$8,000 in liquidated damages, and not as a penalty? Look, if your server melts every time a credit card transaction is cancelled, that's your fucking fault, and not mine.
Liquidated damages only stand up in court if they're a reasonable approximation of the actual damages incurred by a breach of contract. Eight thousand dollars for a simple chargeback is punitive - regardless of the language in your EULA.
The use of most arable land conforms to a somewhat narrow range of temperature and rainfall. While there is certainly the capacity to adapt farming techniques to these different norms, to be perfectly honest, it would be very expensive and difficult, not to mention resulting in a rather precipitous drop in agricultural output in the meantime. Like it or not, we (people who rely on agriculture) have a fairly entrenched set of interests in the status quo insofar as it relates to climate.
I think the issue is not whether RFID is 'bad' or 'good' - it's just information-gathering technology, after all. The question we should be asking, the one we can not trust the corporation to make, is 'do the pros outweigh the cons.' You can be assured that, if left to corporate oversight solely, it will prove to be invasive and ultimately infringe upon our right to privacy, in addition to whatever benefits it may also confer.
Have you ever considered juxtaposing the extreme yet socially reviled behavior of the 'Trekkies' against the no less extreme but socially accepted behavior of (for example) sports fans? Is it the 'socially aberrant' element that draws you to the subject?
Wait, wait, wait. So your teary-eyed logger was upset because a government welfare program got yanked (yeah, Federal [and therefore PUBLICALLY] owned land + lumber given away at below-cost price = welfare), and you vote Republican because free trade gutted your family's chosen profession. I'm having a hard time connecting the dots... you DO know that Bush backs free trade (despite some knee-bending to steel protectionism) right?
How is it the Liberals took yer jobs? Why is it the Liberals are namby-pamby for cutting social programs? Why are Liberals responsible for all legislation (e.g. the proposed INDUCE act) that curtails rights to ownership more so than Republicans? You tend to see Liberals as restrictive; I think your perspective needs widening.
Sigh. Ok, please note that judges are not expected to have ANY technical expertise related to the scientific or technological merits of the case at hand. If he puts it in quotes, he's likely referring to what the original finders of fact (read = jury) established when the case originally appeared in the lower court. Moreover, these were likely specific definitions that formed the crux of the matter at hand, at least as it pertained to the original ruling. Putting something in quotes DOES NOT mean that he doesn't understand english; rather, it means that he is referring to the original holding and the terms it used to frame the matter.
Regarding Tom Bombadil, one of the things the screenwriters mention in TTT commentary is that they switched a lot of the expository dialogue between characters if the tone remained the same. So, in TTT extended, Treebeard actually has some of Tom Bombadil's speeches (for example, it's Tom Bombadil's poem he recites to calm the tree that entangles Merry and Pippin). John Rhys-Davies (voice of Treebeard) also has some improvised lines in the movie, like about enjoying going South (it feels like walking downhill).
It's a testament to PJ's love and understanding of the original text that allows him to incorporate these rearrangements into his story without ruining the tone of the movies.
This is largely what Futurama intends to parody - a century of absurd futurist speculation and fantasy.
I'm also guessing your post is intentionally offtopic; the article in question is refreshingly free of the crap you are railing against. Not that you didn't RTFA.
I remember in psychology class, they had us draw a map of our house and the major landmarks around it. Invariably, people overestimated the distance between their house and places they disliked (school for example) and underestimated the distance between home & places they liked.
Interestingly though, I remember getting really good at estimating the time left until class got out (the class was otherwise hideously boring). The skill remains with me to this day.
Quite right. Cheap shots at the general state of education in the most powerful nation on the earth are clearly inappropriate. I hereby change the original post to,
"Slashdot: however bright we may be, we have only a hazy idea of the rest of the world."
Do you take sarcastic, flippant comments far too seriously?
"Some of our employees, however bright they may be, have only a hazy idea about the rest of the world," he said."... and this is different from the rest of America how exactly?
Naah... in my sophomore math class my teacher would always inspire excitement... in particular, regarding the question of how many times 16 actually would go into 29.
(Shamelessly lifted from _Infinite Jest_, by David Foster Wallace).
Re:Why jog when you can bike ?
on
Running for Geeks
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Well I don't know what the laws are where you live, but around here it's illegal to bike on the sidewalk (plus, you'd have to use a mountain bike - very few sidewalks here are wheelchair accessible [which equals 6-inch dead-drop curbs] and the roads have more holes than SCO's lawsuit). Only a suicidal thrill-seeker would bike on SC streets. Also, it's easier to grab lunch-hour exercise by jogging... and it's cheaper, lets you actually appreciate scenery instead of focusing on where you're going, etc. etc.
I think the larger question, the one I was attempting to address, was that most sci-fi writers tend to be immature in some sense. Whether this is simply knowing one's market, or a byproduct of focusing too narrowly on one's craft, I couldn't say. As to taking things personally... yeah, you could probably level that criticism at me. But you're not exactly above it yourself, gauging from the tone of your reply.
On the other hand, I think you are absolutely right on several counts. But to deconstruct someone's psyche based on his or her work and some interviews you've read, and then present it as a (rather damning) criticism of the same author ('typical Shirow'; 'needs to grow up') is in many senses extraordinarily flippant. To truly understand someone requires a lot more information than you suggest you have. If you extrapolate to specifics from limited data, it tends to reflect more upon you than your subject. Had you been more upfront about this to begin with...
But you happen to be right about his work deteriorating over time... I didn't enjoy Ghost in the Shell nearly as much as earlier Appleseed, but I think this is partly his loss of touch with more profound, overarching ideas, and not his lack of dramatic flair (which IMO was never particularly good - all his character interaction ever did [well] was serve as exposition or sounding boards for his ideas).
Anyhow, sorry if I hit a nerve.
Uhhhh... right. First of all, if you don't like big-breasted women, you might want to consider a genre other than anime. Secondly, this anime is based on the second Appleseed graphic novel, the core of which is simply an incredible set of ideas, and not a particularly compelling drama (go back and actually read the boring political stuff - there are some interesting ideas there). There are other satisfying genres out there if drama is your thing.
Is Shirow immature, or perhaps the question would be, more so than his contemporaries? Have you read any other sci-fi (I'm thinking Stephenson, but one could just as easily point to Asimov)? Lastly, take a look at where you're posting; accusations of immaturity don't hold much currency around here.
I don't know how much of an Onion devotee you are, but that headline about 'Jenna Bush's federally protected wetlands now open for drilling' was pretty risque. Don't get me wrong - satire has a long and rich tradition of being scandalous, filthy, heretical, etc., and is unquestionably the better for it. Whether it's appropriate for junior high kids to be exposed to it, that's another matter - and before you start directing them there, it might save both headaches and tedious job searches by evaluating sites which you'd otherwise consider 'perfectly reasonable.'
Right. So could I just as well theorize that distinctions we use to deliniate objects are every bit as arbitrary as time? In my mind, they are just convenient abstractions about the 'nature' of things based on how we perceive them; I think perhaps what this guy is arguing is that we need to be more mindful of extrapolating overmuch from such fundamentally imperfect abstractions. The litmus test will be if he can create a division of science that requires no measurement, and in fact is completely free from human preconception. Douglas Adams, where are you in our time of need?
Yes! I was hoping someone else would have noticed that... it's cool that Cornel West would do something (again) that is likely to irritate his peers (who accused him of playing to the masses when he released that spoken-word CD of his). And I agree that the dance scene was very cool, although my friends hated it. I get the sense that a personal experience inspired that scene, just as personal experience made it more endearing to me. A lot of electronic musicicans draws inspiration from science fiction, and it's great to see the relationship become reciprocal. IMO, what makes the Matrix movies so interesting are their subtextual content. That Zion rave scene suggests a wealth of commentary on issues that just seem to pass under the radar of your average individual... a shame really, but then it's also fun to think you understood more of what the Wachowskis were trying to get across. =D
I agree in principle, but having spent two years in a failing West African nation (go Peace Corps!) I'd have to say that the picture really isn't that simple. Assuming your nation isn't run by thugs and Kleptocrats (and it's a rare African nation that isn't), and that you have a viable infrastructure, and that the Old & New world aren't bleeding your market with unfair trade restrictions, and that your population has at least a baseline education, and that America isn't warping your economy with no-strings-attached foreign aid (a discussion in-and-of itself), THEN you have the possibility of this actually proving its worth.
I still think Geekcorps' a great idea; building a solid economic base is the only realistic means of sustainable development. But until the major players make major changes in how they deal with 3rd World nations, GC will at best benefit a tiny percentage of a few lucky nations.
> Personally, I think nuclear energy is the only realistic way to go
Right, it's not like maintenance on nuclear storage facilities, multiplied by the absurd length of time nuclear waste remains dangerous makes it a fundamentally unwise choice. And it's not like nuclear containment's ever failed before, or that the damage to the human and natural environment would be irreversible or anything. I mean, all we have to do is keep this useless, potentially lethal waste material from leaking for thousands of years. I'm sure taxpayers through the ages will have no problems paying for my right to cheap energy today. Yeah, being an 'environmentalist' and anti-nuclear power is pretty nonsensical. Just like the federal government paying anthropologists and artists to create gigantic sculptures that will warn future generations away from today's hazardous waste sites. They're obviously fairly confident about these facilities, why shouldn't we be? Come on, let's be realistic here.
Point well taken, but look at it this way: gov't censorship is an intrusion, one that triggers particularly strong emotions. I think if the gov't were to overstep their authority, the most certain response (particularly from a field of scientists) would be dissent and debate, and generally bring a lot more (unwanted) attention both to the government and to the information they were interested in suppressing. Most scientists I know are capable of independent thought, and would *deeply* resent someone 'helping them maintain their standards.' What would concern me more is the gov't putting pressure on the editors to change their censoring standard. Which I would like to think would raise just as much stink as gov't censorship itself, but then perhaps not.
Slashdot Mirror
$8,000 in liquidated damages, and not as a penalty? Look, if your server melts every time a credit card transaction is cancelled, that's your fucking fault, and not mine.
Liquidated damages only stand up in court if they're a reasonable approximation of the actual damages incurred by a breach of contract. Eight thousand dollars for a simple chargeback is punitive - regardless of the language in your EULA.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win. - Gandhi
It looks like Billy's in the stage between "laughing" and "fighting."
...Microsoft is busy designing jokes that write themselves.
The use of most arable land conforms to a somewhat narrow range of temperature and rainfall. While there is certainly the capacity to adapt farming techniques to these different norms, to be perfectly honest, it would be very expensive and difficult, not to mention resulting in a rather precipitous drop in agricultural output in the meantime. Like it or not, we (people who rely on agriculture) have a fairly entrenched set of interests in the status quo insofar as it relates to climate.
I think the issue is not whether RFID is 'bad' or 'good' - it's just information-gathering technology, after all. The question we should be asking, the one we can not trust the corporation to make, is 'do the pros outweigh the cons.' You can be assured that, if left to corporate oversight solely, it will prove to be invasive and ultimately infringe upon our right to privacy, in addition to whatever benefits it may also confer.
Have you ever considered juxtaposing the extreme yet socially reviled behavior of the 'Trekkies' against the no less extreme but socially accepted behavior of (for example) sports fans? Is it the 'socially aberrant' element that draws you to the subject?
Wait, wait, wait. So your teary-eyed logger was upset because a government welfare program got yanked (yeah, Federal [and therefore PUBLICALLY] owned land + lumber given away at below-cost price = welfare), and you vote Republican because free trade gutted your family's chosen profession. I'm having a hard time connecting the dots... you DO know that Bush backs free trade (despite some knee-bending to steel protectionism) right?
How is it the Liberals took yer jobs? Why is it the Liberals are namby-pamby for cutting social programs? Why are Liberals responsible for all legislation (e.g. the proposed INDUCE act) that curtails rights to ownership more so than Republicans? You tend to see Liberals as restrictive; I think your perspective needs widening.
Sigh. Ok, please note that judges are not expected to have ANY technical expertise related to the scientific or technological merits of the case at hand. If he puts it in quotes, he's likely referring to what the original finders of fact (read = jury) established when the case originally appeared in the lower court. Moreover, these were likely specific definitions that formed the crux of the matter at hand, at least as it pertained to the original ruling. Putting something in quotes DOES NOT mean that he doesn't understand english; rather, it means that he is referring to the original holding and the terms it used to frame the matter.
Regarding Tom Bombadil, one of the things the screenwriters mention in TTT commentary is that they switched a lot of the expository dialogue between characters if the tone remained the same. So, in TTT extended, Treebeard actually has some of Tom Bombadil's speeches (for example, it's Tom Bombadil's poem he recites to calm the tree that entangles Merry and Pippin). John Rhys-Davies (voice of Treebeard) also has some improvised lines in the movie, like about enjoying going South (it feels like walking downhill).
It's a testament to PJ's love and understanding of the original text that allows him to incorporate these rearrangements into his story without ruining the tone of the movies.
This is largely what Futurama intends to parody - a century of absurd futurist speculation and fantasy.
I'm also guessing your post is intentionally offtopic; the article in question is refreshingly free of the crap you are railing against. Not that you didn't RTFA.
I remember in psychology class, they had us draw a map of our house and the major landmarks around it. Invariably, people overestimated the distance between their house and places they disliked (school for example) and underestimated the distance between home & places they liked.
Interestingly though, I remember getting really good at estimating the time left until class got out (the class was otherwise hideously boring). The skill remains with me to this day.
Neal Stephenson is a lot of fun to read, but greatest living writer? I think even Neal (no, not Cowboy) would take issue with that statement.
Quite right. Cheap shots at the general state of education in the most powerful nation on the earth are clearly inappropriate. I hereby change the original post to,
"Slashdot: however bright we may be, we have only a hazy idea of the rest of the world."
Do you take sarcastic, flippant comments far too seriously?
"Some of our employees, however bright they may be, have only a hazy idea about the rest of the world," he said." ... and this is different from the rest of America how exactly?
Naah... in my sophomore math class my teacher would always inspire excitement... in particular, regarding the question of how many times 16 actually would go into 29.
(Shamelessly lifted from _Infinite Jest_, by David Foster Wallace).
Well I don't know what the laws are where you live, but around here it's illegal to bike on the sidewalk (plus, you'd have to use a mountain bike - very few sidewalks here are wheelchair accessible [which equals 6-inch dead-drop curbs] and the roads have more holes than SCO's lawsuit). Only a suicidal thrill-seeker would bike on SC streets. Also, it's easier to grab lunch-hour exercise by jogging... and it's cheaper, lets you actually appreciate scenery instead of focusing on where you're going, etc. etc.
I think the larger question, the one I was attempting to address, was that most sci-fi writers tend to be immature in some sense. Whether this is simply knowing one's market, or a byproduct of focusing too narrowly on one's craft, I couldn't say. As to taking things personally... yeah, you could probably level that criticism at me. But you're not exactly above it yourself, gauging from the tone of your reply.
On the other hand, I think you are absolutely right on several counts. But to deconstruct someone's psyche based on his or her work and some interviews you've read, and then present it as a (rather damning) criticism of the same author ('typical Shirow'; 'needs to grow up') is in many senses extraordinarily flippant. To truly understand someone requires a lot more information than you suggest you have. If you extrapolate to specifics from limited data, it tends to reflect more upon you than your subject. Had you been more upfront about this to begin with...
But you happen to be right about his work deteriorating over time... I didn't enjoy Ghost in the Shell nearly as much as earlier Appleseed, but I think this is partly his loss of touch with more profound, overarching ideas, and not his lack of dramatic flair (which IMO was never particularly good - all his character interaction ever did [well] was serve as exposition or sounding boards for his ideas).
Anyhow, sorry if I hit a nerve.
Uhhhh... right. First of all, if you don't like big-breasted women, you might want to consider a genre other than anime. Secondly, this anime is based on the second Appleseed graphic novel, the core of which is simply an incredible set of ideas, and not a particularly compelling drama (go back and actually read the boring political stuff - there are some interesting ideas there). There are other satisfying genres out there if drama is your thing.
Is Shirow immature, or perhaps the question would be, more so than his contemporaries? Have you read any other sci-fi (I'm thinking Stephenson, but one could just as easily point to Asimov)? Lastly, take a look at where you're posting; accusations of immaturity don't hold much currency around here.
Oh, you know... spice harvesting, sandworm monitoring. The usual stuff.
I don't know how much of an Onion devotee you are, but that headline about 'Jenna Bush's federally protected wetlands now open for drilling' was pretty risque. Don't get me wrong - satire has a long and rich tradition of being scandalous, filthy, heretical, etc., and is unquestionably the better for it. Whether it's appropriate for junior high kids to be exposed to it, that's another matter - and before you start directing them there, it might save both headaches and tedious job searches by evaluating sites which you'd otherwise consider 'perfectly reasonable.'
Right. So could I just as well theorize that distinctions we use to deliniate objects are every bit as arbitrary as time? In my mind, they are just convenient abstractions about the 'nature' of things based on how we perceive them; I think perhaps what this guy is arguing is that we need to be more mindful of extrapolating overmuch from such fundamentally imperfect abstractions. The litmus test will be if he can create a division of science that requires no measurement, and in fact is completely free from human preconception. Douglas Adams, where are you in our time of need?
Yes! I was hoping someone else would have noticed that... it's cool that Cornel West would do something (again) that is likely to irritate his peers (who accused him of playing to the masses when he released that spoken-word CD of his). And I agree that the dance scene was very cool, although my friends hated it. I get the sense that a personal experience inspired that scene, just as personal experience made it more endearing to me. A lot of electronic musicicans draws inspiration from science fiction, and it's great to see the relationship become reciprocal. IMO, what makes the Matrix movies so interesting are their subtextual content. That Zion rave scene suggests a wealth of commentary on issues that just seem to pass under the radar of your average individual... a shame really, but then it's also fun to think you understood more of what the Wachowskis were trying to get across. =D
I agree in principle, but having spent two years in a failing West African nation (go Peace Corps!) I'd have to say that the picture really isn't that simple. Assuming your nation isn't run by thugs and Kleptocrats (and it's a rare African nation that isn't), and that you have a viable infrastructure, and that the Old & New world aren't bleeding your market with unfair trade restrictions, and that your population has at least a baseline education, and that America isn't warping your economy with no-strings-attached foreign aid (a discussion in-and-of itself), THEN you have the possibility of this actually proving its worth.
I still think Geekcorps' a great idea; building a solid economic base is the only realistic means of sustainable development. But until the major players make major changes in how they deal with 3rd World nations, GC will at best benefit a tiny percentage of a few lucky nations.
> Personally, I think nuclear energy is the only realistic way to go
Right, it's not like maintenance on nuclear storage facilities, multiplied by the absurd length of time nuclear waste remains dangerous makes it a fundamentally unwise choice. And it's not like nuclear containment's ever failed before, or that the damage to the human and natural environment would be irreversible or anything. I mean, all we have to do is keep this useless, potentially lethal waste material from leaking for thousands of years. I'm sure taxpayers through the ages will have no problems paying for my right to cheap energy today. Yeah, being an 'environmentalist' and anti-nuclear power is pretty nonsensical. Just like the federal government paying anthropologists and artists to create gigantic sculptures that will warn future generations away from today's hazardous waste sites. They're obviously fairly confident about these facilities, why shouldn't we be? Come on, let's be realistic here.
Point well taken, but look at it this way: gov't censorship is an intrusion, one that triggers particularly strong emotions. I think if the gov't were to overstep their authority, the most certain response (particularly from a field of scientists) would be dissent and debate, and generally bring a lot more (unwanted) attention both to the government and to the information they were interested in suppressing. Most scientists I know are capable of independent thought, and would *deeply* resent someone 'helping them maintain their standards.' What would concern me more is the gov't putting pressure on the editors to change their censoring standard. Which I would like to think would raise just as much stink as gov't censorship itself, but then perhaps not.