Answer- our government. But the important question is WHY? Our government (the US and Europe) has choreographed a scenario that propels us into perpetual war against 'the enemy', or 'terrorists'. This vague and frequently redefined 'enemy' is always at our throats, always willing to sacrifice good citizens in their blood thirst.
And, as slashdotters know, our own propaganda has CREATED these 'terrorists' by marginalizing decent citizens to the point of desperation.
There are profits to be made by the war machine. Congressional districts will benefit and congresspersons will be re-elected. Re-election is the most important priority for a congressperson. The lives of brown skinned foreigners- eh, not so important.
We're mostly adults here we don't need SCREAMING HEADLINES. When every word starts with a capital letter, then capital letters have no meaning. Use them as a grownup would please.
How does this lend itself to the larger considerations at hand? Admittedly this post by manishs is flame bait, but there is some ethical/moral meat to digest. For example we may ask if this statement by Schiller representative of all the company's attitude. Or is it representative of the thinking of the entire computer industry, or the electronic industry, or the entire world industry controlled by the 'one percent'...
Actually it seems to be an offhand comment by one person who has likely come to regret it. It isn't worthy of slashdot consideration.
Few living people are able to remember the days when a wheelbarrow of cash was needed to buy a week's groceries. In various parts of the world in various times, inflation has created this situation where the traditional currency became worthless. It can happen anywhere, anytime.
The central banks who manage our financial experience can snap their fingers and put YOUR currency in that category. When that happens, you have to sell everything of value to get through the next month. When all the common people have released everything they hold dear to those who can pay (the 1%), the currency will normalize and they can buy their stuff back at the new (much higher) price.
This boom/bust cycle has repeated itself through history and is one way to keep the bulk of humanity in debt to the (sing along with me) 'one percent'. Fear is the correct word as millions have already learned on their way to an early grave. Forget history and reap the consequences.
They proved that by their collaboration with the FBI while attacking the TOR network... which they created in collaboration with the Department of Defense. https://yro.slashdot.org/story...
If Uber wants a partner to secretly develop 'jealously-guarded corporate secrets' Carnegie Mellon is where it's at. A student looking for an education might best look elsewhere as CMU priorities have changed.
In the middle ages people faced either survival or death. Survival was generally preferred and so people worked hard and suffered difficulties in an effort to stave off death. There was no such luxury as TV, books or even a day off. No time to contemplate the infinite universe (but for a few monks, nobles, etc). And no glimmer of what happiness might consist of.
Even before the Middle Ages, the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese and Mesopotamian people may not have understood or valued happiness as we know it.
Today large parts of humankind feel the same alienation to the concept of happiness. Hindu people, for instance have entertainment available but seem not to be generally happy. Buddha was on a pilgrimage to find out how to eliminate pain and some Buddhists have achieved that, but are they happy? Mohammad followers, both normal and extremist, don't display much joy in their existence. Hard core Christians, like devout followers of other faiths, seem to me to be lacking in joy, contentment or any measure of happiness.
Yes, there are exceptions, and every generalization is wrong. Much depends upon the definition of happiness and until that is fully agreed upon we have only our instincts to guide us.
Ultimately, as said earlier, happiness may not be a worthy goal. But it exists in some degree to most of us and it's better than some alternatives.
Much of the summary assumes that happiness is important. And that it's important to smart people.
I propose that the desire for happiness is inversely proportional to intelligence. I have no statistical proof, only personal and historical experience. As one learns about the discerning and creative people around them and the ones that they read about in biographies and historical documents, one must consider how often did these people sit around to chat with neighbors and chums. If they interacted with other people, it was probably in pursuit of some greater purpose.
On the other hand, I will be meeting with 5 'developmentally disabled' people this morning who are very happy and who value that state of being very much. What's your experience in this regard?
In light of the rarity of these things, today and in the foreseeable future, some expect disappointment. Like the self-driving car, the Mars Rocket is a figment of the imagination. There are models, there are concept prototypes, there are proposals but there is no such thing for sale.
There is hope for the Rocket, but the massive infrastructure and legal wrangling and upset to powerful corporate interests will leave the Self-Driving Cars in limbo for a very long time.
from Wikipedia: "Helen Adams Keller... was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree.... The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker."
There are numerous examples, probably even in your community, of disabled people who are enabled by special efforts. It would be interesting to see examples of gifted people who are enabled by extraordinary methods.
Gun deaths per 100,000? How is that meaningful to anyone? I'll show you meaning- my deliberate death by gun or whatever would be a tragedy. The shooting death of my closest relatives and friends would be very sad. Your death, meh, OK very sad.
The death of a terrible criminal should not be too deliberate but if it happens none shall mourn. The death of Kim Jong-un should be rewarded. The death of Bernie Sanders would be an outrage.
The fact is that the value of human lives is variable according to local customs and individual opinions. When criminals kill each other it's different from when they kill nice people.
Lasers are great fun with cats. You can point them where the cat sees them and watch the cat chase the red dot across the floor. Amazing how fast, how far the dot can move with each twitch of your hand, each heartbeat.
What you can't do is point precisely at a small target and hold that red dot there steadily. The smaller and farther the target, the harder it becomes to maintain that connection. If you were a stationary mechanical device controlled by a computer, it might be easier to keep on target, but still difficult.
The primary advantage of laser communication is privacy. Great for secret stuff. Only those in the path of the beam can know what's transmitted. Yes, our duly appointed government overlords love that shit regardless of the expense.
Companies on the way up embrace the PR related to minor theft- it shows how popular the product is. Game of Thrones, the TV series, was not at all concerned with the massive pirating of their series; it was good publicity (PR) and they made more money than they could count.
Companies on the way down have a different perspective. It is theft, after all, and it can hurt. The PR that works for them is a very public warning that theft will not be tolerated. Spread the word and some users will go straight, others will reconsider or at least take better precautions when pirating.
Microsoft has been very lenient for a very long time. Their day may be winding down and it is wise to protect any remaining property of value while they look for a breakthrough miracle product.
No, they won't even be doing that- Google & Uber will not want their metal body or their programming expertise. The mystique of the quality German car quickly evaporates when you own one or crunch the numbers on the cost of purchase, maintenance, parts and accessories.
I'm on my third BMW motorcycle; each new purchase 20+ years after the previous. During that time I've owned a couple dozen other motorcycles. Like the Harley, BMW motorcycles have made only minor changes over the last 100 years, and like the Harley they still can't get it right. Meanwhile the Japanese can snap their fingers and come up with a totally new design that is almost flawless and it's relatively affordable.
It's not just motorcycles; Consumer Reports can't find a single excellent car in the 2015 BMW lineup. It's sad, I'd love to own a vehicle that actually lived up to such a reputation but they don't seem to come from Europe or America.
A tiny smart bomb, aimed at the Supreme Commander's location could save the lives and well-being of countless deprived citizens of N. Korea. It might be the greatest humanitarian action of this century. It would cost almost nothing to accomplish. Or we could do what we always do and kill citizens and soldiers by the thousands while leaving evil kings and dictators to continue their course. Even if our smart bomb missed the little guy it would give him something to think about and an incentive for him to change his attitude.
Are we being played? Let's consider motivation behind this controversy:
#1 Apple would like customers around the world to believe they can trust iPhones. This belief is worth billions to them.
#2 The FBI would like citizens to believe they are working within the law and they really want to catch terrorists. Polls show that the majority of Americans are eager to trade privacy for security so this bit of theater makes the FBI look good to them. Additionally, criminals may relax their security measures thinking that they are safe.
Thus there are great benefits to both in this affair. Both parties have already won the 'dispute'. The possibility that they pre-arranged the 'dispute' is an elementary deduction. It's quite possible that Apple or someone has already hacked the phone and nothing interesting was found. That's irrelevant to furthering the goals of both organizations.
"... voice-activated prompts require me to repeat the name of the corporation..."
Because they *are* Google (at least partly), they anticipated your question and changed the name of the corporation. Google is still a division of it but you don't have to repeat the name of the corporation any more. Yes, you may expect them to anticipate more and more of your important needs and continue to make every effort to improve the quality of your life.
watts per gram ? Since when is that a measurement standard?
By that standard, my car provides152HP per muffler bearing. Its MTBF is 32 dog years and fuel efficiency is 1.4 teaspoons per nautical mile . . . Oh, I get it- this is more slash spam where big numbers are inserted somewhere to wow the ignorant.
They run the show and see to profits. They seek investors, do public relations and try to create a culture of success.
The problem seems to be that some expect college presidents to be saints, and therefore to work for a pittance. Since some schools are run by government, non-profits or churches should we expect that they are not a business? Well sorry, that's wrong. Schools are a business and their presidents are expected to bring in money just like any CEO.
There are many places to go for talk about politics, religion, diet & health, etc. But each has its own polarization and is intended to satisfy those who agree with a particular viewpoint. Slashdot people tend to have certain opinions, but there are always some who differ and make the discussion interesting. Add to that a fairly high level of intelligence and rationality and we have a great place to explore any topic. Yes, this isn't http://www.well.com/ , but it is as close as many of us will ever come.
You know that humans once believed this planet to be the Center of the Universe. You know of many such grave misperceptions that have always existed among our kind, including the fantasy that your own life has some kind of meaning.
Much of the speculation here assumes the existence of earth and some includes the existence of the solar system, galaxy and universe. Rather than imagine such a vast confabulation, why not be reasonable? These things are only extant in our imagination.
In obvious fact, even our imagination is imagined, each of us under the delusion that our thoughts are our own (and not the IP of the likes of Google or MS or the Invisible Pink Unicorn). Our very existence is questionable and is likely the construct of a greater intelligence that exists in a real 'universe'. We may be no more than a celestial child's experiment in artificial intelligence. Before protesting 'I think therefore I am', take a moment to reconsider. Starting now. Don't rush, make it a leisurely moment. Yes, now you begin to see . . . The question now is "Who is the Puppetmaster?"
Why does every word start with a capital letter? Is it a deliberate attempt to make it unreadable? WTF does 'popped' mean here? Do the editors ever read this crap?
Slashdot Mirror
"Microsoft Launches Cognitive Services Based On Project Oxford and Bing"
BeauHD: You forgot to put a capital A on the word 'and'. Please pay attention in the future.
"2. Who showed you these things?"
Answer- our government. But the important question is WHY? Our government (the US and Europe) has choreographed a scenario that propels us into perpetual war against 'the enemy', or 'terrorists'. This vague and frequently redefined 'enemy' is always at our throats, always willing to sacrifice good citizens in their blood thirst.
And, as slashdotters know, our own propaganda has CREATED these 'terrorists' by marginalizing decent citizens to the point of desperation.
There are profits to be made by the war machine. Congressional districts will benefit and congresspersons will be re-elected. Re-election is the most important priority for a congressperson. The lives of brown skinned foreigners- eh, not so important.
Sorry, I'm in a mood today...
What does that mean?
We're mostly adults here we don't need SCREAMING HEADLINES. When every word starts with a capital letter, then capital letters have no meaning. Use them as a grownup would please.
And, by the way, nobody gives a shit how old your computer is.
My computer is x years old !
How does this lend itself to the larger considerations at hand? Admittedly this post by manishs is flame bait, but there is some ethical/moral meat to digest. For example we may ask if this statement by Schiller representative of all the company's attitude. Or is it representative of the thinking of the entire computer industry, or the electronic industry, or the entire world industry controlled by the 'one percent'...
Actually it seems to be an offhand comment by one person who has likely come to regret it.
It isn't worthy of slashdot consideration.
Fear is the correct word.
Few living people are able to remember the days when a wheelbarrow of cash was needed to buy a week's groceries. In various parts of the world in various times, inflation has created this situation where the traditional currency became worthless. It can happen anywhere, anytime.
The central banks who manage our financial experience can snap their fingers and put YOUR currency in that category. When that happens, you have to sell everything of value to get through the next month. When all the common people have released everything they hold dear to those who can pay (the 1%), the currency will normalize and they can buy their stuff back at the new (much higher) price.
This boom/bust cycle has repeated itself through history and is one way to keep the bulk of humanity in debt to the (sing along with me) 'one percent'. Fear is the correct word as millions have already learned on their way to an early grave. Forget history and reap the consequences.
They proved that by their collaboration with the FBI while attacking the TOR network ... which they created in collaboration with the Department of Defense.
https://yro.slashdot.org/story...
If Uber wants a partner to secretly develop 'jealously-guarded corporate secrets' Carnegie Mellon is where it's at. A student looking for an education might best look elsewhere as CMU priorities have changed.
Happiness is a recent concept.
In the middle ages people faced either survival or death. Survival was generally preferred and so people worked hard and suffered difficulties in an effort to stave off death. There was no such luxury as TV, books or even a day off. No time to contemplate the infinite universe (but for a few monks, nobles, etc). And no glimmer of what happiness might consist of.
Even before the Middle Ages, the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese and Mesopotamian people may not have understood or valued happiness as we know it.
Today large parts of humankind feel the same alienation to the concept of happiness. Hindu people, for instance have entertainment available but seem not to be generally happy. Buddha was on a pilgrimage to find out how to eliminate pain and some Buddhists have achieved that, but are they happy? Mohammad followers, both normal and extremist, don't display much joy in their existence. Hard core Christians, like devout followers of other faiths, seem to me to be lacking in joy, contentment or any measure of happiness.
Yes, there are exceptions, and every generalization is wrong. Much depends upon the definition of happiness and until that is fully agreed upon we have only our instincts to guide us.
Ultimately, as said earlier, happiness may not be a worthy goal. But it exists in some degree to most of us and it's better than some alternatives.
Much of the summary assumes that happiness is important. And that it's important to smart people.
I propose that the desire for happiness is inversely proportional to intelligence. I have no statistical proof, only personal and historical experience. As one learns about the discerning and creative people around them and the ones that they read about in biographies and historical documents, one must consider how often did these people sit around to chat with neighbors and chums. If they interacted with other people, it was probably in pursuit of some greater purpose.
On the other hand, I will be meeting with 5 'developmentally disabled' people this morning who are very happy and who value that state of being very much. What's your experience in this regard?
NASA Seeking To Buy Rocket for Mars Mission
In light of the rarity of these things, today and in the foreseeable future, some expect disappointment. Like the self-driving car, the Mars Rocket is a figment of the imagination. There are models, there are concept prototypes, there are proposals but there is no such thing for sale.
There is hope for the Rocket, but the massive infrastructure and legal wrangling and upset to powerful corporate interests will leave the Self-Driving Cars in limbo for a very long time.
from Wikipedia: ... was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. ... The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker."
"Helen Adams Keller
There are numerous examples, probably even in your community, of disabled people who are enabled by special efforts. It would be interesting to see examples of gifted people who are enabled by extraordinary methods.
statistics!
Gun deaths per 100,000? How is that meaningful to anyone? I'll show you meaning- my deliberate death by gun or whatever would be a tragedy. The shooting death of my closest relatives and friends would be very sad. Your death, meh, OK very sad.
The death of a terrible criminal should not be too deliberate but if it happens none shall mourn. The death of Kim Jong-un should be rewarded. The death of Bernie Sanders would be an outrage.
The fact is that the value of human lives is variable according to local customs and individual opinions. When criminals kill each other it's different from when they kill nice people.
Lasers are great fun with cats. You can point them where the cat sees them and watch the cat chase the red dot across the floor. Amazing how fast, how far the dot can move with each twitch of your hand, each heartbeat.
What you can't do is point precisely at a small target and hold that red dot there steadily. The smaller and farther the target, the harder it becomes to maintain that connection. If you were a stationary mechanical device controlled by a computer, it might be easier to keep on target, but still difficult.
The primary advantage of laser communication is privacy. Great for secret stuff. Only those in the path of the beam can know what's transmitted. Yes, our duly appointed government overlords love that shit regardless of the expense.
Companies on the way up embrace the PR related to minor theft- it shows how popular the product is. Game of Thrones, the TV series, was not at all concerned with the massive pirating of their series; it was good publicity (PR) and they made more money than they could count.
Companies on the way down have a different perspective. It is theft, after all, and it can hurt. The PR that works for them is a very public warning that theft will not be tolerated. Spread the word and some users will go straight, others will reconsider or at least take better precautions when pirating.
Microsoft has been very lenient for a very long time. Their day may be winding down and it is wise to protect any remaining property of value while they look for a breakthrough miracle product.
"...delivering only the metal bodies for them."
No, they won't even be doing that- Google & Uber will not want their metal body or their programming expertise. The mystique of the quality German car quickly evaporates when you own one or crunch the numbers on the cost of purchase, maintenance, parts and accessories.
I'm on my third BMW motorcycle; each new purchase 20+ years after the previous. During that time I've owned a couple dozen other motorcycles. Like the Harley, BMW motorcycles have made only minor changes over the last 100 years, and like the Harley they still can't get it right. Meanwhile the Japanese can snap their fingers and come up with a totally new design that is almost flawless and it's relatively affordable.
It's not just motorcycles; Consumer Reports can't find a single excellent car in the 2015 BMW lineup. It's sad, I'd love to own a vehicle that actually lived up to such a reputation but they don't seem to come from Europe or America.
A tiny smart bomb, aimed at the Supreme Commander's location could save the lives and well-being of countless deprived citizens of N. Korea. It might be the greatest humanitarian action of this century. It would cost almost nothing to accomplish. Or we could do what we always do and kill citizens and soldiers by the thousands while leaving evil kings and dictators to continue their course. Even if our smart bomb missed the little guy it would give him something to think about and an incentive for him to change his attitude.
Are we being played? Let's consider motivation behind this controversy:
#1 Apple would like customers around the world to believe they can trust iPhones. This belief is worth billions to them.
#2 The FBI would like citizens to believe they are working within the law and they really want to catch terrorists. Polls show that the majority of Americans are eager to trade privacy for security so this bit of theater makes the FBI look good to them. Additionally, criminals may relax their security measures thinking that they are safe.
Thus there are great benefits to both in this affair. Both parties have already won the 'dispute'. The possibility that they pre-arranged the 'dispute' is an elementary deduction. It's quite possible that Apple or someone has already hacked the phone and nothing interesting was found. That's irrelevant to furthering the goals of both organizations.
" ... voice-activated prompts require me to repeat the name of the corporation ..."
Because they *are* Google (at least partly), they anticipated your question and changed the name of the corporation. Google is still a division of it but you don't have to repeat the name of the corporation any more. Yes, you may expect them to anticipate more and more of your important needs and continue to make every effort to improve the quality of your life.
"drive 60Hz 8K displays and 120Hz 4K displays..."
Is this adequate? Wouldn't you want 240Hz so that you don't get eyestrain? I don't watch TV but I've heard that somewhere.
watts per gram ?
Since when is that a measurement standard?
By that standard, my car provides152HP per muffler bearing. Its MTBF is 32 dog years and fuel efficiency is 1.4 teaspoons per nautical mile . . . Oh, I get it- this is more slash spam where big numbers are inserted somewhere to wow the ignorant.
CEO / college president
They run the show and see to profits. They seek investors, do public relations and try to create a culture of success.
The problem seems to be that some expect college presidents to be saints, and therefore to work for a pittance. Since some schools are run by government, non-profits or churches should we expect that they are not a business? Well sorry, that's wrong. Schools are a business and their presidents are expected to bring in money just like any CEO.
Sorry, I like this kind of discussion at /.
There are many places to go for talk about politics, religion, diet & health, etc. But each has its own polarization and is intended to satisfy those who agree with a particular viewpoint. Slashdot people tend to have certain opinions, but there are always some who differ and make the discussion interesting. Add to that a fairly high level of intelligence and rationality and we have a great place to explore any topic. Yes, this isn't http://www.well.com/ , but it is as close as many of us will ever come.
You know that humans once believed this planet to be the Center of the Universe. You know of many such grave misperceptions that have always existed among our kind, including the fantasy that your own life has some kind of meaning.
Much of the speculation here assumes the existence of earth and some includes the existence of the solar system, galaxy and universe. Rather than imagine such a vast confabulation, why not be reasonable? These things are only extant in our imagination.
In obvious fact, even our imagination is imagined, each of us under the delusion that our thoughts are our own (and not the IP of the likes of Google or MS or the Invisible Pink Unicorn). Our very existence is questionable and is likely the construct of a greater intelligence that exists in a real 'universe'. We may be no more than a celestial child's experiment in artificial intelligence. Before protesting 'I think therefore I am', take a moment to reconsider. Starting now. Don't rush, make it a leisurely moment. Yes, now you begin to see . . . The question now is "Who is the Puppetmaster?"
Why does every word start with a capital letter?
Is it a deliberate attempt to make it unreadable?
WTF does 'popped' mean here?
Do the editors ever read this crap?
Can God make a chili pepper so HOT that even He can't eat it?
Yeah, makes you think, doesn't it?