DVDs are more prone to deterioration (being very vulnerable to scratches) and so will not allow as many rentals before requiring replacement.
That's interesting -- I would have guessed that DVD's last longer. VHS tapes are vulnerable to being chewed up by the VCR, and on some old videos that I have the magnetic tape is just wearing out. DVD's avoid both of those problems, but I suppose you're right about the scratching
In my experience DVD's are a lot easier to damage than a Videotape. but DVD's, if taken care of, will last a lot longer.
Video's will deterioate, DVD's will not, however, droping a video on the ground does little damage to a Video, a DVD is a different matter, and I've seen the way some people treat rentals.
I'm not an American but anyway, communism can not happen on a large scale (say more than 1000 for 200 years) because people don't want to be equal; they want to be better than the average. Better off, better house, better pay etc
On paper there is no doubt that communism is the best polotical system there is. total equality. The problem with communism, and it is just one problem, is people. The above statemant is 100% correct. people do not want to be equal, they want to be better
I can't see this basic, evolution-wired, desire ever changing.
Well, that I don't agree with, anything can happen, and human behaviour has changed throughout history. but it would take time.
Re:has the targeted demographic really changed?
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Attack of the Clones
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I really loved the first 3 films (4-6) but they were from a different time. I, and I think I'm the only one, really enjoyed Phantom Menance. Sure it had it's bad points, but I feel that it made up for it in other ways. I'm not going to debate them, I liked it and that's all I need.
But Phantom Menance wasn't the same as ANH, ESB and ROTJ. Different story, different period, different characters. I wasn't expecting it to be like the trilogy, and I wasn't dissapointed.
But I think the major thing that people are forgetting is the George Lucas owns Star Wars, it is His story, his ideas he can do with it what he pleases. Maybe these where the ideas he had all along, maybe he made them up just before he started writing Episode one. I don't know. But it is his to play with not mine.
I admit that if I had made episode one I would have done it drastically different But I didn't and I couldn't.
we don't have to like what George Lucas has done, but we cannot stop him
Trav
Re:Yes; this is good - avoid bad releases
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Simsville Canceled
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Maxis have produced great games time and time again, I loved the entire SimCity range (Especially since I can import LDraw lego models into SC3K Unlimited for a real Legoland!) and I also enjoyed the Sims.
I was really looking forward to Simsville, the idea of linking SimCity 3000 to the Sims seemed fantastic, but it did sound like a massive undertaking.
I know of no other company that has the balls to say, "nope, it was to big, we couldn't do it. sorry"
I applaude you Maxis and eagerly await whaterver you bring out next
It's this sort of thinking that makes me glad that I don't live in America.
I, like most of the world, was deeply saddened by the events of Tuesday last week but I am at a loss to why the leaders of the world have reacted in such a potentialy violent way. Dubya says that this is a war of Good vs Evil. Now if I remember correctly Nazi Germany also stuck out against the evil that suppressed their development and growth after WW1. Good and Evil are mearly perceptions and now there will be a war based purly on these perceptions.
I agree that terrorism must be stopped, but not at all cost, for that would make both sides as bad as each other, surly threatening war against Afganastan unless they surrender Omassa Bin Laden equates to the use of violence and terror against someone to achieve your own ends, and isn't that terrorism in itself?
Americia had a chance here to really show the world how to deal with terrorism, instead they reacted in exactly they way the terrorists would have planned. If anything this will make the United States much more hated by a much larger populace which, in turn, will only increase the frequency of terrorists attacks and justify to a larger population the actions of the terrorists.
Wasn't it said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Where was the part about revenge and war?
Anyway, if the citizens of Americia feel more comfortable burning books and waging war then so be it, I just hope that sombody in power realises what the consequences of those actions might be and tries to protect the future, not destroy it.
I Agree, Lego is very very social, but it can be enjoyed alone too. It if far better that the action figure craze I think, and much more social that most toys on the market. I had a few friends that would come over with their tub of lego and we would build massive spacebases and the like. The problem was playing with my sisters (I have 2 younger sisters, no brothers) They would always steal the best pieces or make furniture for their barbies.
There is also a new Lego Board game out called 'Creator' You start off with an instrucion card for a basic lego model, as does everyone else and the idea is to move around the board to collect the pieces you need to finish it, I would call that fairly social too.
If you do want another social aspect of lego, get some friends together, build yourself an army and play BrikWars. Mass destruction on a MiniFig scale!!!
Well, In Victoria anyway there is are swap meets every weekend, usually two or three each weekend in Melbourne anyway. Mostly new stuff, odds and ends, a few blasts from the past.
And prices are way down on what you would pay retail anyway. It's good fun to look around and hear other peoples opinion on the new intel chip, or how nVidia are taking over the market with this next chip etc...
One might even call it a learning experience
And if you are lucky, there might even be somebody BBQ'ing food for ya all to munch on.
Well, dispite the problems that X-Files has had over the last few seasons that have forced me to stop watching what was once a fantastic show I believe that I along with many other Xena fans welll be quite excited to see LL doing more work on TV.
I loved her character on "Just Shoot Me", showed she can do comical well, and Xena showed she can do a fair bit of action (I want to see Lucy as a Sith lord in star wars, if you are out there Lucas...). I think Lucy Lawless has shown that you don't have to be an Americian to be a fantastic actor, maybe a few of the executives at the studios should notice that. If Lucy wins an award for her preformance we Aussies better hurry up and claim her as our own, she did work in Australia for a while, maybe not as an actor, but...
At least us Aussies will get a chance to see it for it is unlikely that channel ten (who screens the X-Files here) will ditch X-Files MIDWAY though a season (such as the 4th season) and play the rest off months later at 4am in the morning!!!
If Lucas doesn't protect his rights now he may not be able to protect them in the future. If he let this slide and the medical company used the name I really do not think that there will be any negative impact on the StarWars franchise. But if later on someone or something nastier tries to use the term "Light Sabre" and Lucas tries to defend it then the fact that he didn't now would weigh quite heavily against him.
Didn't Linus sue someone for using the work Linux in someting that wasn't really Linux related purely to protect his hold on the name.
I do not pretend to understand the US legal system but I have heard a bit about this defence of copyright. If you don't defend it it can be implied that he has no interest in defending the copyright in the future. Or something along those lines anyway.
Trav
Re:That's still retarded.
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BYO Battlebot
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I agree, wouldn't this be excellent if the robots actually had to rely on their sensors and their programming.
When I was doing engineering at University we had to build responsive systems using Lego Dacta (educational tool kits, Mindstorms was born from this). Our group build a roving unit that would sense and object in front of it, if is was blue or yellow lego bricks it would attack it (swing an arm and knock it down) otherwise it would try to find a path around it.
Now that was 7 years ago, I think we could develop a lot more fun robotics and programming now.
Good evening and welcome to Slashdot Robot Fighters
I read so many comments here today about how Meccano is better suited to engineering and real world situations and how lego is better to inspire broad creative interest. I have only one thing to say to these claims
Yes
The issue is not one of which is better, Lego or Meccano, nor is an issue of the dumbing down of lego etc...
The Issue is why aren't children becomming engineers, I can tell you why, there is no incentive anymore. I started my Uni days as an engineer, but when I went through school everyone was talking about the new "IT" field and how everyone should get into this booming area. IT has taken a lot of the people who would have fallen into science and engineering. It's no the fault of IT, but no-one (and I mean no-one at all) is promoting engineering anymore. and even those who do go into engineering (like myself) find that it is not what it is cracked up to be, I left engineering because it didn't offer me the choices I want. I went into IT because it did.
Both Lego and Meccano featured heavily in my childhood and they both gave me an understanding of physics and the real world. That, I guess, drove me towards Engineering in the first place. But I was much more into Lego, still am, This claim is just stupid and anyone who puts hold by it really is an idiot. Wood, Wooden blocks, Straws, spagetti, twigs, clay. I have built structures and objects out of all of these. It is not the medium but the outlet. Less and less people are putting their outlet into engineering. Why? Well that is the issue really.
I think the problem with that idea isn't the hologram, it's the paper money. Paper money itself
(without most counterfit protections) is remakably easy to counterfit. It's just paper anyway. In Australia a few years back some school kids colour photocopied hundreds of $100 notes, double sided, and managed to spend a few $1000 before they where caught.
Now in Australia we have plastic money, so much harded to begin counterfiting, and that is without the protections. I believe that a hologram type thing could be use on plastic money without to much issue really.
As for they power supply for these chips, I would imagine that they could be used like those protection chips they put in things at big stores (and comic stores) that make scanners beep madly if you try to shoplift. Or something like that.
I have heard that the treasury department or whoever controls that stuff in the US has a stockpile of plastic money ready to go, but they will not until they have assured full circulatiopn in 3 days. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, tell 'em the're dreaming.
Incidently, the money that they used in "Space, above and beyond" (the episode with David Duchovny as an AI playing pool) was Australian money. But seeing that it was filmed in Australia that could be the sloe reason I suppose. Just a side note anyway for you interest.
I noticed the same thing too, except from Australia.
I thought that Maybe the US had decided to ditch the rest of the world from the Internet. It was scary.
but after a feel other sites loaded I realised it was a slashdot thing.
Like an old friend it greated me this morning and all is well.
I Loved voyager, fromn the word go, the first few season where a bit stiff, but there were still good episodes amoung them, towards the end of season 3 (After future's end) it really started to gain momentum. 9 times out of ten a *bad* Voyager ep is better than a *good* DS9 episode, IMHO
(There is no way it would have taken that long to return using high warp, remembering the restriction of high warp speeds was enacted by the federation only after Voyager was deemed lost)
The warp 6 restriction has been enacted for some time, it was mentioned in TNG a few times (Pricard was authorised to exceed warp 6 on a few occasions)
This is very very true. When I was at University it wasn't uncomman at all for us to have comman phrases in our work. the "Prescribed texts" where quite expensive and there was a limited supply of then in the University library. Sometimes you had to work with another student, or a group, to access the texts. nothing sinister there, but imagine a group of students working together on the same task, talking about it, dicussing the questions/problems. There will be a commonality between these projects no matter what you do.
Now I always "thanked" my peers by name at the end of my assignments, and included any book that I might have read, seen, heard of, etc.. that related to the topic (any many that didn't too).
I once referenced "Star Trek" in a physics assignment, and also in a management essay.
This often lead to me having a MASSIVE biblography in my work, along with many web pages. now, I'm in a class with 100 other students (it is a small university in regional Victoria, Australia) the assignment has to be handed back in, say, 3 weeks. Now that is a LOT of checking to do on just one assignment, I knew it never would be done. But once I was called up because another student had work very similar to mine. we both where placed in a room with the lecturer, Head of school and the tutor for the class and asked questions. Now I had given this student a look at my assignement befor i had refinded it and before I had included the biblography. They had, indeed, used some elements of my assignment, not so much chuncks of it, but we had worked together and I had told him about some of my sources. but he hadn't referenced them. a simple mistake, many make it.
The question is, is that cheating or is it just being neglectful and unaware. Some people hate referencing, and therefor do not do it properly. many incidents of cheating where like that.
I actually Do think it's time for Linux programmers to put on a tie for once, because, like it or not, it's about politics, it's about marketing, and it's about propaganda. And those dishes are best served with garnishes on the side; the businessman is used to being catered to, not lectured.
Who does like being lectured, I don't. Unfortunatly the sterotype that many computer guys are put into is one of a hacker, A genuis in what he/she does but very slack in social skills etc...
I think we all know how untrue this image really is, but who in the corporate world does? If there is any hope of changing the perception of Linux and Open Source we need to confront these people within their world, if we try to drag them into our world and convince them here, it cannot work. They will be so uncomfortable than all that we say and do will be automatically forgot. It's not so much the image that we present, although that is important, but the World we come from. It's not that businessmen/woman if afraid of new solutions or new technology. but they ARE afraid of anything outside their understanding, and that IS Business.
Look at M$, they are a business, they are involved in business, they must know business. Now look at these Linux advocates, they are outside Business, they do not conform to business, why the hell should I listen to them?
Why indeed? We need to change THAT perception first
Just another chapter in the ongoing saga that is DVD.
The DVDisc was around for some time before the Industry decided on a format, then they introduced that stupid region encoding, which, in fairness, isn't an issue 96% of the time, but is just another method for price control. (I cannot seek out a cheaper DVD in Australia because the Studio's/Distributors control what goes into the Australia Market as opposed to what is avaliable in the US, UK, Europe Canada etc...)
And then there is the studios. In Australia (Region 4 for those who are interested) you can Hire X-Men on DVD, no issues, but you cannot buy it. There are many films, plenty from Fox, that are like that. Why??? Because Fox have decided, in Australia anyway, that is is more profitable to not release a DVD for sale because ??? Well, there is no reason given other than DVD apparantly is less profitable than Video. If that where the true case (and DVD has pushed the price of video's down nearly 20% here) why would any studio release DVD's, they are about making money after all.
My point is that DVD offer a lot to the comsumer in principal, but very few studio's/distributators offer ANY of it.
"I hope I am not the only who didn't get the above post; however, I understand this topic very well. I graduated from a medium sized regional university. With the exception myself and a handful of other people, no one in the program really cared about computers in the sense that we did. We enjoyed it and couldn't get enough of it. We learned more from ourselves than we did from the instructors. The rest of the people were in the program because IT careers were supposed to pay well and be readily available. (I guess they didn't realize that you had to be good at it also.) The differences in attitude and personality showed in the grades also. Compares A's to C's,D's, and retakes. "
I don't know maybe it's a function of crappy teachers and despair.
Or Both. When I did my Computing degree, I sat on the course committee in my final year (token student member) and at the time there where a massive number of drop outs in the course. The answer was to raise the TER entry score (similar to SAT's). It didn't fix the problem, because it wasn't the people with lower TER's that where dropping out, it was the ones that had the Higher TER's and where getting frustrated and bored with the teaching. These people could go anywhere with their TER, they didn't have to put up with it. Those who stayed did so because they wanted like Hell to get their degree, for what ever reason
"They can't seem to understand that sometimes I do my best work at night so I sleep in and come to work a little later."
I to, am a night owl. which is perfectly accepctable within Computing and/or Computer Science but IT is the Business side of Computing. and in the Business world you do as you are told and do not ask questions. This is why there is so much stress I suppose
"I can understand how the attitudes and behavioral differences can seem odd, different, or annoying. However, it is one of those things you have to deal with. Trust me, someone who acts like a kid with a big toy will be far more productive than some one who does it just for a job. "
I have a hard time thinking that way with the things that I write since they are usually stupid little programs that are more for the academic waste of time and probably never will be useful. CS has the problem that all areas have and that is they rarely actually give you some idea and maybe some projects that might be similar to ones that are often encountered in industry.
The "kids with toy's" idea isn't new, but it does imply somebody who has a passion, the want to do what they are doing because they enjoy it. But being from a Computing degree, I to noticed that the assignments that we got somehow seemed to be a unproductive waste of time, but sometimes it was fun to play around with.
Playing with toys really isn't something that I do and I very much doubt that it would make me more efficient. I see programming as a person doing battle. The problem is I often have the evil soldier battling me and pinned to the ground. There is little room for imagination or creativity with stupid things like data structures or random acts of prearranged coding and there really isn't any use for it because then you have problems pleasing the compiler gods.
Ohhhhh, I so play with toys, helps me when I'm stuck in a rut, spill the lego out on the floor and start creating. but lego is such a logical toy and helps me get my mind into a logical frame, which you need for programming. But programming, as mentioned above, doesn't always allow creative outlets, people don't want something creative, they want a tool. that is all. and they done apreciate the effort that you, the programmer, put into it. If I asked for a Hammer and I was given a Pink one with purple pokla dots, I would question why, but it would still function as a hammer right? I guess it has to do with the world still viewing anyone in IT as nerds.
In conclusion I would welcome a systematic process that would work over a process that would most likely be done in an area that actually could use something like that. However there are more useful things. Maybe a nice Wagner opera or something but usually it's just cold miserable calculation and grief.
It would be nice for a systematic approch to work, but numbers are evil.
PS. I had a professor who acted like everything was just a big game to him. Jackass couldn't even bother to teach right and just plowed right through the course material without bothering to actually address anything properly. Took 5 chapters in two weeks or work and then proceeded to make the wost presentation of all the worst complexities of object orientation (this was a cs1 class). He obviously knew information but damn if he wasn't going to let that information out to anyone in a comphrensible way. Yeah playing around is really so terribly useful that it is indespensible. Sometimes it's better to shut up and teach something properly.
The problem is that Universities hire people on the skill that they have, not their ability to teach, 99% of the lecturers that I had where quite gifted in their chosen field, luck if 20% of them had any idea how to teach something though.
I guess what I am trying to say is that Computing/CompSci/IT is so individual to us all. does it really matter what somebody's motivation is as long as they do the job, from the buisness side, no, and that is where most of the money comes from, but if you can find yourself in a job that you love, and you get paod well for it, then best of luck to you, isn't that what we all really want?
One thing that Pisses me off, and it has been mentioned in a few comments is people inability to understand the difference between animation in Japan and America.
In Americia cartoon are for kids, period. if it's drawn it must be for children, because real adults don't want to watch animation. What a dumb arse theroy.
In Japan, animation/drawn is just another way to make films. and some excellent ones are.
And to anyone who believes that cartoons are silly, remember that the Matrix, a hugely popular movie, pulled a LOT of tricks from Manga films.
So, wake up and smell the coffee, or alternativly, ignore the Anime section of slashdot, your choice.
Well, Firstly I would like to point out that the "Movie" as it where has been out for some time, but let's not confuse *out* with *avaliable*.
Now I got my copy from the guy who runs the local collectors shop, He is also an Evangelion fan and his *friend* who travels through Japan got him a copy and he, in turn, made me a copy. It has been distributed like that for some time, especially here in Australia (Where manga is, well, HUGE)
But this is the japanese version, with subtitles, not an english dubbed version, where as this release will be both. Happy as piss about that!
Secondly, it isn't a movie as such. anyone who remembers the last two episodes may, or may not, agree that it was a bit abstract. I enjoyed them and I felt it was an excellent end to Shinji's struggle within himself, but as an end to Evangelion... It left me a bit wanting. The *Movies* are really another two episodes (long episodes) to end Evangelion, all the issues that where developing all through the series with Rei, Seele, Gendo, Nerv, etc... are dealt with and resolved (more or less).
Anyway, that's my two bob worth, I personally cannot wait for it, even though I have a copy of the Japanese version, I will still be buying it.
What an interesting theroy, that the gravatational attractionm of the earth is pulling the moon but the moon has managed to counter these effect by exerting it's gravatational force on our oceans.
Interesting theroy indeed.
Can't be April fools because it was posted on Monday April 02, @09:04AM according to my slashdot. 9 hours too late for the Australians
Its this kind of thinking that leads me to come to Slashdot in the first place
100% agreed on that one. if it wasn't for slahdot's creative slant (and excellent technical coverage) I might as well use the MS network. so 3 cheers for slashdot!
Its pretty safe to assume that any alien who comes here will be much more advanced than us
by the sheer fact they can reach us would indicate that they have had longer to perfect their technology and therefore longer to perfect their society (not that it would be perfect by this theroy, it may be quite mucked up, just for longer;-p )
In fact, I think we would have to be grateful that any aliens would want to have anything to do with us, after they witness the violence we've done to each other, and to our planet.
O.K. here's the bit that begins to tick me. Why do we assume that any alien society that May come across our tiny corner of the galaxy has a utopian existance. I am going to ask that we pretend for a moment
let us suppose that we didn't give up the space race after the moon landing (lets be honest, after that the entire thing fell down). Let us suppose that after man took the moon the Russian's and American's decided to work together and that the Secret Service dicided NOT to assassinate the US President because of it (Kennedy wanted to work with the Russians to reach the moon and soon after was assassinated. Hmmmmmmmm)
Anyway, within 5 years we (mankind that is) manage to establise a Mir like base on the moon. this event of the two biggest superpowers on earth working together to establish co-operation outside the confines of earth based politics inspires mankind and many inquiring minds turn to the goal of space and space travel, and not commercial/financial pursuits. 10 years after that with the weight of the world behind it the first human travels to Mars. so in 1984-85 mankind reaches the next planet. With the techniques we discovered in our quest for the moon we manage to get a base and/or an orbital station set up in 2-3 years.
So lets say it is now 1988. we begin to construct a craft to reach Pluto and return to Mars. 5 years later it is complete and we launch it. Lets say it is a 4 year round trip (I am presuming that we make some big advances in drive/engine technology). so in ~1995 mankind reaches the edge of out solar system.
10 years later (2005) we manage to propel a man just past the speed of light and make the trip to Pluto in a few hours, orbit Pluto and head back to Mars, the entire journey taking under a week. 5 years later (2010) we have faster than light engines, lets say we can max out at 7 X the speed of light. meaning that we can reach Alpha Centuari in only 8 mths. So in 2011 we plant our flag in a new system and we happen across what appers to be a space station. it appears that another species has the same goals as us and reached alpha centuari 2 years ahead of us. First Contact is made.
Now who is to say that these aliens are massively more advanced than us. they only achieved what we were trying to do 2 years ahead of us. the astronaughts of both species manage to figure out a common interpration of each others languages and begin to trade technology. a few engine ideas here, a faster computing method there, tiny bits and pieces, nothing that will change society.
So the astronaughts being a trusting bunch decide to do an exchange. the Humans take one alien and the Aliens take one Human. (after figuring out the basics of a new language that we can use to communicate, Let us also suppose that one of the scientific advances the aliens had was a faster than light radio wave, so that the two teams of astronaughts can communicate in more or less realtime,. so our two teams have, say 3 mths to figure out an effective language. So 5 mths out of communication range the Humans arrive back at Mars with a visitor, now he has had 8 mths of human contact and he decides that he wants to live amoung humans as a representive of his species so that we can learn to get along.
Now, Who's to say that his species didn't have a world war, maybe that was what inspired his/her people to reach for the stars. Maybe a nuclear weapon was deployed and wipped out an entire culture and it was decided that that the species must unite to avoid this ever happening again. Or maybe a Nuclear accident trigged a chain reaction that made the planet much more unhospitable and the species decide to find more alternative homes until they could reverse the effect.
point being that there are most likely (in fact I am sure) other species out their developing their own technology and looking at the stars and wondering if their is anyone out their.
Hey, or here is another one, let us suppose that we are the most advanced race in the galaxy and in 500 years we may be the agressors in a galatic war.
It is not a lame question, is is a damned good one. But I, for one, and not holding my breath for a highly advanced alien species to come down here, observe out dirty little planet, shake his head and say, "hey, here is some technology and ideas that will fix everything". We need to fix our own prolems
NASA, A is not american, it's National Areonautical and Space Administration. but that "National" is not International, and it IS an American agency, funded by the American government and other American sources, no matter which way you twist and turn it, it IS American.
People here (slashdot) say that the Russian's should have consulted with NASA on this project, this is true, it is the International Space Station after all, But Russia are part of the International effort to build the International Space Station and their fiancial situation is rather important to the completion of the ISS.
There has been an awful lot of critism of the Russian space program and what they can offer the ISS. Shall I remind you that Russia, whilst having 1/18th of the funding that NASA has have managed to succesfully maintain a space station for 15 years. 15 years is a lot of experience, and whilst the ISS is shiny and new it may not be an issue, but what will happen in 10, 15 years. it is that sort of experience that will pull it through.
The point that I am trying to make is that this IS NOT a cut and dry, black and white issue. Russia have the right to facilitate their own space program, just as NASA has the right to question the validity of a tourist on the ISS. Once we start saying that one faction is more Right than the other we are putting them in charge of the ISS and then it is no longer the ISS but the ASS, RSS or the CSS etc... and then there will be ownership over space, by a nation, and that scares the Crap out of me.
In three words,
"Pirates of Sillicon Valley" was a fantastic film, I loved it. The technical side was fasinating, but that has been covered by many texts. What I found fasinating by the movie (and I suspect that it is also in the book, though I have not read it) is the potrayal of the Gates/Jobs relationship, and the way that these men behaved inside and outside of their respective companies. There is no "Hero" as such. Very informative
The Issue of Ethics and It is a hairy one, has been for years.
When I was at University we had to write an essay about ethics in IT and why the was no defined code of ethics in the IT field.
Well, Why isn't there?
In my eyes it is because the IT field (unlike most professions) is a mish mash of so many existing fields such as Commerce, Retail, Engineering etc... Most fields have a code of Ethics attatched because the Public can see the effects of them.
Engineering, well, that bridge was built be engineers, I want to have faith that it won't fall down while I am on it.
Doctors, if I'm sick I want to be cured and not have my health put at risk.
Accounting, I am putting my Business/finances in the hands of these people, if they muck it up I could have nothing.
It is very easy for the general Public to see the effect of these fields on thier life, but IT is a different beast entirely. It's not that people don't understand the effects of computers on their life, but the people who provide computers to them, well, ummm, if something goes wrong, that just happens (Windows anyone???)
IT needs two things
One - The public to be educated (But that's not happening for a long time, but with children getting in to computers at an early age it will eventually happen)
Two - Accountability. If you buy a car and it breaks down, you take it back and get it fixed. If you by a computer and it crashes, you take it back, have it looked at, told to buy program "X" that will ensure that the OS will run smoothly, but Program "X" won't work with Program "Y" so you need Prgram "Z" to ensure that they can co-exist.
there is, unfortunatly, no accountability in Computing
it is easier for the public to believe that there are no ethics in IT, then when things go bad (and they often do, to varying degrees) it's just to be expected, it saves a lot of questions to which the answers are un-understandable to the general Public
Slashdot Mirror
That's interesting -- I would have guessed that DVD's last longer. VHS tapes are vulnerable to being chewed up by the VCR, and on some old videos that I have the magnetic tape is just wearing out. DVD's avoid both of those problems, but I suppose you're right about the scratching
In my experience DVD's are a lot easier to damage than a Videotape. but DVD's, if taken care of, will last a lot longer.
Video's will deterioate, DVD's will not, however, droping a video on the ground does little damage to a Video, a DVD is a different matter, and I've seen the way some people treat rentals.
On paper there is no doubt that communism is the best polotical system there is. total equality. The problem with communism, and it is just one problem, is people. The above statemant is 100% correct. people do not want to be equal, they want to be better
I can't see this basic, evolution-wired, desire ever changing.
Well, that I don't agree with, anything can happen, and human behaviour has changed throughout history. but it would take time.
But Phantom Menance wasn't the same as ANH, ESB and ROTJ. Different story, different period, different characters. I wasn't expecting it to be like the trilogy, and I wasn't dissapointed.
But I think the major thing that people are forgetting is the George Lucas owns Star Wars, it is His story, his ideas he can do with it what he pleases. Maybe these where the ideas he had all along, maybe he made them up just before he started writing Episode one. I don't know. But it is his to play with not mine.
I admit that if I had made episode one I would have done it drastically different But I didn't and I couldn't.
we don't have to like what George Lucas has done, but we cannot stop him
Trav
I was really looking forward to Simsville, the idea of linking SimCity 3000 to the Sims seemed fantastic, but it did sound like a massive undertaking.
I know of no other company that has the balls to say, "nope, it was to big, we couldn't do it. sorry"
I applaude you Maxis and eagerly await whaterver you bring out next
Trav
I, like most of the world, was deeply saddened by the events of Tuesday last week but I am at a loss to why the leaders of the world have reacted in such a potentialy violent way. Dubya says that this is a war of Good vs Evil. Now if I remember correctly Nazi Germany also stuck out against the evil that suppressed their development and growth after WW1. Good and Evil are mearly perceptions and now there will be a war based purly on these perceptions.
I agree that terrorism must be stopped, but not at all cost, for that would make both sides as bad as each other, surly threatening war against Afganastan unless they surrender Omassa Bin Laden equates to the use of violence and terror against someone to achieve your own ends, and isn't that terrorism in itself?
Americia had a chance here to really show the world how to deal with terrorism, instead they reacted in exactly they way the terrorists would have planned. If anything this will make the United States much more hated by a much larger populace which, in turn, will only increase the frequency of terrorists attacks and justify to a larger population the actions of the terrorists.
Wasn't it said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Where was the part about revenge and war?
Anyway, if the citizens of Americia feel more comfortable burning books and waging war then so be it, I just hope that sombody in power realises what the consequences of those actions might be and tries to protect the future, not destroy it.
Trav
I Agree, Lego is very very social, but it can be enjoyed alone too. It if far better that the action figure craze I think, and much more social that most toys on the market. I had a few friends that would come over with their tub of lego and we would build massive spacebases and the like. The problem was playing with my sisters (I have 2 younger sisters, no brothers) They would always steal the best pieces or make furniture for their barbies.
There is also a new Lego Board game out called 'Creator' You start off with an instrucion card for a basic lego model, as does everyone else and the idea is to move around the board to collect the pieces you need to finish it, I would call that fairly social too.
If you do want another social aspect of lego, get some friends together, build yourself an army and play BrikWars. Mass destruction on a MiniFig scale!!!
Trav
And prices are way down on what you would pay retail anyway. It's good fun to look around and hear other peoples opinion on the new intel chip, or how nVidia are taking over the market with this next chip etc... One might even call it a learning experience
And if you are lucky, there might even be somebody BBQ'ing food for ya all to munch on.
A Grand Day Out.
Trav
I loved her character on "Just Shoot Me", showed she can do comical well, and Xena showed she can do a fair bit of action (I want to see Lucy as a Sith lord in star wars, if you are out there Lucas...). I think Lucy Lawless has shown that you don't have to be an Americian to be a fantastic actor, maybe a few of the executives at the studios should notice that. If Lucy wins an award for her preformance we Aussies better hurry up and claim her as our own, she did work in Australia for a while, maybe not as an actor, but...
At least us Aussies will get a chance to see it for it is unlikely that channel ten (who screens the X-Files here) will ditch X-Files MIDWAY though a season (such as the 4th season) and play the rest off months later at 4am in the morning!!!
Maybe I speak too soon though
Trav
Didn't Linus sue someone for using the work Linux in someting that wasn't really Linux related purely to protect his hold on the name.
I do not pretend to understand the US legal system but I have heard a bit about this defence of copyright. If you don't defend it it can be implied that he has no interest in defending the copyright in the future. Or something along those lines anyway.
Trav
When I was doing engineering at University we had to build responsive systems using Lego Dacta (educational tool kits, Mindstorms was born from this). Our group build a roving unit that would sense and object in front of it, if is was blue or yellow lego bricks it would attack it (swing an arm and knock it down) otherwise it would try to find a path around it.
Now that was 7 years ago, I think we could develop a lot more fun robotics and programming now.
Good evening and welcome to Slashdot Robot Fighters
I like the idea of that
Trav
Yes
The issue is not one of which is better, Lego or Meccano, nor is an issue of the dumbing down of lego etc...
The Issue is why aren't children becomming engineers, I can tell you why, there is no incentive anymore. I started my Uni days as an engineer, but when I went through school everyone was talking about the new "IT" field and how everyone should get into this booming area. IT has taken a lot of the people who would have fallen into science and engineering. It's no the fault of IT, but no-one (and I mean no-one at all) is promoting engineering anymore. and even those who do go into engineering (like myself) find that it is not what it is cracked up to be, I left engineering because it didn't offer me the choices I want. I went into IT because it did.
Both Lego and Meccano featured heavily in my childhood and they both gave me an understanding of physics and the real world. That, I guess, drove me towards Engineering in the first place. But I was much more into Lego, still am, This claim is just stupid and anyone who puts hold by it really is an idiot. Wood, Wooden blocks, Straws, spagetti, twigs, clay. I have built structures and objects out of all of these. It is not the medium but the outlet. Less and less people are putting their outlet into engineering. Why? Well that is the issue really.
Trav
Now in Australia we have plastic money, so much harded to begin counterfiting, and that is without the protections. I believe that a hologram type thing could be use on plastic money without to much issue really.
As for they power supply for these chips, I would imagine that they could be used like those protection chips they put in things at big stores (and comic stores) that make scanners beep madly if you try to shoplift. Or something like that.
I have heard that the treasury department or whoever controls that stuff in the US has a stockpile of plastic money ready to go, but they will not until they have assured full circulatiopn in 3 days. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, tell 'em the're dreaming.
Incidently, the money that they used in "Space, above and beyond" (the episode with David Duchovny as an AI playing pool) was Australian money. But seeing that it was filmed in Australia that could be the sloe reason I suppose. Just a side note anyway for you interest.
Trav
Like an old friend it greated me this morning and all is well.
(There is no way it would have taken that long to return using high warp, remembering the restriction of high warp speeds was enacted by the federation only after Voyager was deemed lost)
The warp 6 restriction has been enacted for some time, it was mentioned in TNG a few times (Pricard was authorised to exceed warp 6 on a few occasions)
Now I always "thanked" my peers by name at the end of my assignments, and included any book that I might have read, seen, heard of, etc.. that related to the topic (any many that didn't too). I once referenced "Star Trek" in a physics assignment, and also in a management essay.
This often lead to me having a MASSIVE biblography in my work, along with many web pages. now, I'm in a class with 100 other students (it is a small university in regional Victoria, Australia) the assignment has to be handed back in, say, 3 weeks. Now that is a LOT of checking to do on just one assignment, I knew it never would be done. But once I was called up because another student had work very similar to mine. we both where placed in a room with the lecturer, Head of school and the tutor for the class and asked questions. Now I had given this student a look at my assignement befor i had refinded it and before I had included the biblography. They had, indeed, used some elements of my assignment, not so much chuncks of it, but we had worked together and I had told him about some of my sources. but he hadn't referenced them. a simple mistake, many make it.
The question is, is that cheating or is it just being neglectful and unaware. Some people hate referencing, and therefor do not do it properly. many incidents of cheating where like that.
Trav
Who does like being lectured, I don't. Unfortunatly the sterotype that many computer guys are put into is one of a hacker, A genuis in what he/she does but very slack in social skills etc...
I think we all know how untrue this image really is, but who in the corporate world does? If there is any hope of changing the perception of Linux and Open Source we need to confront these people within their world, if we try to drag them into our world and convince them here, it cannot work. They will be so uncomfortable than all that we say and do will be automatically forgot. It's not so much the image that we present, although that is important, but the World we come from. It's not that businessmen/woman if afraid of new solutions or new technology. but they ARE afraid of anything outside their understanding, and that IS Business.
Look at M$, they are a business, they are involved in business, they must know business. Now look at these Linux advocates, they are outside Business, they do not conform to business, why the hell should I listen to them?
Why indeed? We need to change THAT perception first
Trav
The DVDisc was around for some time before the Industry decided on a format, then they introduced that stupid region encoding, which, in fairness, isn't an issue 96% of the time, but is just another method for price control. (I cannot seek out a cheaper DVD in Australia because the Studio's/Distributors control what goes into the Australia Market as opposed to what is avaliable in the US, UK, Europe Canada etc...)
And then there is the studios. In Australia (Region 4 for those who are interested) you can Hire X-Men on DVD, no issues, but you cannot buy it. There are many films, plenty from Fox, that are like that. Why??? Because Fox have decided, in Australia anyway, that is is more profitable to not release a DVD for sale because ??? Well, there is no reason given other than DVD apparantly is less profitable than Video. If that where the true case (and DVD has pushed the price of video's down nearly 20% here) why would any studio release DVD's, they are about making money after all.
My point is that DVD offer a lot to the comsumer in principal, but very few studio's/distributators offer ANY of it.
Trav
I don't know maybe it's a function of crappy teachers and despair.
Or Both. When I did my Computing degree, I sat on the course committee in my final year (token student member) and at the time there where a massive number of drop outs in the course. The answer was to raise the TER entry score (similar to SAT's). It didn't fix the problem, because it wasn't the people with lower TER's that where dropping out, it was the ones that had the Higher TER's and where getting frustrated and bored with the teaching. These people could go anywhere with their TER, they didn't have to put up with it. Those who stayed did so because they wanted like Hell to get their degree, for what ever reason
"They can't seem to understand that sometimes I do my best work at night so I sleep in and come to work a little later."
I to, am a night owl. which is perfectly accepctable within Computing and/or Computer Science but IT is the Business side of Computing. and in the Business world you do as you are told and do not ask questions. This is why there is so much stress I suppose
"I can understand how the attitudes and behavioral differences can seem odd, different, or annoying. However, it is one of those things you have to deal with. Trust me, someone who acts like a kid with a big toy will be far more productive than some one who does it just for a job. "
I have a hard time thinking that way with the things that I write since they are usually stupid little programs that are more for the academic waste of time and probably never will be useful. CS has the problem that all areas have and that is they rarely actually give you some idea and maybe some projects that might be similar to ones that are often encountered in industry.
The "kids with toy's" idea isn't new, but it does imply somebody who has a passion, the want to do what they are doing because they enjoy it. But being from a Computing degree, I to noticed that the assignments that we got somehow seemed to be a unproductive waste of time, but sometimes it was fun to play around with.
Playing with toys really isn't something that I do and I very much doubt that it would make me more efficient. I see programming as a person doing battle. The problem is I often have the evil soldier battling me and pinned to the ground. There is little room for imagination or creativity with stupid things like data structures or random acts of prearranged coding and there really isn't any use for it because then you have problems pleasing the compiler gods.
Ohhhhh, I so play with toys, helps me when I'm stuck in a rut, spill the lego out on the floor and start creating. but lego is such a logical toy and helps me get my mind into a logical frame, which you need for programming. But programming, as mentioned above, doesn't always allow creative outlets, people don't want something creative, they want a tool. that is all. and they done apreciate the effort that you, the programmer, put into it. If I asked for a Hammer and I was given a Pink one with purple pokla dots, I would question why, but it would still function as a hammer right? I guess it has to do with the world still viewing anyone in IT as nerds.
In conclusion I would welcome a systematic process that would work over a process that would most likely be done in an area that actually could use something like that. However there are more useful things. Maybe a nice Wagner opera or something but usually it's just cold miserable calculation and grief.
It would be nice for a systematic approch to work, but numbers are evil.
PS. I had a professor who acted like everything was just a big game to him. Jackass couldn't even bother to teach right and just plowed right through the course material without bothering to actually address anything properly. Took 5 chapters in two weeks or work and then proceeded to make the wost presentation of all the worst complexities of object orientation (this was a cs1 class). He obviously knew information but damn if he wasn't going to let that information out to anyone in a comphrensible way. Yeah playing around is really so terribly useful that it is indespensible. Sometimes it's better to shut up and teach something properly.
The problem is that Universities hire people on the skill that they have, not their ability to teach, 99% of the lecturers that I had where quite gifted in their chosen field, luck if 20% of them had any idea how to teach something though.
I guess what I am trying to say is that Computing/CompSci/IT is so individual to us all. does it really matter what somebody's motivation is as long as they do the job, from the buisness side, no, and that is where most of the money comes from, but if you can find yourself in a job that you love, and you get paod well for it, then best of luck to you, isn't that what we all really want?
Trav
In Americia cartoon are for kids, period. if it's drawn it must be for children, because real adults don't want to watch animation. What a dumb arse theroy.
In Japan, animation/drawn is just another way to make films. and some excellent ones are.
And to anyone who believes that cartoons are silly, remember that the Matrix, a hugely popular movie, pulled a LOT of tricks from Manga films.
So, wake up and smell the coffee, or alternativly, ignore the Anime section of slashdot, your choice.
Trav
Now I got my copy from the guy who runs the local collectors shop, He is also an Evangelion fan and his *friend* who travels through Japan got him a copy and he, in turn, made me a copy. It has been distributed like that for some time, especially here in Australia (Where manga is, well, HUGE)
But this is the japanese version, with subtitles, not an english dubbed version, where as this release will be both. Happy as piss about that!
Secondly, it isn't a movie as such. anyone who remembers the last two episodes may, or may not, agree that it was a bit abstract. I enjoyed them and I felt it was an excellent end to Shinji's struggle within himself, but as an end to Evangelion... It left me a bit wanting. The *Movies* are really another two episodes (long episodes) to end Evangelion, all the issues that where developing all through the series with Rei, Seele, Gendo, Nerv, etc... are dealt with and resolved (more or less).
Anyway, that's my two bob worth, I personally cannot wait for it, even though I have a copy of the Japanese version, I will still be buying it.
Trav
Interesting theroy indeed.
Can't be April fools because it was posted on Monday April 02, @09:04AM according to my slashdot. 9 hours too late for the Australians
in comedy, timing is everything.
Trav
100% agreed on that one. if it wasn't for slahdot's creative slant (and excellent technical coverage) I might as well use the MS network. so 3 cheers for slashdot!
Its pretty safe to assume that any alien who comes here will be much more advanced than us
by the sheer fact they can reach us would indicate that they have had longer to perfect their technology and therefore longer to perfect their society (not that it would be perfect by this theroy, it may be quite mucked up, just for longer ;-p )
In fact, I think we would have to be grateful that any aliens would want to have anything to do with us, after they witness the violence we've done to each other, and to our planet.
O.K. here's the bit that begins to tick me. Why do we assume that any alien society that May come across our tiny corner of the galaxy has a utopian existance. I am going to ask that we pretend for a moment
let us suppose that we didn't give up the space race after the moon landing (lets be honest, after that the entire thing fell down). Let us suppose that after man took the moon the Russian's and American's decided to work together and that the Secret Service dicided NOT to assassinate the US President because of it (Kennedy wanted to work with the Russians to reach the moon and soon after was assassinated. Hmmmmmmmm)
Anyway, within 5 years we (mankind that is) manage to establise a Mir like base on the moon. this event of the two biggest superpowers on earth working together to establish co-operation outside the confines of earth based politics inspires mankind and many inquiring minds turn to the goal of space and space travel, and not commercial/financial pursuits. 10 years after that with the weight of the world behind it the first human travels to Mars. so in 1984-85 mankind reaches the next planet. With the techniques we discovered in our quest for the moon we manage to get a base and/or an orbital station set up in 2-3 years.
So lets say it is now 1988. we begin to construct a craft to reach Pluto and return to Mars. 5 years later it is complete and we launch it. Lets say it is a 4 year round trip (I am presuming that we make some big advances in drive/engine technology). so in ~1995 mankind reaches the edge of out solar system.
10 years later (2005) we manage to propel a man just past the speed of light and make the trip to Pluto in a few hours, orbit Pluto and head back to Mars, the entire journey taking under a week. 5 years later (2010) we have faster than light engines, lets say we can max out at 7 X the speed of light. meaning that we can reach Alpha Centuari in only 8 mths. So in 2011 we plant our flag in a new system and we happen across what appers to be a space station. it appears that another species has the same goals as us and reached alpha centuari 2 years ahead of us. First Contact is made.
Now who is to say that these aliens are massively more advanced than us. they only achieved what we were trying to do 2 years ahead of us. the astronaughts of both species manage to figure out a common interpration of each others languages and begin to trade technology. a few engine ideas here, a faster computing method there, tiny bits and pieces, nothing that will change society.
So the astronaughts being a trusting bunch decide to do an exchange. the Humans take one alien and the Aliens take one Human. (after figuring out the basics of a new language that we can use to communicate, Let us also suppose that one of the scientific advances the aliens had was a faster than light radio wave, so that the two teams of astronaughts can communicate in more or less realtime,. so our two teams have, say 3 mths to figure out an effective language. So 5 mths out of communication range the Humans arrive back at Mars with a visitor, now he has had 8 mths of human contact and he decides that he wants to live amoung humans as a representive of his species so that we can learn to get along.
Now, Who's to say that his species didn't have a world war, maybe that was what inspired his/her people to reach for the stars. Maybe a nuclear weapon was deployed and wipped out an entire culture and it was decided that that the species must unite to avoid this ever happening again. Or maybe a Nuclear accident trigged a chain reaction that made the planet much more unhospitable and the species decide to find more alternative homes until they could reverse the effect.
point being that there are most likely (in fact I am sure) other species out their developing their own technology and looking at the stars and wondering if their is anyone out their.
Hey, or here is another one, let us suppose that we are the most advanced race in the galaxy and in 500 years we may be the agressors in a galatic war.
It is not a lame question, is is a damned good one. But I, for one, and not holding my breath for a highly advanced alien species to come down here, observe out dirty little planet, shake his head and say, "hey, here is some technology and ideas that will fix everything". We need to fix our own prolems
Trav
People here (slashdot) say that the Russian's should have consulted with NASA on this project, this is true, it is the International Space Station after all, But Russia are part of the International effort to build the International Space Station and their fiancial situation is rather important to the completion of the ISS.
There has been an awful lot of critism of the Russian space program and what they can offer the ISS. Shall I remind you that Russia, whilst having 1/18th of the funding that NASA has have managed to succesfully maintain a space station for 15 years. 15 years is a lot of experience, and whilst the ISS is shiny and new it may not be an issue, but what will happen in 10, 15 years. it is that sort of experience that will pull it through.
The point that I am trying to make is that this IS NOT a cut and dry, black and white issue. Russia have the right to facilitate their own space program, just as NASA has the right to question the validity of a tourist on the ISS. Once we start saying that one faction is more Right than the other we are putting them in charge of the ISS and then it is no longer the ISS but the ASS, RSS or the CSS etc... and then there will be ownership over space, by a nation, and that scares the Crap out of me.
In three words,
Miliatrisation
Of
Space
and THAT is as scary as all fuck.
Trav
Trav
When I was at University we had to write an essay about ethics in IT and why the was no defined code of ethics in the IT field.
Well, Why isn't there?
In my eyes it is because the IT field (unlike most professions) is a mish mash of so many existing fields such as Commerce, Retail, Engineering etc... Most fields have a code of Ethics attatched because the Public can see the effects of them.
Engineering, well, that bridge was built be engineers, I want to have faith that it won't fall down while I am on it.
Doctors, if I'm sick I want to be cured and not have my health put at risk.
Accounting, I am putting my Business/finances in the hands of these people, if they muck it up I could have nothing.
It is very easy for the general Public to see the effect of these fields on thier life, but IT is a different beast entirely. It's not that people don't understand the effects of computers on their life, but the people who provide computers to them, well, ummm, if something goes wrong, that just happens (Windows anyone???)
IT needs two things
One - The public to be educated (But that's not happening for a long time, but with children getting in to computers at an early age it will eventually happen)
Two - Accountability. If you buy a car and it breaks down, you take it back and get it fixed. If you by a computer and it crashes, you take it back, have it looked at, told to buy program "X" that will ensure that the OS will run smoothly, but Program "X" won't work with Program "Y" so you need Prgram "Z" to ensure that they can co-exist. there is, unfortunatly, no accountability in Computing
it is easier for the public to believe that there are no ethics in IT, then when things go bad (and they often do, to varying degrees) it's just to be expected, it saves a lot of questions to which the answers are un-understandable to the general Public
Trav