Myhrvold is an interesting guy. He has his fingers in a lot of pies, juggles many activities. Considering all the other stuff he does (yes, some very controversial) it's amazing that he has the time, energy and resources to tackle this obscure topic. Hats off!
I'm not here to defend health gadgets but to condemn the impression that traditional measuring devices are accurate. According to TFS "Subjects were then hooked up... "--in other words there was a sequence where the gadget was used and later a supposedly accurate device was compared. A simultaneous comparison might have been valid but sequential is questionable.
I test myself about five times every morning over a roughly ten minute period. Each reading is different, often significantly. Not just heart rate, but blood pressure too. In fact after years of frequent tests of all my vital signs, I find that there is so much variation that only a monthly average gives me a useful number.
Don't condemn the gadget without a proper simultaneous test with a proven accurate device.
For billions of years on earth, every life form has endured discomfort and unpleasantness. Some evolved in a new, more efficient form, others were left behind. The process continues today and includes humans. Individuals of every species can expect difficulties and the strongest will carry on the genes. Humans have anointed some species protected- meat & dairy animals, domestic pets; and others condemned- experimental animals, disease carriers. Human individuals continue to suffer unpleasantness in many forms and none are surprised at that. Generally life goes on as always.
Now we are to be shocked and upset because of some new experiment using human/animal DNA? How is this different from our centuries of experiments on animals and humans? Many of us wouldn't be here but for the knowledge gained from the suffering of others. Should we now say "OK, I'm here and I'm healthy so the experiments can stop because I don't care about future generations."
Presumably the scientists who want to do this are more rational than the general public. They expect that human beings will benefit from the work. They know there will be suffering, setbacks, mistakes etc but they expect it to be worthwhile. It's the natural order of life to suffer, but these scientists will limit the suffering to a few animals in the hope that many humans will have less suffering.
Is it safe to assume that like restaurants, amusement parks and many other marketers, this family plan discriminates against single people? Singles typically pay ~60% of what a family of five would pay.
Here's the math: Price for a family of five for a popular movie ~$22+ popcorn. Single person for a popular movie ~$14. Overhead cost to theater owner for five seats (popular movie) ~$5; cost for 1 seat ~$1. Profit to theater owner for family ~$17; profit for single person ~$13; profit for 5 single persons ~$65. When the movie isn't popular and the seats aren't full this equation does not apply but it's still a rip-off of single people. It's also not as profitable for the theater owner as more fairly priced tickets for single guests. Likewise most other venues.
There was a time when college was considered a part of higher education. People went to college to prepare for life and learn the ways of the world. They learned languages, music and the arts, social skills etc. They became aware of political and economic realities. The men were primed for the real world they would enter. The women were prepared with the skills needed to find a husband, run a household, manage children and servants, and survive in a competitive social environment.
College today is simply job training. The skills to be competitive in the competition to make your bosses richer. A few unemployed liberal arts graduates are the exception.
Does this mean that every mobile app (and presumably desktop apps in the near future) will be spying on me no matter what I do with it, and reporting to various entities about my activities?
Of course it's for optimizing the software and reducing crashes and optimizing my experience as a user. It's a self-diagnostic that diagnoses me and my behavior as a bonus. And like everything in current internet advances, it's about precise targeting and advertising results.
Half a million developers will fine tune these technologies and make our lives a living hell.
from TFA: "The data dump did not reveal anyone's real name."
Usernames, etc, were revealed. A clever person might be able to find the true owner of an account if it was really important to him/her. Time will tell if any puppies were injured by this action.
"shameful" ? It's shameful that the US doesn't spend more?
The US, like every country has a budget. We allow so much for NASA, so much for military, a bit for health care and a lot for corporate welfare... These choices are made by the people we elected to office and no doubt are the result of honest caring for the welfare of our citizens. If our government has chosen to fund warfare and not space tourism we can trust that their reasoning is sound.
Now for today's quiz: Of all the weapons on all sides of all the Middle East conflicts - what percent were sold by American companies?
Many of us here at/. were around for the beginning of the 'computer revolution'. I mark it that way because the term seems quaint now as we have also been through an 'internet revolution'. These have been exciting times and there is still a chance of some amazing digital discoveries as the dust settles.
But the revolution in bioscience is just beginning. It will be bigger and more important to the lives of people than anything in the past. The extension of interest to tiny elements of life is as important to bioscience as the interest in sub-atomic particles is to physics. Until we fully understand the Legos, the basic building blocks of our universe, we will meander aimlessly in our grasp of Life, the Universe and Everything.
I live a mile from the most famous zoo on earth. We have lions, tigers and bears to amuse the unwashed masses. It takes some mental sophistication to realize that microscopic life forms are far more important to us than these large carnivores.
"prosecutors... confirmed they had opened the inquiry"
Who will they prosecute? What will the charges be? Who will pay for the waste of resources?
From TFA: "the young woman claimed to have been raped and named her attacker, according to the reports." Had she reported that to the prosecutors? Perhaps they will investigate themselves if they didn't act on that information.
I've heard that suicide is illegal in some places but I've never understood how it would be penalized. I think that there should be some options for suicidal people to expedite their death in a way that is painless and that does not make a big mess for others to clean up.
As far as pre-announcing a suicide and recording it; of course good judgement should be employed so that unnecessary suffering isn't imposed on others.
Just visited their site. Not many listings and what's there is very old. Perhaps they will repopulate the site with some software from this decade.
Yes, they were a favorite in the last century before the scams. It's a cute name, cute logo, clean site (mostly due to little useful information). There aren't many honest competitors in this field- let's hope they do right.
Most geeks have sanitary protection on the net to prevent rogue sites from gifting you with malware. How many have protection from within?
For many years Mac users have had available a program that prevents installed software from 'calling home'. When I installed MS Office, I told Little Snitch not to let Office connect to any MS servers. As a result I hear nothing from MS- no sales pitch, upgrade offers, etc. I'm using Office 2008, so that's 8 years of peace. Very few apps are allowed to connect to their source and those that are allowed are typically limited to forums, tech support, add-ons, etc.
Even on the Mac, updates often include crapware, adverts, new limits on how the software can be used or the requirement to pay for functions that had been free. I seem to have no such control on my new Android phone which updates apps and system software whenever someone else wants.
Little Snitch is a tiny utility even more important to me than AdBlock and LastPass. I can't imagine living without it.
Since the time that the sun circled the earth and astrology was more relevant than astronomy, people individually and in cults have believed themselves to be the center of the universe. The miracles of reproduction, of weather, of eclipses and the stars themselves are simply a demonstration that the universe was created for our amusement. It is easy for a semi intelligent life form to make such assumptions if we assume that that life form is also selfish. A less selfish and more intelligent entity, upon noting the rampant destruction it left in its path, would self-destruct.
But wait! There's an alternative and it's simple indeed: Why don't we evolve into a better being?
We are gaining the tools for making better humans at this moment. According to at least one prognosticator we are approaching 'the singularity' and we will be able to manipulate our environment and ourselves in almost unimaginable ways. We can code for better human adaptation to warm climates. We can code for radiation protection. We can code for less selfish attitudes (like that will ever happen). We will have immense power to enhance our intelligence and awareness.
In this scenario humanity will survive most challenges and may actually become worthy of survival. The universe doesn't really care what we do.
Built by parents of high school children (presumably boys). May the best parent win! This is as bad as the Olympics which once consisted of amateur athletes and now is full time professionals. When sports and high school activities are dominated by dishonest participants, how can we expect government or businesses to behave differently?
In the 60s (that would be the 1960s for you young folk), I became a minister for the Missionaries of the New Truth ($10 back when that was real money). We seemed to be a small religion though I never met other believers in person (mail order ministry). It is shocking to think that my faith could be questioned by an arbitrary group of 'authorities'. Might they then insist that I pay 45 years of back taxes? Might they make me take down the giant pink and orange middle finger fetish in my front yard? Could they disperse the devout young maidens with whom I celebrate in connubial bliss every day?
Who in this century had the misplaced wisdom to invest $10B in this coal company? How is it possible to be so blind to the changing tide in the energy world? Whatever . . . I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them if you can find these investors for me.
With hundreds of emoji on the loose it is hopeless to derive any specific meaning from them, even if your eyes are able to distinguish them. I recently found a list from a provider explaining the meaning of their interminable set of symbols. I enlarged them on my screen as much as possible and still couldn't see them clearly. After reading 20 or so definitions, I gave up.
Perhaps teenagers find them useful. Adults; not so much. Businesses not at all.
By artist, of course, I mean anyone in a creative field- painter, writer, musician, architect...
This is another quantum (incremental) step toward computer generated art. Music has been done, writing, some graphic art. As in this example a study of a technique, a style, a mood is enough for clever software to imitate originals. For instance *your* style of writing, as revealed in term papers or creative writing, can be identified accurately and that ransom note will expose you to the authorities.
The hope for human artists is that creativity can't yet be imitated. Pulp novelists, artistic 'Kinkades' and 'Worhols', musical bimbos and architectural clones - be gone - software can do it better. Nobody can imitate the style of Itzhak Perlman's violin better than Commander Data, but he can not create new music that goes beyond what already exists. (The fool can't even do grammatical contractions!)
My grandmother, and many friends studied painting, drawing, sculpture, and/or photography. I doubt any of them intended to advance the art. They just wanted to create an acceptable image that they could be proud of. Something to hang on the wall and show their friends. I hope that they continue to do so, despite the coming commonality of such simple images. It is remotely possible that among them is one who will do something radical, something new. Something that no computer can do. That's art.
Isn't this exactly why we like the Japanese? It's not just the cute style of cartooning or the way their lounge singers can imitate Elvis, no, it's not just the Tamagotchi or Paro the interactive "healing pet" seal, no it's not even Hello Kitty or Pikachu or the slightly scary Funassyi. What it is, is *kawaii*, Japanese for 'cute'.
Nobody asked for these things. They don't fill a need. But they make the world a better place.
How is this a 'service'? Who does it serve? Could it be . . . Satan?!?!
It seems to be a tax on the poor and ignorant. One that the state has usurped from entrepreneurial enterprises that at least offer an honest chance to win.
How does this 'Consumer Protection Act' protect consumers when there is less opportunity to win? Quebec is almost ready to sing the song of the Ministry of Truth:
War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strength
"Just days after breaking into a terroristÃ(TM)s iPhone..."
So does this mean that we believe they were successful? Are we going to take their word for it? You are free to agree with this government decree, but not me.
Doesn't that look stupid. Why would those words have capitals? They are not names of anything that require a capital, they are just ordinary words. Why can't Slashdot get in step with the majority of publishers in this century who eschew excess capitalization in headlines? Such headlines can be very confusing, but worse- they smack of the hype that publishers in the 19th century thought necessary.
What about those illiterates still living in the 19th century who think Every Word In A News Headline requires a capital letter? Even though it becomes obfuscated when you can't tell which words are names, proper nouns, and which are just ordinary words...
The 'new' Slashdot still looks very old to me. Thank goodness for real journalists who take pride in their work elsewhere.
The minimum wage causes no competitive disadvantage to local businesses.
If a single restaurant had to pay minimum wage and not its competitors, it could be hurt by the additional cost. If all restaurants have the same cost, then all are as competitive as they were be before. There is the slight problem that a dinner that used to cost $10 will now cost $11 - I doubt that will deter many customers. On the plus side, customers may feel less obliged to pay a large tip to the waiter.
Other industries will have the same competitive equality as long as their competitors are in California. If they compete with Mexican or Chinese businesses, they may have problems. That issue brings us to the TPP which may expedite solutions for those businesses (at the cost of California jobs).
Slashdot Mirror
Myhrvold is an interesting guy. He has his fingers in a lot of pies, juggles many activities. Considering all the other stuff he does (yes, some very controversial) it's amazing that he has the time, energy and resources to tackle this obscure topic. Hats off!
I'm not here to defend health gadgets but to condemn the impression that traditional measuring devices are accurate. According to TFS "Subjects were then hooked up ... "--in other words there was a sequence where the gadget was used and later a supposedly accurate device was compared. A simultaneous comparison might have been valid but sequential is questionable.
I test myself about five times every morning over a roughly ten minute period. Each reading is different, often significantly. Not just heart rate, but blood pressure too. In fact after years of frequent tests of all my vital signs, I find that there is so much variation that only a monthly average gives me a useful number.
Don't condemn the gadget without a proper simultaneous test with a proven accurate device.
For billions of years on earth, every life form has endured discomfort and unpleasantness. Some evolved in a new, more efficient form, others were left behind. The process continues today and includes humans. Individuals of every species can expect difficulties and the strongest will carry on the genes. Humans have anointed some species protected- meat & dairy animals, domestic pets; and others condemned- experimental animals, disease carriers. Human individuals continue to suffer unpleasantness in many forms and none are surprised at that. Generally life goes on as always.
Now we are to be shocked and upset because of some new experiment using human/animal DNA? How is this different from our centuries of experiments on animals and humans? Many of us wouldn't be here but for the knowledge gained from the suffering of others. Should we now say "OK, I'm here and I'm healthy so the experiments can stop because I don't care about future generations."
Presumably the scientists who want to do this are more rational than the general public. They expect that human beings will benefit from the work. They know there will be suffering, setbacks, mistakes etc but they expect it to be worthwhile. It's the natural order of life to suffer, but these scientists will limit the suffering to a few animals in the hope that many humans will have less suffering.
Is it safe to assume that like restaurants, amusement parks and many other marketers, this family plan discriminates against single people? Singles typically pay ~60% of what a family of five would pay.
Here's the math: Price for a family of five for a popular movie ~$22+ popcorn. Single person for a popular movie ~$14. Overhead cost to theater owner for five seats (popular movie) ~$5; cost for 1 seat ~$1. Profit to theater owner for family ~$17; profit for single person ~$13; profit for 5 single persons ~$65. When the movie isn't popular and the seats aren't full this equation does not apply but it's still a rip-off of single people. It's also not as profitable for the theater owner as more fairly priced tickets for single guests. Likewise most other venues.
There was a time when college was considered a part of higher education. People went to college to prepare for life and learn the ways of the world. They learned languages, music and the arts, social skills etc. They became aware of political and economic realities. The men were primed for the real world they would enter. The women were prepared with the skills needed to find a husband, run a household, manage children and servants, and survive in a competitive social environment.
College today is simply job training. The skills to be competitive in the competition to make your bosses richer. A few unemployed liberal arts graduates are the exception.
Does this mean that every mobile app (and presumably desktop apps in the near future) will be spying on me no matter what I do with it, and reporting to various entities about my activities?
Of course it's for optimizing the software and reducing crashes and optimizing my experience as a user. It's a self-diagnostic that diagnoses me and my behavior as a bonus. And like everything in current internet advances, it's about precise targeting and advertising results.
Half a million developers will fine tune these technologies and make our lives a living hell.
from TFA: "The data dump did not reveal anyone's real name."
Usernames, etc, were revealed. A clever person might be able to find the true owner of an account if it was really important to him/her. Time will tell if any puppies were injured by this action.
"shameful" ? It's shameful that the US doesn't spend more?
The US, like every country has a budget. We allow so much for NASA, so much for military, a bit for health care and a lot for corporate welfare... These choices are made by the people we elected to office and no doubt are the result of honest caring for the welfare of our citizens. If our government has chosen to fund warfare and not space tourism we can trust that their reasoning is sound.
Now for today's quiz: Of all the weapons on all sides of all the Middle East conflicts - what percent were sold by American companies?
Many of us here at /. were around for the beginning of the 'computer revolution'. I mark it that way because the term seems quaint now as we have also been through an 'internet revolution'. These have been exciting times and there is still a chance of some amazing digital discoveries as the dust settles.
But the revolution in bioscience is just beginning. It will be bigger and more important to the lives of people than anything in the past. The extension of interest to tiny elements of life is as important to bioscience as the interest in sub-atomic particles is to physics. Until we fully understand the Legos, the basic building blocks of our universe, we will meander aimlessly in our grasp of Life, the Universe and Everything.
I live a mile from the most famous zoo on earth. We have lions, tigers and bears to amuse the unwashed masses. It takes some mental sophistication to realize that microscopic life forms are far more important to us than these large carnivores.
"prosecutors ... confirmed they had opened the inquiry"
Who will they prosecute? What will the charges be? Who will pay for the waste of resources?
From TFA: "the young woman claimed to have been raped and named her attacker, according to the reports." Had she reported that to the prosecutors? Perhaps they will investigate themselves if they didn't act on that information.
I've heard that suicide is illegal in some places but I've never understood how it would be penalized. I think that there should be some options for suicidal people to expedite their death in a way that is painless and that does not make a big mess for others to clean up.
As far as pre-announcing a suicide and recording it; of course good judgement should be employed so that unnecessary suffering isn't imposed on others.
Just visited their site. Not many listings and what's there is very old. Perhaps they will repopulate the site with some software from this decade.
Yes, they were a favorite in the last century before the scams. It's a cute name, cute logo, clean site (mostly due to little useful information). There aren't many honest competitors in this field- let's hope they do right.
Most geeks have sanitary protection on the net to prevent rogue sites from gifting you with malware. How many have protection from within?
For many years Mac users have had available a program that prevents installed software from 'calling home'. When I installed MS Office, I told Little Snitch not to let Office connect to any MS servers. As a result I hear nothing from MS- no sales pitch, upgrade offers, etc. I'm using Office 2008, so that's 8 years of peace. Very few apps are allowed to connect to their source and those that are allowed are typically limited to forums, tech support, add-ons, etc.
Even on the Mac, updates often include crapware, adverts, new limits on how the software can be used or the requirement to pay for functions that had been free. I seem to have no such control on my new Android phone which updates apps and system software whenever someone else wants.
Little Snitch is a tiny utility even more important to me than AdBlock and LastPass. I can't imagine living without it.
Since the time that the sun circled the earth and astrology was more relevant than astronomy, people individually and in cults have believed themselves to be the center of the universe. The miracles of reproduction, of weather, of eclipses and the stars themselves are simply a demonstration that the universe was created for our amusement. It is easy for a semi intelligent life form to make such assumptions if we assume that that life form is also selfish. A less selfish and more intelligent entity, upon noting the rampant destruction it left in its path, would self-destruct.
But wait! There's an alternative and it's simple indeed: Why don't we evolve into a better being?
We are gaining the tools for making better humans at this moment. According to at least one prognosticator we are approaching 'the singularity' and we will be able to manipulate our environment and ourselves in almost unimaginable ways. We can code for better human adaptation to warm climates. We can code for radiation protection. We can code for less selfish attitudes (like that will ever happen). We will have immense power to enhance our intelligence and awareness.
In this scenario humanity will survive most challenges and may actually become worthy of survival. The universe doesn't really care what we do.
"remote controlled contraptions"
Built by parents of high school children (presumably boys). May the best parent win! This is as bad as the Olympics which once consisted of amateur athletes and now is full time professionals. When sports and high school activities are dominated by dishonest participants, how can we expect government or businesses to behave differently?
I do not worship the FSM, but I sympathize.
In the 60s (that would be the 1960s for you young folk), I became a minister for the Missionaries of the New Truth ($10 back when that was real money). We seemed to be a small religion though I never met other believers in person (mail order ministry). It is shocking to think that my faith could be questioned by an arbitrary group of 'authorities'. Might they then insist that I pay 45 years of back taxes? Might they make me take down the giant pink and orange middle finger fetish in my front yard? Could they disperse the devout young maidens with whom I celebrate in connubial bliss every day?
Who in this century had the misplaced wisdom to invest $10B in this coal company? How is it possible to be so blind to the changing tide in the energy world? Whatever . . . I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them if you can find these investors for me.
I sometimes forget to:
eat
sleep
walk the dog
shit
fuck
look at my calendar
With hundreds of emoji on the loose it is hopeless to derive any specific meaning from them, even if your eyes are able to distinguish them. I recently found a list from a provider explaining the meaning of their interminable set of symbols. I enlarged them on my screen as much as possible and still couldn't see them clearly. After reading 20 or so definitions, I gave up.
Perhaps teenagers find them useful. Adults; not so much. Businesses not at all.
By artist, of course, I mean anyone in a creative field- painter, writer, musician, architect...
This is another quantum (incremental) step toward computer generated art. Music has been done, writing, some graphic art. As in this example a study of a technique, a style, a mood is enough for clever software to imitate originals. For instance *your* style of writing, as revealed in term papers or creative writing, can be identified accurately and that ransom note will expose you to the authorities.
The hope for human artists is that creativity can't yet be imitated. Pulp novelists, artistic 'Kinkades' and 'Worhols', musical bimbos and architectural clones - be gone - software can do it better. Nobody can imitate the style of Itzhak Perlman's violin better than Commander Data, but he can not create new music that goes beyond what already exists. (The fool can't even do grammatical contractions!)
My grandmother, and many friends studied painting, drawing, sculpture, and/or photography. I doubt any of them intended to advance the art. They just wanted to create an acceptable image that they could be proud of. Something to hang on the wall and show their friends. I hope that they continue to do so, despite the coming commonality of such simple images. It is remotely possible that among them is one who will do something radical, something new. Something that no computer can do. That's art.
Isn't this exactly why we like the Japanese? It's not just the cute style of cartooning or the way their lounge singers can imitate Elvis, no, it's not just the Tamagotchi or Paro the interactive "healing pet" seal, no it's not even Hello Kitty or Pikachu or the slightly scary Funassyi. What it is, is *kawaii*, Japanese for 'cute'.
Nobody asked for these things. They don't fill a need. But they make the world a better place.
from TFS: "Quebec's lottery service"
How is this a 'service'? Who does it serve? Could it be . . . Satan?!?!
It seems to be a tax on the poor and ignorant. One that the state has usurped from entrepreneurial enterprises that at least offer an honest chance to win.
How does this 'Consumer Protection Act' protect consumers when there is less opportunity to win? Quebec is almost ready to sing the song of the Ministry of Truth:
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
"Just days after breaking into a terroristÃ(TM)s iPhone ..."
So does this mean that we believe they were successful? Are we going to take their word for it? You are free to agree with this government decree, but not me.
Doesn't that look stupid. Why would those words have capitals? They are not names of anything that require a capital, they are just ordinary words. Why can't Slashdot get in step with the majority of publishers in this century who eschew excess capitalization in headlines? Such headlines can be very confusing, but worse- they smack of the hype that publishers in the 19th century thought necessary.
What about those illiterates still living in the 19th century who think Every Word In A News Headline requires a capital letter? Even though it becomes obfuscated when you can't tell which words are names, proper nouns, and which are just ordinary words...
The 'new' Slashdot still looks very old to me.
Thank goodness for real journalists who take pride in their work elsewhere.
The minimum wage causes no competitive disadvantage to local businesses.
If a single restaurant had to pay minimum wage and not its competitors, it could be hurt by the additional cost. If all restaurants have the same cost, then all are as competitive as they were be before. There is the slight problem that a dinner that used to cost $10 will now cost $11 - I doubt that will deter many customers. On the plus side, customers may feel less obliged to pay a large tip to the waiter.
Other industries will have the same competitive equality as long as their competitors are in California. If they compete with Mexican or Chinese businesses, they may have problems. That issue brings us to the TPP which may expedite solutions for those businesses (at the cost of California jobs).