DVDs were 5 for $5. It's just not 5 times better.
Also, 1080p is just some arbitrary resolution goal set back in 2004ish because it was the highest they could manage on the very best consumer displays. In 15 years time 1080p will be rinky dink, and any Blu-Rays I bought will be worthless. I'd rather use good-enough and save the money.
Yup, when talking to someone about movies, a movie that you have seen and they haven't is bound to come up. The difference between owning and renting is whether you spend that night introducing someone to a great movie or twiddle your thumbs.
Unfortunately, for those of us that have completely moved passed optical disks, there are zero options to own without either DRM or copyright infringement.
I would like to see a design that leverages our huge legs instead of our tiny little t-rex arms. It would be a hell of a workout, and it probably wouldn't work, but it's worth a shot.
Mmmmm, I like the warm raspberry kind the best.
I am not knowledgeable about climate, but could we also blame those monster solar flares?
Can't please everybody, but just the other day I thought about how I will mount my Pi when it comes, and now I have a solution handed to me, which even has an incentive that goes beyond meeting my material need.
That's the thing with slashvertisements, they don't bring much discussion value, but they are usually something unique and interesting that I would not have thought to search for. And as long as they don't seriously dilute the more substantial submissions, what's the harm?
start with reproduction-competent vectors, and that some bits of the machinery get left behind.
So they would splice an engineered gene into the genome which somehow shortens the viral DNA with each generation. So the viruses get busy infecting cells in the lab, and after some point, the cells begin bursting with a bunch of viral pieces instead of whole functional viruses. After enough time, all the functional viruses have been used up, and all you have left is viral fragments. What are you going to use to attack the cancer cells?
I expect we'll even see synthetic virus printers some day.
Yes, but at that point you just manufacture virus sized machines which do what you tell them. No need to mess with the kludgy biological organisms. It really is amazing to think about how much simpler lab techniques will be when you can actually handle individual molecules by simply making a function call.
Well let's agree that the article is really light on information, but assuming you are able to remove enough of the viral DNA to prevent reproduction, how are you going to produce the billions of them required for treatment? You can't make them individually, so they have to be capable of reproduction to be useful.
However, I think they are using the word "engineered" too liberally. They basically just want to inject a particular viral strain which happens to kill a higher percentage of cancerous cells than normal cells. This approach is just the viral version of chemotherapy, which is an extraordinarily blunt, shotgun approach.
A real "engineered" solution would be viruses which only recognize cancerous cells, and leave normal cells unharmed. But it still doesn't solve the problem of unexpected mutations.
The problem with using living solutions to medical problems (as opposed to drugs) is the high rate of mutation. Perhaps you engineered the virus to kill the cancer cells, but 2 months and 40k generations later it could be doing something completely different.
By placing these issues in conflict, it forces students to think about them. Separating the issues only legitimizes the idea that critical thinking at school is compatible with made up certainties at home.
Perhaps 2 years ago, but it is far too late for that. I'm sure that part of their agreement with Microsoft was a clause preventing them from using Android. And even if they somehow could switch, it just means they have to compete with the asian companies, and I have serious doubts about their capabilities there (unless they charged at least iPhone prices).
If they would have stuck to their guns on MeeGo, I would have bought one. If I have to deal with Android as a consolation prize, I'm going to Samsung.
Gaming is key. Linux can't increase market share over night, and the next most logical group to be assimilated are gamers. The younger windows users who don't write programs or run servers, but are otherwise very computer savy. People who are capable of installing an ISO, and won't switch back if they have to edit a few configuration files, but are numerous enough to move linux towards the mainstream. Going after any other market at this point is unrealistic.
But somehow, gaming seems to be the one area of actual distros that is least ready for prime time. I don't game too often, but last time I checked WINE ran zero of my windows games and there were zero killer linux games. Now I realize this is not entirely under the control of the linux crowd, you would need support from third party developers. But hey, Valve released the Steam client for Mac, and of all things, the PS3. Why can't we get a linux client? If Valve made the Steam client and their game library available on Linux, that would be a HUGE step in the right direction.
If I was a credit card company, the last thing I would do is cooperate with NFC. It holds the promise of money moving from bank accounts to retailers smoothly without the banks having to mess with a CC affiliation. Banks could even let you buy things on credit if they wanted.
This has tremendous potential to diversify the electronic purchasing world. Any small bank that can get certified can offer service worldwide. The achilles heel is the NFC protocol that brokers the transaction between the retailer and the bank. Is it too much to ask to have an open standard, instead of a mandatory Google/Verizon/Apple account? The last thing I want is to trade one unnecessary middleman for another.
There was a very detailed thread here a while back (which I am too lazy to find) where someone explained why you can't get Debian running on a "modern mobile device". It basically involves the vast fragmentation of platforms, and the lax GPL adherence to include SOC firmware source when shipping with the kernel. You would basically have to go to China and bang on doors to get what you need.
However, I have a theory that this fragmentation is just a result of the rapid growth of mobile ARM devices. Once it gets to the point where everyone has a smartphone that is "good enough" the pace of development should slow, and a Debian friendly platform like the N9 will emerge. Heck, if you were the sporting type, you could make a Debian tablet with a Raspberry pi and a suitable screen.
Don't give up comrade, our day will come.
They could make baby steps first though, like sending a manned capsule around Mars and back way before they attempt to land. That would be a publicity boon and might get them the resources needed to push further.
Although now that I think about it, is it even possible to go to mars and back in one trip, or do you HAVE to wait at Mars for planetary alignment every time?
Condemning video games for an increase in school shootings is such an irresponsible leap of logic it wouldn't survive a freshman debate class. It is insulting to suggest that humans are incapable of handling imaginary and real-life situations differently.
What's next, should all Tolkien books be sold in black plastic wrap with a label warning parents of epic slaughter?