Interestingly enough a friend of mine got an old printer from her father (deskjet) and asked me to help her plug it into her computer. So I said, "sure thing, no problem."
One problem.
Her Gateway computer didn't come with a parallel port. Why? Because when she bought the computer she didn't need a parallel port because she was not buying a printer and so Gateway didn't include the port.
Ok, fine. I figure I can go get the little cable thing that connects to the MB to give the parallel port connection out the back. $5 later I have the cable.
I open up the case, I go to plug it in, and then I realize to my sheer horror that the MB does not have the required socket. It has the solder points where the socket would be. It has the solder points where the Parallel port control chips would be. But no chips, no sockets, nothing. This MB was designed to have a parallel port and because she wasn't getting a printer they gave her a MB that didn't have the chips or sockets!
So $50 later she had a USB to Parallel port cable and a working printer.
Then the printer died.
There was a point to this story but I think it broke off.
I don't know, I got my education in software on a C= 64 with no permenant storage device (no floppy, no tape, nothing)
What did I learn?
I learned about math, logic, problem solving. I learned about doing things in an orderly manner. I learned how to program in Basic.
What has that helped me?
Put any piece of software in front of me with a halfway decent manual and I'll know more about it than most people would get out of a training session on the software.
Teaching people how to use MS Office when they are scared out of their minds that they'll break something doesn't make them computer users. It makes them comfortable.
I say that everyone who uses a computer should have a basic understanding of how the things work.
Just like everyone should know how a car works before driving.
Generally speaking you should have an idea of what you are doing before you do it.
What next, give people pilots licenses because they've flown MS Flight Simulator? Pilots know way more about how a plane works before they even get their license than the general population knows about how cars work.
Micropayments could work this way: You initally deposit $25 into your account and then you micropay... when your $25 gets low, you are automatically charged (on your credit card) for an additional $25.
...that this will not fly unless Beta Radiation hires a serious PR firm to spin its image into a happy, fun loving, club hopping, racially indeterminate, good looking female that everyone would want to have in their lap.
seismograph data... and you are telling me that these dishes will _stay_ lined up?
Re:Alright, you know that's not fair, unless...
on
The Economics of Spam
·
· Score: 2
C'mon, we can't be hypocritical here. You can't call someone up in the middle of the night unless you have an existing business relationship with them.
Color me uninformed, but where does this come from? I know that if you tell someone to stop calling you then you can ultimately charge them money if they do keep calling you for bascially tying up your phone line, but I'm curious as to where you found this "rule" and how it is enforced, really.
Technobabble meets Lawyer speak and makes totally incomprehensible language.
Granted, what I did understand looks good to me.
Question: When will we get a compiler to spit out java bytecode for this decision and install the new version into the Microsoft Corporate App Server? Because frankly, expecting a human being to follow this judgement is just as good as expecting a human being to parse parallel super computer algorithms in their head. Sure there are a few people who can do it, but they probably have better things to do with their time. At least I hope that they do.
Its a real shame that the judgement wasnt just this:
... I actually came up with the idea that this could be done but did not have the drive/money/time to do it. Kudos to these folks! I would love to see their table in action!
As an aside, just as with any other skill, becoming a better pool player takes a little learning from someone who knows and lots of practice. If you want to learn to play pool better join a pool league. In the USA there is a great organization called the American Poolplayers Association (APA) that runs leagues with handicapping systems so that no matter how good or bad you are you have a good chance of winning your match.
Once you have played pool once a week for a year you should notice a huge difference in your game.
I know, I'll let people upload pictures to the web and have them display as the shell of my car. Because when the cops pull you over you can just flip a switch.
Or better yet....
I'll make a "license plate" that nano-tech changes to whatever I want. Then I can go to a parking lot and "steal" the plates off of some undercover cop car that matches the make and model of mine and never get pulled over!
Or better yet... advertise!
Oh wait... I got it... Bumpersticker of the Month/Day/Hour/Minute !!!!
Turn signals will be obsolete... I'll just flash a portion of my car!
Who needs brake lights? Just turn the whole back of your car into a giant stop sign!
Humans are currently eating/burning/using all the weak animals/fossil fuels/land that they can get their hands on and when the resources are dead/gone/ruined then equilibrium will come to bite us in the ass.
Just like driving 200 MPH. As long as you don't hit anything it is perfectly safe. As soon as you do hit something tragically stationary you assume equilibrium really quickly. Yet you would still give the finger to the cop who tried to tell you that you shouldn't go 200 MPH.
Lets take a comparative look at something somewhat similar, toll roads.
Why do toll roads exists?
Two reasons.
1) to pay for the initial building of the road 2) to pay for the continued maintenance of the road
Which do you think is more expensive? You guessed right, the initial building of the road/bridge/tunnel, whatever.
Rather than Tax Everyone in the State/Country etc... they only charge the people who use it.
Now then, if you drive on the toll road and you don't pay are you stealing? Yes. What are you stealing? The money that you were supposed to pay for the use of the service. Why were you supposed to pay it? To cover the cost of building the road.
Why should you buy software that you use? Because people spent time writing it and a company paid them to write it. That company raised capital to build the software (road) and if you use it without paying for it then you are gaining the benefit of the service without paying what the builder is asking for.
Do toll roads make a profit? Sure. Welcome to captialism.
The economics prize was shared among a long list of corporations for "adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world."
Does anyone know how to recycle a used and discarded CDRW? Seriously. How many of these get thrown out yearly now and are they just sitting in landfills taking up space or are they recyclable?
TCP/IP was invented as a way of connecting disparate networks together. It has succeeded in this goal quite admirably.
XML has a similar goal. It has been used to connecting companies together who have different internal processes.
With web services and the explosion of XML based standards, what thoughts do you have on wether or not XML will succeed? What are its strengths and shortcomings when put along side of TCP/IP?
Slashdot Mirror
Interestingly enough a friend of mine got an old printer from her father (deskjet) and asked me to help her plug it into her computer. So I said, "sure thing, no problem."
One problem.
Her Gateway computer didn't come with a parallel port. Why? Because when she bought the computer she didn't need a parallel port because she was not buying a printer and so Gateway didn't include the port.
Ok, fine. I figure I can go get the little cable thing that connects to the MB to give the parallel port connection out the back. $5 later I have the cable.
I open up the case, I go to plug it in, and then I realize to my sheer horror that the MB does not have the required socket. It has the solder points where the socket would be. It has the solder points where the Parallel port control chips would be. But no chips, no sockets, nothing. This MB was designed to have a parallel port and because she wasn't getting a printer they gave her a MB that didn't have the chips or sockets!
So $50 later she had a USB to Parallel port cable and a working printer.
Then the printer died.
There was a point to this story but I think it broke off.
At this point I must advise you that doing this would be illegal (making a false report to authorities) and would probably land you in FPMITA prison.
I don't know, I got my education in software on a C= 64 with no permenant storage device (no floppy, no tape, nothing)
What did I learn?
I learned about math, logic, problem solving. I learned about doing things in an orderly manner. I learned how to program in Basic.
What has that helped me?
Put any piece of software in front of me with a halfway decent manual and I'll know more about it than most people would get out of a training session on the software.
Teaching people how to use MS Office when they are scared out of their minds that they'll break something doesn't make them computer users. It makes them comfortable.
I say that everyone who uses a computer should have a basic understanding of how the things work.
Just like everyone should know how a car works before driving.
Generally speaking you should have an idea of what you are doing before you do it.
What next, give people pilots licenses because they've flown MS Flight Simulator? Pilots know way more about how a plane works before they even get their license than the general population knows about how cars work.
Stop being afraid!
Micropayments could work this way: You initally deposit $25 into your account and then you micropay... when your $25 gets low, you are automatically charged (on your credit card) for an additional $25.
There are toll roads that operate this way.
... I hope nobody was hurt.
After that, I wish them luck getting back online.
Concerning the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Do you consider them to be a boon or a bane to actors and actressess?
...that this will not fly unless Beta Radiation hires a serious PR firm to spin its image into a happy, fun loving, club hopping, racially indeterminate, good looking female that everyone would want to have in their lap.
seismograph data ... and you are telling me that these dishes will _stay_ lined up?
C'mon, we can't be hypocritical here. You can't call someone up in the middle of the night unless you have an existing business relationship with them.
Color me uninformed, but where does this come from? I know that if you tell someone to stop calling you then you can ultimately charge them money if they do keep calling you for bascially tying up your phone line, but I'm curious as to where you found this "rule" and how it is enforced, really.
When we can clone food easily and cheaply then this model will work.
When we can find a fair way to distribute the atoms that make up stuff to have amongst the people of this world then this model will work.
If everyone could get everything for free then money would be unnecessary.
But just because that is how it SHOULD work does not mean that that is how it should work right now!
Ok, from the music point of view, yes, the record labels and record production/promotion companies are a dying breed. Let them die.
But car manufacturers? They do more than just design and build the cars, they test them for safety, they repair them etc...
And farmers do more than just grow food.
Its a nice idea and I hope that someday its time comes but I'm going to have to argue that it isn't here yet.
Except maybe for music... (but hey, we have to start somewhere)
Well I hope that whoever does buy this goes through boat "driving" lessons first.
Got locks on the doors of your house? Ever seen a locksmith work?
Locks only keep honest people honest.
Biometrics just another kind of lock. Sure it can be defeated. Does that mean that your diary is still safe from your brother/sister? Probably.
... the last time that I needed to cross water and I didn't have a bridge.
That is a darn good idea. In fact, I think I'll do the same.
There... one order for ~$40 worth of chocolate. Everyone wins!
RE: O.T. P.S.
Its not just you, its slow for me to. Though I can't tell you why. Maybe Slashdot has jet lag from moving out west?
Technobabble meets Lawyer speak and makes totally incomprehensible language.
Granted, what I did understand looks good to me.
Question: When will we get a compiler to spit out java bytecode for this decision and install the new version into the Microsoft Corporate App Server? Because frankly, expecting a human being to follow this judgement is just as good as expecting a human being to parse parallel super computer algorithms in their head. Sure there are a few people who can do it, but they probably have better things to do with their time. At least I hope that they do.
Its a real shame that the judgement wasnt just this:
"PLAY NICE"
... I actually came up with the idea that this could be done but did not have the drive/money/time to do it. Kudos to these folks! I would love to see their table in action!
As an aside, just as with any other skill, becoming a better pool player takes a little learning from someone who knows and lots of practice. If you want to learn to play pool better join a pool league. In the USA there is a great organization called the American Poolplayers Association (APA) that runs leagues with handicapping systems so that no matter how good or bad you are you have a good chance of winning your match.
Once you have played pool once a week for a year you should notice a huge difference in your game.
I know, I'll let people upload pictures to the web and have them display as the shell of my car. Because when the cops pull you over you can just flip a switch.
Or better yet....
I'll make a "license plate" that nano-tech changes to whatever I want. Then I can go to a parking lot and "steal" the plates off of some undercover cop car that matches the make and model of mine and never get pulled over!
Or better yet... advertise!
Oh wait... I got it... Bumpersticker of the Month/Day/Hour/Minute !!!!
Turn signals will be obsolete... I'll just flash a portion of my car!
Who needs brake lights? Just turn the whole back of your car into a giant stop sign!
I could go on...
Equilibrium doesn't come all at once.
Humans are currently eating/burning/using all the weak animals/fossil fuels/land that they can get their hands on and when the resources are dead/gone/ruined then equilibrium will come to bite us in the ass.
Just like driving 200 MPH. As long as you don't hit anything it is perfectly safe. As soon as you do hit something tragically stationary you assume equilibrium really quickly. Yet you would still give the finger to the cop who tried to tell you that you shouldn't go 200 MPH.
Wake up.
Depends on how many times you don't pay the toll. Usually they would just fine you something like $35 for skipping a $0.50 toll.
So that is, what, a 70 fold increase in penalty over actual loss?
If he was really pirating as much software as he said he was then he stole millions of dollars from various companies.
Would you rather see him fined $70 Million dollars, declare bankruptcy and then end up having the taxpayers bail him out?
Lets take a comparative look at something somewhat similar, toll roads.
Why do toll roads exists?
Two reasons.
1) to pay for the initial building of the road
2) to pay for the continued maintenance of the road
Which do you think is more expensive? You guessed right, the initial building of the road/bridge/tunnel, whatever.
Rather than Tax Everyone in the State/Country etc... they only charge the people who use it.
Now then, if you drive on the toll road and you don't pay are you stealing? Yes. What are you stealing? The money that you were supposed to pay for the use of the service. Why were you supposed to pay it? To cover the cost of building the road.
Why should you buy software that you use? Because people spent time writing it and a company paid them to write it. That company raised capital to build the software (road) and if you use it without paying for it then you are gaining the benefit of the service without paying what the builder is asking for.
Do toll roads make a profit? Sure. Welcome to captialism.
The economics prize was shared among a long list of corporations for "adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world."
That..... is what I call humor.
Does anyone know how to recycle a used and discarded CDRW? Seriously. How many of these get thrown out yearly now and are they just sitting in landfills taking up space or are they recyclable?
Also applies to all those AOL CDs.
TCP/IP was invented as a way of connecting disparate networks together. It has succeeded in this goal quite admirably.
XML has a similar goal. It has been used to connecting companies together who have different internal processes.
With web services and the explosion of XML based standards, what thoughts do you have on wether or not XML will succeed? What are its strengths and shortcomings when put along side of TCP/IP?
I know you are kidding, but read this:
Asthma Risk May Be Cut by Dirt, Study Says