Killing most projects early is considered a good thing in some circles because it weeds out the garbage and makes more resources available to the more worthwhile projects.
Often you can tell how good a company is at managing R&D by how quickly it kills bad projects.
When I was working in R&D portfolio management we found that a bunch of small projects was much less likely to return something worthwhile than a more limited number of big projects.
It really boiled down to the idea that there is a non-linear relationship between resources devoted to a project and the likelihood of success.
Conflicts between sects is not unknown in other religions too.
For example look at the European wars between Christian sects just prior to the Enlightenment.
I think the key thing here is that Islamic countries for one reason or another never went through a similar transition towards rationalism and individualism. They are still ruled by a way of thought that western culture started abandoning 350 years ago.
I hope we don't get dragged back that way. Fundamentalism is ultimately I think the greatest enemy of human progress.
Really this isn't so dissimilar to the racket now being perpetrated by colleges and universities in the US in conjunction with employers looking for cheap skilled labor.
The end result is generation saddled with crushing debt and wages that are failing to keep up with inflation. Assuming they are employed.
Unfortunately for you, your well-being is not dependent on just your own efforts and choices. It's also the result of the collective efforts of the society of people around you. Otherwise you could live better in Somalia than you do here.
But you can't. So you are stuck with the distasteful (to you anyway) idea that your welfare depends on having a healthy society to live in. To get that you are going to have to contribute.
The government-it industrial complex is controlled by the same sort of corrupt relationships that the military-industrial complex. Come in to that situation with new ideas and you will get slapped down by entrenched interests intent on making use of networks of people moving back and forth between government and industry in order to create personal wealth. New ideas and new technologies only rock the boat.
The classic example is the PPACA web site. Hundreds of millions spent on something that would be a 5-10 million dollar project in a sane world.
Slashdot Mirror
Killing most projects early is considered a good thing in some circles because it weeds out the garbage and makes more resources available to the more worthwhile projects.
Often you can tell how good a company is at managing R&D by how quickly it kills bad projects.
When I was working in R&D portfolio management we found that a bunch of small projects was much less likely to return something worthwhile than a more limited number of big projects.
It really boiled down to the idea that there is a non-linear relationship between resources devoted to a project and the likelihood of success.
Conflicts between sects is not unknown in other religions too.
For example look at the European wars between Christian sects just prior to the Enlightenment.
I think the key thing here is that Islamic countries for one reason or another never went through a similar transition towards rationalism and individualism. They are still ruled by a way of thought that western culture started abandoning 350 years ago.
I hope we don't get dragged back that way. Fundamentalism is ultimately I think the greatest enemy of human progress.
It isn't people at the bank. It's users of the bank.
Coming from a warehouse near you at Mach 8.
Really this isn't so dissimilar to the racket now being perpetrated by colleges and universities in the US in conjunction with employers looking for cheap skilled labor.
The end result is generation saddled with crushing debt and wages that are failing to keep up with inflation. Assuming they are employed.
Either that or the most susceptible people were killed in previous outbreaks.
Thinning the herd etc.
The two are fundamentally incompatible. You can do both if you ignore this problem, but in the end that simply makes you a hypocrite.
ISIS is fighting in an area already under Muslim rule. It has nothing to do with Islamic expansion and everything to do with war between sects.
Obviously not the Abbasid Caliphate that funded the Baghdad House of Wisdom, home of Muhammed ibn musa al Kwarizmi.
(the words algorithm and algebra are taken from his name and the titles of books he wrote).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
It's sickening to see these nutters rejecting the thought and culture that once lead the civilizations of the middle east to a true Golden Age.
Now all we can do is hope that there will somehow be an Islamic Enlightenment. Perhaps in reaction to ISIS? It's hard to see it happening though.
Unfortunately for you, your well-being is not dependent on just your own efforts and choices. It's also the result of the collective efforts of the society of people around you. Otherwise you could live better in Somalia than you do here.
But you can't. So you are stuck with the distasteful (to you anyway) idea that your welfare depends on having a healthy society to live in. To get that you are going to have to contribute.
Sorry.
The government-it industrial complex is controlled by the same sort of corrupt relationships that the military-industrial complex. Come in to that situation with new ideas and you will get slapped down by entrenched interests intent on making use of networks of people moving back and forth between government and industry in order to create personal wealth. New ideas and new technologies only rock the boat.
The classic example is the PPACA web site. Hundreds of millions spent on something that would be a 5-10 million dollar project in a sane world.
Actually in terms of volume both are shrinking.
The problem with sapphire is that it's BRITTLE. Drop it and it will break. It's why steel is better than cast iron.
You aren't likely to drop a checkout scanner. Iphones though are regularly dropped.
The hardness is is great if you are worried ONLY about scratches.
Nonsense. The life expectancy in India is 10 years shorter than the US. It wasn't until just this year it was considered to be polio free.
There was a survey published in Nature showing belief in God is dwindling among scientists....
https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek...
Typical theist baloney. Set up a false premise i.e. people have to have unquestioning belief in something and then argue therefrom.
Skeptics doesn't hold such a viewpoint. They work from evidence, not belief.
That's incorrect. Rational philosophies and even evolution provide non-theistic justifications for altruism.
It in fact looks now that altruism is a survival trait that is hard wired in the human brain through natural selection.
http://www.newscientist.com/ar...
Note: China is already constructing additional carriers. However compared to something like the USN Gerry Ford they are sorta lame.
> Was the water contested before the island was build?
Big time. The airspace above it too. The warlike history of the nations in this area is scary.
Current international laws are newcomers to this area where squabbles go back a long fucking time.
This is exactly the same profile as any other e-waste. I'm fine with treating LED bulbs as such.
It's not a quirk if pretty much every fukin language does it.
I still have my JRC NRD-525. Man that thing would pick up anything. Cell phones, baby intercoms, cordless phones, military radio, etc etc.
Too bad so much is encrypted now.
Yes, and what is the alternative? McCain?
DO YOU REALLY THINK HAVING THAT SENILE WAR MONGER WOULD BE BETTER?
If we had elected McCain/Palin we would be in far worse shape. Just call up the recent statements he's been making.
We would be at war in a dozen countries now had we elected him.
Far Side >> all of the above.
Umm if it had zero effective power it certainly wouldn't be a bully pulpit. In fact it wouldn't even be a regular pulpit.