In nature, if a species gets too populated for the food supply, individuals starve until the population is reduced to the point that the food supply can fully support it again.
This. As long as we have a food surplus, we will have population growth.
It is actually a real problem that people who are cognizant enough and have a well controlled enough ego to reduce the number of children they have will select themselves out of the gene pool.
That is why I am fathering as many children as possible. If I instill my belief in low birth rates in dozens of children then that meme will have a better chance of surviving in the meme-pool.
(This makes be think of an article that I think was on/. a while ago about how atheism is a naturally low occurring belief system since it has a high correlation with low birth rates.)
The problem was that free Internet content at that time depended on the revenue stream from paid subscribers, who received the hardcopy edition. With a small number of Internet-based readers, and lots of hardcopy readers, the system worked well enough.
Actually, most of newspapers' revenue comes from advertising rather than subscriptions. NY Times 2010 Annual Report (p. 60) (pdf) Gannett 2009 Annual Statement (p. 32) (pdf) Granted, the gap between Advertising and Circulation revenue is closing as the newspapers loses subscribers. But there is no reason (in theory) that they can't increase digital advertising revenue, they just have to figure out a way to sell those digital eyes to the advertisers (who don't seem to be willing to pay as much, which doesn't make sense since you get better target digital ads).
"Socialism is an economic and political theory advocating public or common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources."
Public funds and assets (i.e. real estate) were used to research and develop the internet and it's predecessors, both directly through the DoD, DARPA and public universities, and indirectly through private universities (via grants). The internet would not exist as we know it today without a lot of US tax dollars.
Botnets can do a lot of things. The recent DDOS on WordPress was done using a botnet.
Like DarwinSurvivor said, I don't think it's a good idea for ISPs to be in the business of inspecting our packets and trying to determine if our machine(s) has been compromised. Too much could go wrong.
The rates at Orlando FCU for savings accounts are 4x BOA's rates. A 12 month CD at BOA (min $10k) earns 0.6%; at OFCU ($1k min) you get 0.7%
No institution is going to be able to offer much over 1% on large deposits thanks to the Federal Reserve's actions, but you are getting significantly better rates at your CU vs. a commercial bank.
This is not my experience. My credit union offers 3.5% on checking (catch: use the debit card at least 12x per month; e-statements; direct deposit - hardly difficult). Savings rates are better than BofA (0.25% on Money Market, 0.2% on savings; other CU is 0.15% on savings vs. 0.05% for BOA).
Combine this with the fact that my dollars aren't going to BOA's bottom line and it's a no-brainer.
Now, exactly what was so supposedly illegal in those leaks?
From the summary: " The employee reportedly corresponded with Bank of America employees and was told to falsify loan numbers on documents to force Bank of America to foreclose on homeowners."
Now, if falsifying financial documents to get the bank to foreclose on a home isn't illegal, it certainly should be. And coercing, or conspiring to do the same would be in the same boat.
Can someone explain to me, in simple terms, why Net Neutrality is needed? What are we worried about?
I don't think most people care about paying more for more bandwidth. That's the situation that exists today. If you want 10Mpbs, you pay more than if you want 5 Mbps (to get more realistic rates, multiply by a factor of 10 if you live in Europe or Asia).
What we are worried about is the fact that ISPs, like Comcast, who in the content delivery business, are increasingly getting into the content creation business, by merging/buying the likes of NBC. Now Comcast has an incentive to manage it's network in such a way as to drive traffic to the content it owns. And because the courts and the FCC have rolled back the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which forced Tier 1 networks to resell their lines to others to foster a competitive market, we still have monopoly and duopoly status for the majority of Americans.
If there was a competitive market in which I could select a different ISP if my current one started degrading it's competitor's (in the content creation business) traffic to me, then Network Neutrality regulations wouldn't be needed, because the market could keep Comcast, etc. honest (at least in theory).
But, if Comcast is my only choice, then if they start degrading traffic from Netflix, or CBS, so that I can only watch it in 240p, while NBC or Blockbuster Online (which they hypothetically own) comes through at 720p, that's a bad thing because I can't vote with my dollar.
Someone mentioned in loco parentis, the idea that the school can do a lot of things because they are the de facto parents of the kid while at school. So, I would not be very surprised at all to see more of this in the future. Schools will confiscate phones (or tablets) under the guise of finding who cheated on the test, or who is dealing drugs, or sexting. Much like the cops searching your phone (without a warrant) when you are arrested, schools in the UK and the US will probably start doing this much more frequently.
So what's the lesson? Encryption. Password protect your data, and have remote wipe capability, etc. It's all been discussed to death here already.
I think what I objected to was like a fantasy AI playing sports.
I can understand that. Madden 2011 can play against itself if you simply don't assign a controller to a team. The thought of actually watching such a contest is of no interest to me though. However, it is useful in that my 3 year old son thinks he's playing, so it distracts him for a bit (when I'm playing, I usually give him the 2nd controller and let him pretend he's playing the other team - I wonder how long before he catches on?).
But, I would very much want to watch a robot play against another robot, whether it be in a Battle Bots style deathmatch, or in some sort of sport. I don't think it would be a lasting interest (but then again, I don't have a lasting interest in live sports either). I think the key difference is in the emotional attachment. I can get more emotionally involved in robots (AI) than I can with anthropomorphic representations of an AI (i.e. watching Madden play itself).
It's easy enough to see that it could be done without humans though. In the mid 90s, I took a freshman level electrical engineering class in which we built autonomous robots out of Legos. We didn't do battle (just picked up foam blocks of 'unobtainium'), but imagine what a competent programmer could do with today's software and hardware tools.
How much you want to bet that it's a case of "You must unlearn what you have learned."
No doubt computers can help sports teams be better through running simulations. But to posit, as other posters did above, that NFL coaches should go for it more on 4th down because, hey, I covert over 90% of my 4th downs in Madden is pretty naive.
So much of your success in that game depends on player button mashing/mapping skill and the difficulty settings. I'm currently on my 2nd season of Franchise mode with the Buffalo Bills. In the first season I went undefeated and won the Superbowl. After going 4-0 to start the second season, I upped the difficulty setting to All-Pro and now I'm 5-2. In those last three games I was held scoreless by the Jets (who scored 30+ points) and lost by 14 to the Dolphins. Who did I beat? The Patriots. Madden is perhaps the most realistic football video game, but that doesn't mean it's a great simulation of the actual game.
If I could remember the buttons for strip-ball, stiff arm, high-step, or simply had better pocket presence, I could do a lot better. And that doesn't mean NFL coaches should change their strategy.
Saying Fuck every other word, showing exploding heads and having tits on screen constantly isn't the recipe for a good movie.
That, in and of itself, isn't the recipe for a good movie, but it can help. If the dialogue or action are intentionally watered down it can substantially change the tenor of the work.
For example, take the TV show Southland. Thank God it went to cable, because now, while they still bleep the F-bomb, they let "shit" through a few times per episode. It's not gratuitous. It lends realism and credibility to the characters. Watching a cop show on broadcast requires a certain extra bit of suspension of disbelief; what cop isn't going to curse a bit on the job?
I've often wondered about the file management system on my Dish Network HD DVR. I really want to defrag the HDD. It says I have 4 hours of space free for HD recording. When I delete an hour show, it says I have 4 hours and 20 minutes free.
Slashdot Mirror
In nature, if a species gets too populated for the food supply, individuals starve until the population is reduced to the point that the food supply can fully support it again.
This. As long as we have a food surplus, we will have population growth.
Also, read Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.
It is actually a real problem that people who are cognizant enough and have a well controlled enough ego to reduce the number of children they have will select themselves out of the gene pool.
That is why I am fathering as many children as possible. If I instill my belief in low birth rates in dozens of children then that meme will have a better chance of surviving in the meme-pool.
(This makes be think of an article that I think was on /. a while ago about how atheism is a naturally low occurring belief system since it has a high correlation with low birth rates.)
It seems to work in the US (at least relative to Africa). Or did you think all contraception was manufactured domestically?
The problem was that free Internet content at that time depended on the revenue stream from paid subscribers, who received the hardcopy edition. With a small number of Internet-based readers, and lots of hardcopy readers, the system worked well enough.
Actually, most of newspapers' revenue comes from advertising rather than subscriptions.
NY Times 2010 Annual Report (p. 60) (pdf)
Gannett 2009 Annual Statement (p. 32) (pdf)
Granted, the gap between Advertising and Circulation revenue is closing as the newspapers loses subscribers. But there is no reason (in theory) that they can't increase digital advertising revenue, they just have to figure out a way to sell those digital eyes to the advertisers (who don't seem to be willing to pay as much, which doesn't make sense since you get better target digital ads).
US socialism? Seems funny to call the Department of Defense socialism.
Really?
"Socialism is an economic and political theory advocating public or common ownership and cooperative management of the means of production and allocation of resources."
Public funds and assets (i.e. real estate) were used to research and develop the internet and it's predecessors, both directly through the DoD, DARPA and public universities, and indirectly through private universities (via grants). The internet would not exist as we know it today without a lot of US tax dollars.
Botnets can do a lot of things. The recent DDOS on WordPress was done using a botnet.
Like DarwinSurvivor said, I don't think it's a good idea for ISPs to be in the business of inspecting our packets and trying to determine if our machine(s) has been compromised. Too much could go wrong.
Science is the reason . . . why have an internet to complain on.
Actually, I'd argue that the internet is a byproduct of US socialism and engineering.
The rates at Orlando FCU for savings accounts are 4x BOA's rates. A 12 month CD at BOA (min $10k) earns 0.6%; at OFCU ($1k min) you get 0.7%
No institution is going to be able to offer much over 1% on large deposits thanks to the Federal Reserve's actions, but you are getting significantly better rates at your CU vs. a commercial bank.
I tried to compile your sig and it threw a syntax error.
gold is catching up to inflation
What does this even mean? How can an arbitrarily priced commodity "catch up" to inflation?
This is not my experience. My credit union offers 3.5% on checking (catch: use the debit card at least 12x per month; e-statements; direct deposit - hardly difficult). Savings rates are better than BofA (0.25% on Money Market, 0.2% on savings; other CU is 0.15% on savings vs. 0.05% for BOA).
Combine this with the fact that my dollars aren't going to BOA's bottom line and it's a no-brainer.
Now, exactly what was so supposedly illegal in those leaks?
From the summary:
" The employee reportedly corresponded with Bank of America employees and was told to falsify loan numbers on documents to force Bank of America to foreclose on homeowners."
Now, if falsifying financial documents to get the bank to foreclose on a home isn't illegal, it certainly should be. And coercing, or conspiring to do the same would be in the same boat.
Can someone explain to me, in simple terms, why Net Neutrality is needed? What are we worried about?
I don't think most people care about paying more for more bandwidth. That's the situation that exists today. If you want 10Mpbs, you pay more than if you want 5 Mbps (to get more realistic rates, multiply by a factor of 10 if you live in Europe or Asia).
What we are worried about is the fact that ISPs, like Comcast, who in the content delivery business, are increasingly getting into the content creation business, by merging/buying the likes of NBC. Now Comcast has an incentive to manage it's network in such a way as to drive traffic to the content it owns. And because the courts and the FCC have rolled back the provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which forced Tier 1 networks to resell their lines to others to foster a competitive market, we still have monopoly and duopoly status for the majority of Americans.
If there was a competitive market in which I could select a different ISP if my current one started degrading it's competitor's (in the content creation business) traffic to me, then Network Neutrality regulations wouldn't be needed, because the market could keep Comcast, etc. honest (at least in theory).
But, if Comcast is my only choice, then if they start degrading traffic from Netflix, or CBS, so that I can only watch it in 240p, while NBC or Blockbuster Online (which they hypothetically own) comes through at 720p, that's a bad thing because I can't vote with my dollar.
I am Jack's Wall Street Bailout.
Someone mentioned in loco parentis, the idea that the school can do a lot of things because they are the de facto parents of the kid while at school. So, I would not be very surprised at all to see more of this in the future. Schools will confiscate phones (or tablets) under the guise of finding who cheated on the test, or who is dealing drugs, or sexting. Much like the cops searching your phone (without a warrant) when you are arrested, schools in the UK and the US will probably start doing this much more frequently.
So what's the lesson? Encryption. Password protect your data, and have remote wipe capability, etc. It's all been discussed to death here already.
I think what I objected to was like a fantasy AI playing sports.
I can understand that. Madden 2011 can play against itself if you simply don't assign a controller to a team. The thought of actually watching such a contest is of no interest to me though. However, it is useful in that my 3 year old son thinks he's playing, so it distracts him for a bit (when I'm playing, I usually give him the 2nd controller and let him pretend he's playing the other team - I wonder how long before he catches on?).
But, I would very much want to watch a robot play against another robot, whether it be in a Battle Bots style deathmatch, or in some sort of sport. I don't think it would be a lasting interest (but then again, I don't have a lasting interest in live sports either). I think the key difference is in the emotional attachment. I can get more emotionally involved in robots (AI) than I can with anthropomorphic representations of an AI (i.e. watching Madden play itself).
It's easy enough to see that it could be done without humans though. In the mid 90s, I took a freshman level electrical engineering class in which we built autonomous robots out of Legos. We didn't do battle (just picked up foam blocks of 'unobtainium'), but imagine what a competent programmer could do with today's software and hardware tools.
I guess you've never seen Battle Bots.
I played a NASCAR game once in the 90s. It consisted of holding down the gas button and occasionally pressing left arrow.
They aren't the blank slate they used to be.
How much you want to bet that it's a case of "You must unlearn what you have learned."
No doubt computers can help sports teams be better through running simulations. But to posit, as other posters did above, that NFL coaches should go for it more on 4th down because, hey, I covert over 90% of my 4th downs in Madden is pretty naive.
So much of your success in that game depends on player button mashing/mapping skill and the difficulty settings. I'm currently on my 2nd season of Franchise mode with the Buffalo Bills. In the first season I went undefeated and won the Superbowl. After going 4-0 to start the second season, I upped the difficulty setting to All-Pro and now I'm 5-2. In those last three games I was held scoreless by the Jets (who scored 30+ points) and lost by 14 to the Dolphins. Who did I beat? The Patriots. Madden is perhaps the most realistic football video game, but that doesn't mean it's a great simulation of the actual game.
If I could remember the buttons for strip-ball, stiff arm, high-step, or simply had better pocket presence, I could do a lot better. And that doesn't mean NFL coaches should change their strategy.
I'll give you nightmares: imagine if they get George Lucas to do these.
I'm hoping for Uwe Boll.
Saying Fuck every other word, showing exploding heads and having tits on screen constantly isn't the recipe for a good movie.
That, in and of itself, isn't the recipe for a good movie, but it can help. If the dialogue or action are intentionally watered down it can substantially change the tenor of the work.
For example, take the TV show Southland. Thank God it went to cable, because now, while they still bleep the F-bomb, they let "shit" through a few times per episode. It's not gratuitous. It lends realism and credibility to the characters. Watching a cop show on broadcast requires a certain extra bit of suspension of disbelief; what cop isn't going to curse a bit on the job?
In the movie, he's a replicant....
Dekkard was a human and Han shot first.
Obviously those are small fuzzy things from Alpha Centauri.
I've often wondered about the file management system on my Dish Network HD DVR. I really want to defrag the HDD. It says I have 4 hours of space free for HD recording. When I delete an hour show, it says I have 4 hours and 20 minutes free.