Is that choice sort of like the choice I make to sign my employer's NDA's and papers that say that every idea I have for 5 years are belong to the company?
I mean, I could just go elsewhere, right?
Whoah- strange, that. Everywhere I look has the same "agreements"...
A representative democracy is part of a republic, but a republic is also bounded by laws in their governing.
The idea is to protect minorities from omnipotent majorities. Thus the Constitution & Amendments, to protect minorities and individuals from public weal, representatively determined or not.
Are the laws being passed by our representatives Constitutional?
Pet peeve: "Representative Democracy == Republic" evaluates to 0. == is a conditional, not an assignment. Even if it were assignment, it would not be mathematical equivelence...
Yeah; Amber and I always joke that she'll become a Christian supremesist SUV driving Microsoft loving IP lawyer with 7 children.
{;D}= Actually, I don't think that will happen; I fully intend to teach her how to think about things and question. So, she probably won't conform or rebel, but rather, think. Time will tell.
I agree with the sentiment; Allow me to complete it.
The best way to keep kids from being harmed by seeing images of naked people having sex is to relax. Kids don't have any problems with sexual encounters; It's only after adults tell them that they've seen something terribly wrong that they get confused.
When children have questions about sex, answer truthfully. Buy erotic art that you like, and hang it on the wall. Go to nudist resorts, to show your children that it's okay to be naked. If a movie that you like has a sex scene in it, don't fast forward it. If you like hentai, allow your children to watch it with you.
This will protect your child from harm.
I have a 6-month old daughter, and she's being raised around pornography. Both my girlfriend and I like to watch hentai movies, and read erotic comics; I see no reason why our daughter should be excluded from the same. Amber and I talk about the line art, the characterizations, various styles; I see no reason why our daughter should be excluded as well.
The reason kids get weird about sex is because adults do. When adults are relaxed around sex, children are relaxed as well.
Sex is not a big mystery. I think for a lot of people, at least here in the US, sex is like this closet in the basement, and they fear that it is full of monsters.
First, the closet isn't in the basement, it's on the 1st floor of our psyche. Second, you can open the door. Maybe there's some garbage in there, or something, but you can clean it up, see what's in there. There are no big monsters in there. Turn on the light; Take an inventory, clean it up. Maybe take some things out, put things inside. It's just a closet in your psyche. It's totally okay. It's good square footage in our minds; It's good not to ignore it or freak out about it. It's really not all that weird a space.
Like drinking water, or going to bed at night. =^_^=
Anyone notice that we are expected more and more to conform to popular viewpoints? Usually, disagreement is permissable, but now, if you disagree, you're called a terrorist.
Look for internment camps. Like during WW2, they'll say, "We're doing this to protect them from our society."
Think the Constitution & the Courts are going to save us? Tell that to the sons and daughters of Japanese-Americans that were interned. The 14th Amendment was blatently ignored.
Think your rights are going to come right back? Yah right! When our rights did come back, it was only through the intense efforts of the 60's, and even then they didn't all come back. The 50's parents had a stick up their ass because they had just given up their rights and bent them selves into conformity during WW2. Did you know it's illegal to be a communist in Washington state? It's considered subversion, and still forbidden by law..!
Why do we have to go to war? To save ourselves from Terrorists?!?
What, after World War 3, the world will be safe from terroritsts forever? Nobody will ever think of being a Terrorist? What a crock of Shit!
You can't stop people from being Terrorists. There's nothing you can do about it. The world is an unsafe people.
So 5,000 people died and you want to do something about it. Want to do something about it? Drive safely! 40,000 people die every year through traffic accidents.
Want to save lives? Look where you're going. 10,000 people die every year because they fell down.
This country's nuts. I'm going to be called a "terrorist sympathiser" because I think the USA is full of Shit right now. I'm not going to fight for your war against terrorists (oops, there went hundreds of thousands of innocent people's lives- well, it's a "necessary" tradeoff to keep the world "safe").
What I was noting was that it was kind of funny to hear people complaining about a relatively small corporate trap, when they are already caught in a larger one.
It's good that you like Good Music, and I must confess to having enjoyed Genesis (Lamb), Jean Michelle Jarre, and others who were working under a terrible system. (I also listen to the Grateful Dead, who were waaay ahead of their times, allowing free taping and copying at their concerts.)
But I have to wonder: Is the music we hear on the radio really good? I've observed that people will buy whatever they believe everyone else is buying, regardless of quality. That is, what's played on the stations, and advertised on our city walls. And I notice that artists aren't getting paid what they should, and that we're paying too much for CD's, and that the people holding the music rights are holding on to it for longer than their fair share.
I think it's all a game, and I feel that I owe it to those artists who weren't magically picked for plastering, to find their music, and to promote it. It's easy enough to do, that I think I should do it. And so I do.
Look at the Good Music that you have in your CD rack.
What percentage of it is corporation-backed pop?
I can't tell you what to think or feel, but I'm personally inclined to reach out to other artists, especially after having seen what their lives are like- the ones that are just as brilliant, but weren't picked and turned into icons.
Yep; Diamond Age. I think Neal was drawing a connection between old style Feudalism, and modern equity holders.
Under Feudalism, a Lord (of a piece of land...) had a bunch of peasants who worked it. They got a miniscule fraction of the harvest, and a little hovel to live in. The equity lord took the rest. A certain amount was paid up the hierarchy, to the lord's superiors.
Not all that different than the way we do things here in the US.
I think Neal observed that, and decided to put that observation into his book.
A bunch of Equity Lords find some artist. They pay the artist a little bit of money ("Someone's recognized my talent!").
Then they pay some money to a brainwashing company ("Marketting consultants").
The brainwashing company indirectly pay money to radio stations to get their songs played. More recently, the brainwashing companies have been flooding the period just before a movie plays.
You hear a whole spectrum of music, and talk with your friends about what you are all seeing and hearing on that spectrum.
The Equity Lords have CD's and paraphanalia for you to buy, so that you can express your opinions about what is seen and heard.
Now lately, they've added a new twist: They collect information on you when you try to play your CD.
And then you claim to be deceived.
If it's just now that you think you are being deceived, and that the only issue to you is that your CD has some sort of odd protection on it, I'd think that you were more deeply deceived than you think.
Listen to free music. Go to MP3.com, or one of the other various music sites, and download good music. It'll take some sifting, but you'll find it; it's all there.
Learn about propaganda. Learn how it touches your mind. Then steer the hell clear of it! Otherwise, expect more messes like the one you find yourself in.
Although it seems unfair that the farmers get so little of their rice yield, what is their share in the land itself? Obviously they've brought labor to they table, but think about how much land the feudal lord brought to the table! The farmer's labor is being paid for, so let's ignore it for a moment. The rice may be worth several mil; the farmers brought along their cardboard box homes. The feudal lords brought a shitload of land. So in fairness, the farmers wouldn't even have a 10% stake in the rice yield-- anything more than that which they have is a kindness.
I imagine in the Real World, it's more often that the rice yield would be worth $150 million, and that the farmers brought in maybe $5 million, and the feudal lords only pitched in $50 million worth of land, and the farmers end up with a 15% share of something they did 75% of the work for.
But Hey! It takes money to make money. You might be the best farm worker in the world, but if you don't have land, you're shit out of luck. You've got to find a Lord who will let you farm his land. Remember, if a lord is going to let you farm his land, he's taking a huge risk. That costs him, you know? You should consider you lucky he lets you walk on it at all. Supply and demand, you know? Supply and demand.
The best solution is to get your own land. Despite the aforementioned difficulty of making money with money, and those terrible risks, and the poor deranged farmers, the best solution is to become a feudal lord yourself. (Think of the poor, noble, nobles.) So go get your own land. If you can't, discover a new country, and see if you can get some Lord to reward you for discovering it. When you get land, you can take advantage of other farm workers, and get rich!
If you're content to be a farmer though for some reason, you should look for a lord who has good soil. It's better to have a 1% share in a great crop, than to have a 10% share of a bad one.
I haven't found a new country yet, but I still think about it. I keep looking in various places, but all I see are more feudal lords in every direction. One day, I'll find a new place, and be just like my Noble Lord. Until then, I'm going to vote Feudalist, so that when my day comes, there won't be any of those crazy laws that those damn peasants (well, I'm a peasant, but just for now- one day I'll be a Lord!) keep proposing. If I let them steal from my Lord, when MY turn as Lord comes up, they'll steal from me!
They did so because they wanted to cash in on a superstar IPO, even if the value of the company was doomed to drop through the floor soon afterwards.
...
You think the money grows on trees or something? That money represents the fruits of the labor of countless individuals. When it's not spent wisely (on things that people need now or in the future), bad things happen to the economy.
A feudal lord has a bunch of land, which he bilks peasants into farming. He gets 90% of the yield, and lets the farmers hold onto somewhere up to their 10%. That 10% for the farmers is divided up in such a way as to work the farmers, so that they can strive to improve their lot. Give the best farmer x2 as the weakeast, but divide it all up so that it totals 10%.
You're right: The VC's money represents the fruits of the labor of countless individuals. You're a sucker (not only have you been ripped off, but made to feel that it is just) if you believe that the VC's are the laborers themselves..! We're still living in medieval times, people just don't know that they're peasants because they aren't being manipulated through force and police action.
If a bunch of mobsters want to throw a party for everyone, train everyone in computer skills, employ and house them, I say let them. The flow of money from someone who doesn't deserve it to someone who does isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over.
A year ago, I would have made the same decision as you.
Now that I have studied Confucius and worked in industry for a while, I would not.
When Yuen Szu was head official to the family and was given nine hundred measures of grain, he declined it.
The Master said, "Do not decline. Distribute it among your lin, li, hsiang, and tang." (your community)
Accept the $5 million. Consider that money as research funds. Build a company. Hire engineers. Learn as much as you can, and work as much as you can. Be glad that you have a roof over your head. Acquire valuable experience. The engineers that you umbrella will be grateful.
Basically, the real world we live in is not the ideal world. Read Mark Twain and Mencken to understand this deeply. Then read Confucius to preserve your idealism, even in the midst of the crazy world that Clemens and Mencken will show you. Confucianism will show you how to commit right action, and protect idealists, even in a selfish world.
Imagine that you're an engineer. You come up with an idea that makes the company millions of dollars. What will you get in return? You'll get a $5,000 raise, and "the opportunity" to work on something that will make them even more money. Yip-pee-yah-yay. What do you think- they're going to give you enough money to retire?! You're lucky enough that they aren't tossing your ass out on the street; You're to feel lucky for even having a job.
Very few people are motivated by idealism. I am. You are. But the VC you talked with was not motivated by idealism. He was handing out money, hoping to get much more in return. I don't know what the larger situation was, but these guys aren't hurting for cash.
If the situation ever comes up again: Take the money. Work with the VC. Your VC's life will be business as usual: Some successes, many failures. If it's really bad, they might need to delay building that new house on their lot, and tearing down the old one. Learn everything you can about how your distributed systems work, and learn everything you can about how the world of funding works. You will become a more knowledgable and experienced person in the process, and fund the lives and research of many engineers with you.
The Master said, "Adhere to your beliefs and be devoted to learning. Secure to the death the good of the Tao. Enter not a state in disorder. When all under heaven are with the Tao, be visible. When without the Tao, be secluded. When the state is with the TAo, to be poor and lowly is shameful. When the state is without the Tao, to have riches and position is shameful."
I've seen people do so many silly things, make so many foolish arguments, all for the sake of their beloved status symbol, the Palm Pilot.
Don't you on with your "Luddite" name-calling! I happen to be a software developer, with hoards of languages behind me, and I'm young (25). I know all about what technology can and can't do, and I Love nothing more than to see good tech advance..
And I'm saying that this here PDA thing is a load of CRAP. Give it 10-15 years, and I'll look at it again. But right now, there's no good reason to shell out $150 for something that's going to pull you backwards in your education.
I had a student once who insisted on spending hoards of time loading his books for class into his Palm Pilot. He copiously took notes into his Palm- a couple sentances by the end of a four hour lecture, and we'd have to hold up class so that he could cram them in there with his stylus. He'd go on and on about the amazing advantages and all the things it could do. While I Love this guy, and he's a good friend- What a fruitcake! He bought the whole Tech=Good thing hook, line, and sinker. Held up class, and held up his own learning. All over a technology fetish.
PDA's are a fad, for the most part. Sure, there are valid uses, and they can really help out in certain areas in our life. But for the most part, it's a fruity fad.
Want to advance your education? Buy your books, and then write in them.
Want to advance your education? Learn, and then think about the things you learned.
TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED YEARS ago, Confucius had all the technology he needed to wisely note that studying without thinking is a waste, and thinking without study is a disaster.
If you can so much as get students to think about what they learn and connect it with the world they live in, you'll be far better off than you will by having them nonsensically scribbling on a palm, and they'll learn far more.
Thank you Slashdot once again for reminding me why I'm home schooling my daughter.
Slashdot Mirror
Eh; That's why you become a socialist libertarian.
Not yet, but there will be relatively soon.
I anticipate that P2P networks will be good as a Free Software server publishing mechanism.
For example, you download a game, and it uses some popular publishing mechanism for finding or publishing where a game server is.
I'd REALLY like to see a game construction kit that allows you to easily share your sprites and sounds with others around the world.
I mean, just think about anything that you can create and share with others...
Well, guys with a thing for Japanese BARBIE DOLL girls at least...
Goddammit People get it right!!!
== is for comparison only!
Stop saying "A==B" in an attempt to be G33k k001.If you want to say A=B, say A=B. Please spare us the needless comparison operator!
Argh! Fucking annoys me every time I see it!
Wanna B3 Lamer C kod3rs.
GyaHaHaHa!
I will never believe that the Republicans are against big government.
I'll take public libraries and health care over a gluttonously large military and an ultra-strong federal government any day.
We're obviously biased towards Linux, and against the RIAA.
We value certain things, and think certain ways, and have never set up illusion otherwise.
It's called a community.
Is that choice sort of like the choice I make to sign my employer's NDA's and papers that say that every idea I have for 5 years are belong to the company?
I mean, I could just go elsewhere, right?
Whoah- strange, that. Everywhere I look has the same "agreements"...
Moooooooooooooooooood it up!
A representative democracy is part of a republic, but a republic is also bounded by laws in their governing.
The idea is to protect minorities from omnipotent majorities. Thus the Constitution & Amendments, to protect minorities and individuals from public weal, representatively determined or not.
Are the laws being passed by our representatives Constitutional?
Pet peeve: "Representative Democracy == Republic" evaluates to 0. == is a conditional, not an assignment. Even if it were assignment, it would not be mathematical equivelence...
Yeah; Amber and I always joke that she'll become a Christian supremesist SUV driving Microsoft loving IP lawyer with 7 children.
{;D}= Actually, I don't think that will happen; I fully intend to teach her how to think about things and question. So, she probably won't conform or rebel, but rather, think. Time will tell.
I agree with the sentiment; Allow me to complete it.
The best way to keep kids from being harmed by seeing images of naked people having sex is to relax. Kids don't have any problems with sexual encounters; It's only after adults tell them that they've seen something terribly wrong that they get confused.
When children have questions about sex, answer truthfully. Buy erotic art that you like, and hang it on the wall. Go to nudist resorts, to show your children that it's okay to be naked. If a movie that you like has a sex scene in it, don't fast forward it. If you like hentai, allow your children to watch it with you.
This will protect your child from harm.
I have a 6-month old daughter, and she's being raised around pornography. Both my girlfriend and I like to watch hentai movies, and read erotic comics; I see no reason why our daughter should be excluded from the same. Amber and I talk about the line art, the characterizations, various styles; I see no reason why our daughter should be excluded as well.
The reason kids get weird about sex is because adults do. When adults are relaxed around sex, children are relaxed as well.
Sex is not a big mystery. I think for a lot of people, at least here in the US, sex is like this closet in the basement, and they fear that it is full of monsters.
First, the closet isn't in the basement, it's on the 1st floor of our psyche. Second, you can open the door. Maybe there's some garbage in there, or something, but you can clean it up, see what's in there. There are no big monsters in there. Turn on the light; Take an inventory, clean it up. Maybe take some things out, put things inside. It's just a closet in your psyche. It's totally okay. It's good square footage in our minds; It's good not to ignore it or freak out about it. It's really not all that weird a space.
Like drinking water, or going to bed at night. =^_^=
Very interesting.
I'd reply, but posting to talk would take forever.
Call (206) 547-9510 and ask for Lion to discuss these ideas some more.
My web page is temporarily at speakeasy.org while I am moving; You may be interested in the society secton.
Only in your Libertarian dreams... {;D}=
Anyone notice that we are expected more and more to conform to popular viewpoints? Usually, disagreement is permissable, but now, if you disagree, you're called a terrorist.
Look for internment camps. Like during WW2, they'll say, "We're doing this to protect them from our society."
Think the Constitution & the Courts are going to save us? Tell that to the sons and daughters of Japanese-Americans that were interned. The 14th Amendment was blatently ignored.
Think your rights are going to come right back? Yah right! When our rights did come back, it was only through the intense efforts of the 60's, and even then they didn't all come back. The 50's parents had a stick up their ass because they had just given up their rights and bent them selves into conformity during WW2. Did you know it's illegal to be a communist in Washington state? It's considered subversion, and still forbidden by law..!
Why do we have to go to war? To save ourselves from Terrorists?!?
What, after World War 3, the world will be safe from terroritsts forever? Nobody will ever think of being a Terrorist? What a crock of Shit!
You can't stop people from being Terrorists. There's nothing you can do about it. The world is an unsafe people.
So 5,000 people died and you want to do something about it. Want to do something about it? Drive safely! 40,000 people die every year through traffic accidents.
Want to save lives? Look where you're going. 10,000 people die every year because they fell down.
This country's nuts. I'm going to be called a "terrorist sympathiser" because I think the USA is full of Shit right now. I'm not going to fight for your war against terrorists (oops, there went hundreds of thousands of innocent people's lives- well, it's a "necessary" tradeoff to keep the world "safe").
The Japanese Americans were interned, in direct violation of the 14th amedment.
The Supreme let it go, because there was a "clear and present danger."
They justified it on the grounds of "protecting the Japanese Americans", if I recall.
The Master said, "The mechanic, who wishes to do his work well, must first sharpen his tools. When you are living in any state, take service with the most worthy among its great officers, and make friends of the most virtuous among its scholars."
What I was noting was that it was kind of funny to hear people complaining about a relatively small corporate trap, when they are already caught in a larger one.
It's good that you like Good Music, and I must confess to having enjoyed Genesis (Lamb), Jean Michelle Jarre, and others who were working under a terrible system. (I also listen to the Grateful Dead, who were waaay ahead of their times, allowing free taping and copying at their concerts.)
But I have to wonder: Is the music we hear on the radio really good? I've observed that people will buy whatever they believe everyone else is buying, regardless of quality. That is, what's played on the stations, and advertised on our city walls. And I notice that artists aren't getting paid what they should, and that we're paying too much for CD's, and that the people holding the music rights are holding on to it for longer than their fair share.
I think it's all a game, and I feel that I owe it to those artists who weren't magically picked for plastering, to find their music, and to promote it. It's easy enough to do, that I think I should do it. And so I do.
Look at the Good Music that you have in your CD rack.
What percentage of it is corporation-backed pop?
I can't tell you what to think or feel, but I'm personally inclined to reach out to other artists, especially after having seen what their lives are like- the ones that are just as brilliant, but weren't picked and turned into icons.
Yep; Diamond Age. I think Neal was drawing a connection between old style Feudalism, and modern equity holders.
Under Feudalism, a Lord (of a piece of land...) had a bunch of peasants who worked it. They got a miniscule fraction of the harvest, and a little hovel to live in. The equity lord took the rest. A certain amount was paid up the hierarchy, to the lord's superiors.
Not all that different than the way we do things here in the US.
I think Neal observed that, and decided to put that observation into his book.
Let me get this straight:
Now lately, they've added a new twist: They collect information on you when you try to play your CD.
And then you claim to be deceived.
If it's just now that you think you are being deceived, and that the only issue to you is that your CD has some sort of odd protection on it, I'd think that you were more deeply deceived than you think.
Listen to free music. Go to MP3.com, or one of the other various music sites, and download good music. It'll take some sifting, but you'll find it; it's all there.
Learn about propaganda. Learn how it touches your mind. Then steer the hell clear of it! Otherwise, expect more messes like the one you find yourself in.
Although it seems unfair that the farmers get so little of their rice yield, what is their share in the land itself? Obviously they've brought labor to they table, but think about how much land the feudal lord brought to the table! The farmer's labor is being paid for, so let's ignore it for a moment. The rice may be worth several mil; the farmers brought along their cardboard box homes. The feudal lords brought a shitload of land. So in fairness, the farmers wouldn't even have a 10% stake in the rice yield-- anything more than that which they have is a kindness.
I imagine in the Real World, it's more often that the rice yield would be worth $150 million, and that the farmers brought in maybe $5 million, and the feudal lords only pitched in $50 million worth of land, and the farmers end up with a 15% share of something they did 75% of the work for.
But Hey! It takes money to make money. You might be the best farm worker in the world, but if you don't have land, you're shit out of luck. You've got to find a Lord who will let you farm his land. Remember, if a lord is going to let you farm his land, he's taking a huge risk. That costs him, you know? You should consider you lucky he lets you walk on it at all. Supply and demand, you know? Supply and demand.
The best solution is to get your own land. Despite the aforementioned difficulty of making money with money, and those terrible risks, and the poor deranged farmers, the best solution is to become a feudal lord yourself. (Think of the poor, noble, nobles.) So go get your own land. If you can't, discover a new country, and see if you can get some Lord to reward you for discovering it. When you get land, you can take advantage of other farm workers, and get rich!
If you're content to be a farmer though for some reason, you should look for a lord who has good soil. It's better to have a 1% share in a great crop, than to have a 10% share of a bad one.
I haven't found a new country yet, but I still think about it. I keep looking in various places, but all I see are more feudal lords in every direction. One day, I'll find a new place, and be just like my Noble Lord. Until then, I'm going to vote Feudalist, so that when my day comes, there won't be any of those crazy laws that those damn peasants (well, I'm a peasant, but just for now- one day I'll be a Lord!) keep proposing. If I let them steal from my Lord, when MY turn as Lord comes up, they'll steal from me!
A feudal lord has a bunch of land, which he bilks peasants into farming. He gets 90% of the yield, and lets the farmers hold onto somewhere up to their 10%. That 10% for the farmers is divided up in such a way as to work the farmers, so that they can strive to improve their lot. Give the best farmer x2 as the weakeast, but divide it all up so that it totals 10%.
You're right: The VC's money represents the fruits of the labor of countless individuals. You're a sucker (not only have you been ripped off, but made to feel that it is just) if you believe that the VC's are the laborers themselves..! We're still living in medieval times, people just don't know that they're peasants because they aren't being manipulated through force and police action.
If a bunch of mobsters want to throw a party for everyone, train everyone in computer skills, employ and house them, I say let them. The flow of money from someone who doesn't deserve it to someone who does isn't something I'm going to lose any sleep over.
A year ago, I would have made the same decision as you.
Now that I have studied Confucius and worked in industry for a while, I would not.
Accept the $5 million. Consider that money as research funds. Build a company. Hire engineers. Learn as much as you can, and work as much as you can. Be glad that you have a roof over your head. Acquire valuable experience. The engineers that you umbrella will be grateful.
Basically, the real world we live in is not the ideal world. Read Mark Twain and Mencken to understand this deeply. Then read Confucius to preserve your idealism, even in the midst of the crazy world that Clemens and Mencken will show you. Confucianism will show you how to commit right action, and protect idealists, even in a selfish world.
Imagine that you're an engineer. You come up with an idea that makes the company millions of dollars. What will you get in return? You'll get a $5,000 raise, and "the opportunity" to work on something that will make them even more money. Yip-pee-yah-yay. What do you think- they're going to give you enough money to retire?! You're lucky enough that they aren't tossing your ass out on the street; You're to feel lucky for even having a job.
Very few people are motivated by idealism. I am. You are. But the VC you talked with was not motivated by idealism. He was handing out money, hoping to get much more in return. I don't know what the larger situation was, but these guys aren't hurting for cash.
If the situation ever comes up again: Take the money. Work with the VC. Your VC's life will be business as usual: Some successes, many failures. If it's really bad, they might need to delay building that new house on their lot, and tearing down the old one. Learn everything you can about how your distributed systems work, and learn everything you can about how the world of funding works. You will become a more knowledgable and experienced person in the process, and fund the lives and research of many engineers with you.
Now Slashdot is worth the price of admission. {;D}=
Actually, you are right on the "fruit" note. That word's been stuck in my head ever since a particular joke my girlfriend pulled over me... {;D}=
Sorry to be so blatant.
I've seen people do so many silly things, make so many foolish arguments, all for the sake of their beloved status symbol, the Palm Pilot.
Don't you on with your "Luddite" name-calling! I happen to be a software developer, with hoards of languages behind me, and I'm young (25). I know all about what technology can and can't do, and I Love nothing more than to see good tech advance..
And I'm saying that this here PDA thing is a load of CRAP. Give it 10-15 years, and I'll look at it again. But right now, there's no good reason to shell out $150 for something that's going to pull you backwards in your education.
I had a student once who insisted on spending hoards of time loading his books for class into his Palm Pilot. He copiously took notes into his Palm- a couple sentances by the end of a four hour lecture, and we'd have to hold up class so that he could cram them in there with his stylus. He'd go on and on about the amazing advantages and all the things it could do. While I Love this guy, and he's a good friend- What a fruitcake! He bought the whole Tech=Good thing hook, line, and sinker. Held up class, and held up his own learning. All over a technology fetish.
PDA's are a fad, for the most part. Sure, there are valid uses, and they can really help out in certain areas in our life. But for the most part, it's a fruity fad.
Want to advance your education? Buy your books, and then write in them.
Want to advance your education? Learn, and then think about the things you learned.
TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED YEARS ago, Confucius had all the technology he needed to wisely note that studying without thinking is a waste, and thinking without study is a disaster.
If you can so much as get students to think about what they learn and connect it with the world they live in, you'll be far better off than you will by having them nonsensically scribbling on a palm, and they'll learn far more.
Thank you Slashdot once again for reminding me why I'm home schooling my daughter.