What is the goal of this bill? To send highly specialized government IT "manatees" into the "shark" pit feeding frenzy that is the public companies IT department? To put ties on techies and send them to government jobs so they can help their country?
Has anyone figured out the impact of training these swapped IT folks. Sure, they already have skilz, but they won't know the environment, the human protocols of who to call when the shtuff hits the fan. Not to mention that they will have to be re-trained when they get back to their old job a year later.
... Ok... so I went to this site and it offered for me to download this software. Gator something or other. I generally am very smart about not doing this kind of stuff. But it seemed like it was part of the site and that I needed it as a new 'plugin' kind of thing to use a feature of the site.
When I saw new icons popping up on my start bar I got suspicious and worried. I uninstalled the program... found another one by a similar name and uninstalled it.
Digital broadcast signals paired with digital televisions would allow viewers to watch high-definition programs, see more channels and use their sets in interactive ways, such as clicking their remote control to buy products shown on the screen.
Consumer: "Lookit, who'd by that $8,000 cubic zirconia lawn chair/bowling ball washer/cooler/hibachi thing. It ain't got no cup holder!"
TV: "Thank you for purchasing the slothmaster 8000 lawn bowling chair"
Consumer: "What?... what!.... aw... $#!^... sis, you sit on the remote again?"
Movie studios and record labels argue that the law is necessary to keep people from indiscriminate and unauthorized copying of films and music over the Internet, where digital material is so easily digested and transferred.
... Congress passes the new Super Special Saftey Congestion Act that would make it illegal to own, operate, or traffic in any vehicle which did not contain government approved GPS tracking systems. Representatives of the lawmakers stated that any car can be used as a getaway vehicle from a bank robbery or as a lethal weapon in a hit-and-run situation and that this law is necessary to keep people from indiscriminate and unauthorized driving of cars on the road.
Of course we all know that the QWERTY keyboard was invented to slow down typists who were causing their typewriters to jam up. Keyboards were invented because writing was too slow.
Now with computers we no longer have to worry about metal bits getting jammed, we just have to worry about electronic bits jamming. That doesn't happen too often unless you use Windows 98. (Sorry, had to do it).
So, says Slashdot, what keyboard should we use? Why, an ergonomic Dvorak keyboard of course. The letters are layed out to provide for the fastest of typing if you learn how to use it.
You can even get my +1 bonus point on/. Roger for me telling you that you are cool. Because frankly, it takes ballz, giant brass ballz, to stand up and say what you just said.
If these things catch on, how long before we start to see a company marketing a cheaper version that doesn't have all of the same functionality as the real watch, but looks exactly the same and includes a sticker that says, "this watch monitored by ChildWatchGroup".... you know, as a deterrent.
Its the same theory as putting security system signs in your front yard, it makes it more likely that a burglar will go somewhere else.
That was mine, with a 168 IQ and an Undergrad degree. I fudged with it a bit, and dropping the IQ by 15 points only drops the int score by 1, and raising the degree up to PHD only puts it up by 3. So it seems to be a little odd...
Well, keep in mind that the D&D Average score is supposed to be 11 (given the 3D6 method of determining stats) and that super heros (which most people are not) are allowed to use the 4D6 method giving them an average score of 13 for each stat. Now with that in mind, remember that the average human in the world has less than a high school education (think third world populations, high school drop outs, etc...) and that the average population of the US probably STILL has less than a high school education.
In addition, most students are "going to have to learn multiple programming languages" eventually, says Rick Rashid, the head of Microsoft's research department.
Take one real computer scientist, give them a computer with a compiler, a book on the real programming language they need to use, and a day, and they will be coding up non-trivial programs no problem. C/C++, Java, BASIC, Perl, Cobol, Fortran, APL, LISP, whatever. It shouldn't take a real computer scientist or computers science student too long to adjust and move on.
The theory of programming computers transends the language used. ::End Obvious Statements::
What I want to know is when is a GPS company going to release a GPS for the car that does traffic analysis and automatically can route you around bad traffic spots?
Lets say that (eventually) there is a significant installed base of GPS enabled cars. They each register their location anonymously with a central DB (anonymity could be turned off by the owner remotely for the low-jack, car recovery, option perhaps) and since the central DB would know what the speed limit on your road is (and the presence of stop lights etc...) if could monitor how traffic is flowing all across a local region.
It could then do load balancing of traffic by telling others with the same network where to go and where to not go. If you have a specific destination programmed in it could tell you the quickest way to get there and actually be right because it would tell everyone a different way to get there to avoid congestion.
Re:Grounds for divorce.
on
Spy v. Spy
·
· Score: 1
I am divorced.
Do not take Divorce so lightly. It is a long and lengthy, PAINFUL, process. Sometimes it is unavoidable and sometimes it is the best thing for both parties (assuming no children are involved here).
However even the simplest of divorces, those that are uncontested and where both parties are very mature and adult about the process (I'm going off of my own experience here) are still painful and I don't recommend one. Mine sucked away almost 2 years of my life, not to mention the feeling of having to start over.
Its like formatting your life and re-installing, but your hardware is older and you have to get permission from the courts first.
How do you think spam will affect the way we use the Internet in the future?
It's not going to stop us from using (e-mail) because it's such a marvelous form of communication. But something does have to be done to eliminate the unbelievable volume (of spam) that many people get. One would think that it would lessen itself because it's not as effective.
Not as effective?
Not as effective?
Spam costs virtually nothing to send when compared to reaching the same numbers of people with the same message via any other media that even if you get only 1 response per million I'm sure its still an order of magnitude more cost effective than, for example, running an add during the Super Bowl. Anyone have any stats on this? How much does it cost per email to send spam?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must approve the mutant meat before people can legally consume it, according to NewScientist.com, which first reported on it on Wednesday.
Does that mean that it is actually _illegal_ to eat crayons, glue, boogers, pieces of carpet, lead paint chips and dirt?
Time to start arresting some children if you ask me.
The e-mail problems have led many staffers to resume pre-Internet habits. Employees say they are faxing and using Federal Express more than before. They also are picking up the phone or wandering down the corridors in search of human contact. "If all goes well, we'll never have to use e-mail and we'll have to start talking to each other again," says one magazine writer.
Some of the employees have even decided to spend time with their children reading books printed on actual paper. One employee has decided to start up a band with some of his cube mates. "Jim here and I have been neighbors for over 3 years and we used to e-mail all the time, but now that e-mail has become unreliable I've had to actually get to know him. He's pretty groovy."
In order to set up a vibration though it has to cause the surface to flex in some way, by definition. Wether it is done with a little hammer (which was not what I was trying to say) or by "jumping up and down" on the table top is really unimportant. Either way it flexes the surface. My question is... can it damage the surface, mar it, something like that?
Passing electricity through the coil causes the piece of Terfonal to slightly expand, resulting in a force of 400 pounds, explained Newlands Scientific managing director Brian Smith. Once attached to a flat surface, Soundbug will transmit electronic signals into mechanical energy -- causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcast the sound.
So basically it is a way to pound, rythmically, on the surface, to replicate sound from a source. Great.... does it damage the surface? How many of these are going to be bought for kids by parents only to be forbidden to use it anywhere due to the damage it causes?
It would be interesting to try it on a drywall wall though. I've seen professional quality speakers that are designed to be mounted in the wall and they use the space in the wall as their speaker box. Wonder if these would be able to be used as (low quality) invisible wall speakers?
My home MP3 playing dedicated computer cost me $400 with the monitor. Where did I get it? A used computer store. Playing MP3s doesn't require a lot of processor (mine is a PII 450 and that is more than enough) and I do the ripping on my big box (PIII Ghz) and then transfer them over the network.
I think that there should be a tax on new laws. Each time that a new law is created it should cost a certain amount of money from the people who draft and pass that law.
Slashdot Mirror
All I can say is:
"I have GOT to get me one of these!"
-- Will Smith, "Independence Day"
(42 Karma, don't mod me)
What is the goal of this bill? To send highly specialized government IT "manatees" into the "shark" pit feeding frenzy that is the public companies IT department? To put ties on techies and send them to government jobs so they can help their country?
Has anyone figured out the impact of training these swapped IT folks. Sure, they already have skilz, but they won't know the environment, the human protocols of who to call when the shtuff hits the fan. Not to mention that they will have to be re-trained when they get back to their old job a year later.
How does this improve the situation?
... Ok... so I went to this site and it offered for me to download this software. Gator something or other. I generally am very smart about not doing this kind of stuff. But it seemed like it was part of the site and that I needed it as a new 'plugin' kind of thing to use a feature of the site.
When I saw new icons popping up on my start bar I got suspicious and worried. I uninstalled the program... found another one by a similar name and uninstalled it.
At least they behaved and uninstalled properly.
Digital broadcast signals paired with digital televisions would allow viewers to watch high-definition programs, see more channels and use their sets in interactive ways, such as clicking their remote control to buy products shown on the screen.
... what!.... aw... $#!^... sis, you sit on the remote again?"
Consumer: "Lookit, who'd by that $8,000 cubic zirconia lawn chair/bowling ball washer/cooler/hibachi thing. It ain't got no cup holder!"
TV: "Thank you for purchasing the slothmaster 8000 lawn bowling chair"
Consumer: "What?
Or better yet:
"Managing Programmers for Dummies"
... but I don't want to be sued.... after all, I could lose all of my Karma.
Movie studios and record labels argue that the law is necessary to keep people from indiscriminate and unauthorized copying of films and music over the Internet, where digital material is so easily digested and transferred.
... Congress passes the new Super Special Saftey Congestion Act that would make it illegal to own, operate, or traffic in any vehicle which did not contain government approved GPS tracking systems. Representatives of the lawmakers stated that any car can be used as a getaway vehicle from a bank robbery or as a lethal weapon in a hit-and-run situation and that this law is necessary to keep people from indiscriminate and unauthorized driving of cars on the road.
Of course we all know that the QWERTY keyboard was invented to slow down typists who were causing their typewriters to jam up. Keyboards were invented because writing was too slow.
Now with computers we no longer have to worry about metal bits getting jammed, we just have to worry about electronic bits jamming. That doesn't happen too often unless you use Windows 98. (Sorry, had to do it).
So, says Slashdot, what keyboard should we use? Why, an ergonomic Dvorak keyboard of course. The letters are layed out to provide for the fastest of typing if you learn how to use it.
You can even get my +1 bonus point on /. Roger for me telling you that you are cool. Because frankly, it takes ballz, giant brass ballz, to stand up and say what you just said.
If these things catch on, how long before we start to see a company marketing a cheaper version that doesn't have all of the same functionality as the real watch, but looks exactly the same and includes a sticker that says, "this watch monitored by ChildWatchGroup".... you know, as a deterrent.
Its the same theory as putting security system signs in your front yard, it makes it more likely that a burglar will go somewhere else.
::Remove tounge from cheek::
That was mine, with a 168 IQ and an Undergrad degree. I fudged with it a bit, and dropping the IQ by 15 points only drops the int score by 1, and raising the degree up to PHD only puts it up by 3. So it seems to be a little odd...
Well, keep in mind that the D&D Average score is supposed to be 11 (given the 3D6 method of determining stats) and that super heros (which most people are not) are allowed to use the 4D6 method giving them an average score of 13 for each stat. Now with that in mind, remember that the average human in the world has less than a high school education (think third world populations, high school drop outs, etc...) and that the average population of the US probably STILL has less than a high school education.
Yeah, you are right, these numbers are skewed.
Str: 11
Int: 11
Wis: 15
Dex: 18
Con: 13
Chr: 15
Seems resonable to me. Neat survey.
In addition, most students are "going to have to learn multiple programming languages" eventually, says Rick Rashid, the head of Microsoft's research department.
::End Obvious Statements::
Take one real computer scientist, give them a computer with a compiler, a book on the real programming language they need to use, and a day, and they will be coding up non-trivial programs no problem. C/C++, Java, BASIC, Perl, Cobol, Fortran, APL, LISP, whatever. It shouldn't take a real computer scientist or computers science student too long to adjust and move on.
The theory of programming computers transends the language used.
What I want to know is when is a GPS company going to release a GPS for the car that does traffic analysis and automatically can route you around bad traffic spots?
Lets say that (eventually) there is a significant installed base of GPS enabled cars. They each register their location anonymously with a central DB (anonymity could be turned off by the owner remotely for the low-jack, car recovery, option perhaps) and since the central DB would know what the speed limit on your road is (and the presence of stop lights etc...) if could monitor how traffic is flowing all across a local region.
It could then do load balancing of traffic by telling others with the same network where to go and where to not go. If you have a specific destination programmed in it could tell you the quickest way to get there and actually be right because it would tell everyone a different way to get there to avoid congestion.
I am divorced.
Do not take Divorce so lightly. It is a long and lengthy, PAINFUL, process. Sometimes it is unavoidable and sometimes it is the best thing for both parties (assuming no children are involved here).
However even the simplest of divorces, those that are uncontested and where both parties are very mature and adult about the process (I'm going off of my own experience here) are still painful and I don't recommend one. Mine sucked away almost 2 years of my life, not to mention the feeling of having to start over.
Its like formatting your life and re-installing, but your hardware is older and you have to get permission from the courts first.
How do you think spam will affect the way we use the Internet in the future?
It's not going to stop us from using (e-mail) because it's such a marvelous form of communication. But something does have to be done to eliminate the unbelievable volume (of spam) that many people get. One would think that it would lessen itself because it's not as effective.
Not as effective?
Not as effective?
Spam costs virtually nothing to send when compared to reaching the same numbers of people with the same message via any other media that even if you get only 1 response per million I'm sure its still an order of magnitude more cost effective than, for example, running an add during the Super Bowl. Anyone have any stats on this? How much does it cost per email to send spam?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must approve the mutant meat before people can legally consume it, according to NewScientist.com, which first reported on it on Wednesday.
Does that mean that it is actually _illegal_ to eat crayons, glue, boogers, pieces of carpet, lead paint chips and dirt?
Time to start arresting some children if you ask me.
The e-mail problems have led many staffers to resume pre-Internet habits. Employees say they are faxing and using Federal Express more than before. They also are picking up the phone or wandering down the corridors in search of human contact. "If all goes well, we'll never have to use e-mail and we'll have to start talking to each other again," says one magazine writer.
Some of the employees have even decided to spend time with their children reading books printed on actual paper. One employee has decided to start up a band with some of his cube mates. "Jim here and I have been neighbors for over 3 years and we used to e-mail all the time, but now that e-mail has become unreliable I've had to actually get to know him. He's pretty groovy."
A Google search did not return any information about Inurv Inc.
Personally, I think this is the best line in the whole article. Google, final proof that you do, or do not, exist.
Neither of you would be able to hear the rest of the bar, and the rest of the bar would be unable to hear you.
I can see it now:
You -and- friend: Chat, chat, chat, whisper, chat
--Buddy bumps into big hairy guy next to you and spills his drink--
Buddy: Sorry!
Big Hairy Guy: What?
Buddy: I'm really sorry, let me buy you a drink
--Big Hairy Guy punches buddy in the head--
--Frantically you look for the off switch while you run out of the bar trying desperately to appologize--
Also great for avoiding road noise in your car like the sound of Fire Engines trying to pass you.
In order to set up a vibration though it has to cause the surface to flex in some way, by definition. Wether it is done with a little hammer (which was not what I was trying to say) or by "jumping up and down" on the table top is really unimportant. Either way it flexes the surface. My question is... can it damage the surface, mar it, something like that?
Passing electricity through the coil causes the piece of Terfonal to slightly expand, resulting in a force of 400 pounds, explained Newlands Scientific managing director Brian Smith. Once attached to a flat surface, Soundbug will transmit electronic signals into mechanical energy -- causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcast the sound.
So basically it is a way to pound, rythmically, on the surface, to replicate sound from a source. Great.... does it damage the surface? How many of these are going to be bought for kids by parents only to be forbidden to use it anywhere due to the damage it causes?
It would be interesting to try it on a drywall wall though. I've seen professional quality speakers that are designed to be mounted in the wall and they use the space in the wall as their speaker box. Wonder if these would be able to be used as (low quality) invisible wall speakers?
Where are you shopping?
My home MP3 playing dedicated computer cost me $400 with the monitor. Where did I get it? A used computer store. Playing MP3s doesn't require a lot of processor (mine is a PII 450 and that is more than enough) and I do the ripping on my big box (PIII Ghz) and then transfer them over the network.
I think that there should be a tax on new laws. Each time that a new law is created it should cost a certain amount of money from the people who draft and pass that law.
We should charge double for stupid laws.
Could Windows XP's voice recognition software be used to steal the lyrics out of copy protected CDs? Isn't this illegal under the DCMA then?