hmmm... so "good" people do nothing but help fellow people, and "evil" people do nothing but "prey" upon them (no definition of what you mean by prey)...
apart from being incredibly busy, these people have no grey areas...
for a shade of grey... if "good" people do nothing but help others, could it be possible that they reduce the ability of people to be self sufficient? are those helpers now evil? or still good?
an extreme grey... if the evolution of humanity controls it's survival, and helpers assist weaker elements in surviving... and then on the flipside if those who prey eliminate the weaker elements, and thereby increasing the strength of humanity... who is good and who is evil?
forget good and evil... all humans want the same two things in life...
Increase happiness
Avoid suffering
sometimes we just can't see how and why... or see the other person's point of view... or we just don't care...
Just because I live online doesn't mean I prefer to use a card. When I go out (which I do indeed do sometimes) I prefer to use cash. It's quicker, simpler, and anonymous. And no, anonyminity isn't just for illegal means, otherwise why would we care if the government/our ISPs/the FBI kept track of our web-browsing habits. For me it's about privacy for the sake of privacy. I don't want to give it up now, because I might need it later.
tracking your purchases has elements of big brother...
marketing folks will love the idea of knowing every little thing you purchase, and when
phone records are sometimes used as evidence in court, your purchases may follow
abuse will come, spouses tracking each other, watching those purchases of suspicious items, like perfume, fine dining on work nights etc
lies, damn lies and statistics. could your unusual purchases get you listed as a suspect criminal?
could insurance companies raise your life insurance premiums due to your recorded high caffiene intake?
could your employer look up your history and decide you take more holidays than your co-workers?
if it's all electronic, where's the security? if I could fake you being at the scene of a crime, or having purchased something illegal or dangerous
blackmail... with any type of tracking, blackmail is always a danger, especially when things may be implied and not actually be true, but the implication is enough to ruin another's life...
Maybe none of this could or would happen, but when humans are involved, it's a risk.
data entry will be needed more and more before this is over
one big difference to "traditional" news
on
More On Tragedy
·
· Score: 2
is that you get to see when the information changed. You watch the flow of news change and clarify, and the same again with opinions.
in addition, I was happy to see many apologise for things they said when under emotional stress. Please don't let these posts be modded down, not everyone admits their mistakes, and it helps to cut down the flames
well done/. (especially for great access, it was never slow)
I know a lot of kids who have never picked up the habit of reading.
I grew up with computers and videos and the rest of it, but I was encouraged to read (whatever I liked) from an early age... once the habit of reading is there, you start to explore other kinds of material
maybe Harry isn't educational in a strict sense, but if he encourages kids to read Asimov or Tolkien down the track, I think he's worth it
We operate a tutoring business that uses computers to grade some 500 tests per week. We think what we're doing has a real effect on children's ability to compute and that it's positively correlated with their math test scores. We've needed access to data for years to test that hypothesis but privacy concerns thwarted that access. This year, we finally gained access and sure enough, our hypothesis was confirmed. Those data not only showed us we're on the right track, they also suggested changes in what we're doing. Was the public interest better served by denying access?
while I do think that is fair use of government data, I don't think many people would want their math test scores available to the public on the internet
making records available behind the counter is different to sticking up posters in the street...
the analogy may not be totally accurate, but I don't see why there can't be a middle ground
after you become homeless it's hard to break the cycle
not having a contact point only increases the effect of homelessness, no one can offer you a job or a place to live if they cannot contact you
I've spoken to some youth workers who help homeless kids with email addresses (they used free services like Hotmail) and they were surprised how much it helped, even things like keeping contact with each other and youth workers
isolation is increased when communication is cut off, if you have no phone and no snail mail address, an email address may give you a little more stability...
MAKE $$$ FAST FROM HOME!!! is hardly going to be important to them, as they don't have homes, but being able to email a resume... that's another story...
It's not funny at all, it's the entire point of science fiction.
Science fiction allows an idea to be followed through hypothetically. It may be an obvious science topic, or something a little more subtle, more social.
You may see what problems may arise, and how they might be handled, how they should not be handled... the dangers involved, and what may bring about the dangers in the first place.
Actual science flaws as well (eg. Jurassic Park)
Or just to see what it might be like, as an alternative (Imagine, written by John Lennon is what I would call "social science fiction")... in novel form, something like Ursula LeGuin's Dispossessed
Science fiction is also more accessable to the masses. The Matrix, 2001, Gattaca, Stargate... they introduce scary topics as a form of entertainment. Thought control, human slavery by machines, machine independance, artificial intelligence, genetic bigotry, matter transmission... Things a lot of people would rather not think about, as it's too scary.
Hypothetical exploration is good for humans... it reduces FUD; promotes ideas, preparation and decision making and it's also a good way to test an idea and see how well it holds up... without hurting anyone (not including bad writing)
Joe Blo who may not think about science or technology very much, may have quite strong feelings about not wanting a Matrix running his life, a HAL situation, or to be thought of as genetically inferior... science fiction can help focus opinions on things that may become important... not just science and technology, but social issues too.
Which is why I'd always choose science fiction over Adam Sandler...
They've been about dumbing down computers so that "the rest of us" can use them. That's why I personally never liked Apple much.
dumbing down? we don't need a world full of programmers...
Apple made personal computers a reality... Computers for average users.
As more and more people use computers in their daily lives, there will be more of a need for "average user" machines.
Desktop publishing, a GUI that's intuitive and responsive, an interface that is not intimidating or confusing to a new user, reliable for those who don't upgrade very often... quality hardware that lasts... and more recently, easy to access the internet
These are the things that matter to "average" users. They don't want to learn command prompts... they have simple needs, which shouldn't be hard to meet
"In this case, Thornton was able to perform a wide range of manual tasks, including grocery shopping, driving, making beds, doing laundry and dressing herself," wrote Judge Michael Daly Hawkins in Thornton v. McClatchy Newspapers, 01 C.D.O.S. 7070. "Her inability to type and write for extended periods of time is not sufficient to outweigh the large number of manual tasks that she can perform."
I find it a little odd that domestic tasks are being weighed evenly against workplace tasks... as far as I can see, isn't this trying to assess her fitness in the workplace?
I would have thought being unable to do the main (?) part of her work would be substantially limiting... or is the limitation for living as a whole and not just for working?
*pondering*
on the practical side, teaching has been suggested, maybe she'll have some luck there...
Teflon has many uses, frying pans might be the most well known to the average joe, but some people find the other uses more important, especially those that save lives
the best way to kill a project, mire it in personal squabbles whenever someone's precious idea is thrown out in favour of another.
never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups... or was that never underestimate the stupidity of large groups in power...
*I need coffee*
anyways, you pool enough people, you'll end up with a lot more stupidity... but it does depend on the people, what they are trying to achieve and why they are working together...
Some have argued that geeks and nerds are committing a form of social parricide, turning on their parents and almost all other elders, as clueless, hostile and incompetent.
When parents and teachers display their lack of knowledge about new technology to young kids, it ruins the image they set up for themselves that they are the teachers, that they know what is good for the kids. When kids know more about a subject than the teacher teaching it, they lose respect in the eyes of the children, based on what their parents and most school systems teach. If you felt you were being controlled by an idiot, wouldn't you rebel?
It's easy to blame the kids for thinking their elders are "clueless, hostile and incompetent", but lots of adults DO get hostile when shown up as clueless and incompetent in front of children.
Lots of kids get put down for knowing more than teachers (and their parents)... but if kids weren't taught that the knowledge is what breeds the respect, maybe they wouldn't behave like that...
and also if they got the respect they deserve for hard work learning things their parents don't understand...
Teach your kids the difference between life experience, life knowledge and education. And maybe have some discussions about respect, where it comes from, who they do respect and why... and maybe why they don't respect some things... they may have good reasons, maybe they don't, but I doubt they've been asked...
its not about "mentioning everyone", its about "not excluding most people"
and to not exclude them, they have to all be mentioned... this is where it gets silly...
Why did I not mention grandfathers and cousins? Because they're not being excluded here
Why not? they're not mentioned... which is your basis for the argument of sexism here...
it's hardly a secret that the majority of readers at Slashdot are male, based on knowing your audience, I don't think this was a sexist comment. As a woman I didn't find it offensive. There are far more males than females here...
There's a lot of guys out there who will give this book to their girlfriends, it's not a strange concept.
Just because boyfriends weren't mentioned doesn't make them excluded.
You can't mention every "group" all the time, whether it's the sexes or ethics groups or socio-economic groups...
Second, how is "crap like this" the reason why women arn't taken seriously in the world of "geeks"?
Not in regard to the world of geeks, but when serious equality issues are trying to be resolved, it's the nit-picking of things like this that people concentrate on, not the issue at hand, it trivialises serious battles, no matter on what ground they are being fought on.
the way he was speaking implied to me that he sees "geeks" as only male
This is where paranoia can cause a lot of problems, if you expect bigotry, you will in time create it. Attacking those who aren't trying to box people in, only creates resentment, towards you and the people you are trying to "protect".
When you see something like this, try and think of it as being written by someone you know doesn't support sexism. Would you see it in another light? If so, you're projecting your own fears upon someone who may well not deserve it.
Why is the average Tech salary for women $10,000 under men?
Because governments still haven't passed laws on pay having to be equal between the sexes, until it's a law, don't think any company will choose to spend more money.
That aside, there is also the issue that a lot of women abandon their careers to raise children, not just tech careers, but in general. Many men do this too, but not nearly as many as women. This does have an affect on wages earned.
since replying to my comment is only an attempt to critisize someone on thier right to critisize
I'm disagreeing with your opinion, not saying you don't have the right to your opinion, there's a big difference... again, paranoia is not your friend
my comment might make someone realize that they should put more thought into the stereotypes they have
What about the sterotype you have? that anyone who does not mention a female in a generalisation is being sexist?
I'm probably getting more exasperated with regards to this topic as I see it brought up again and again at Slashdot (mostly by males as it turns out), and it's not done in a way that improves the relationship between the sexes, or offers solutions, it's usually blame and pointing the finger. This doesn't get anyone anywhere, especially the women you're trying so valiantly to defend...
Just because someone isn't mentioned, doesn't mean they are excluded...
Slashdot Mirror
hmmm... so "good" people do nothing but help fellow people, and "evil" people do nothing but "prey" upon them (no definition of what you mean by prey)...
apart from being incredibly busy, these people have no grey areas...
for a shade of grey... if "good" people do nothing but help others, could it be possible that they reduce the ability of people to be self sufficient? are those helpers now evil? or still good?
an extreme grey... if the evolution of humanity controls it's survival, and helpers assist weaker elements in surviving... and then on the flipside if those who prey eliminate the weaker elements, and thereby increasing the strength of humanity... who is good and who is evil?
forget good and evil... all humans want the same two things in life...
-
Increase happiness
-
Avoid suffering
sometimes we just can't see how and why... or see the other person's point of view... or we just don't care...tracking your purchases has elements of big brother...
-
marketing folks will love the idea of knowing every little thing you purchase, and when
-
phone records are sometimes used as evidence in court, your purchases may follow
-
abuse will come, spouses tracking each other, watching those purchases of suspicious items, like perfume, fine dining on work nights etc
-
lies, damn lies and statistics. could your unusual purchases get you listed as a suspect criminal?
-
could insurance companies raise your life insurance premiums due to your recorded high caffiene intake?
-
could your employer look up your history and decide you take more holidays than your co-workers?
-
if it's all electronic, where's the security? if I could fake you being at the scene of a crime, or having purchased something illegal or dangerous
-
blackmail... with any type of tracking, blackmail is always a danger, especially when things may be implied and not actually be true, but the implication is enough to ruin another's life...
Maybe none of this could or would happen, but when humans are involved, it's a risk.data entry will be needed more and more before this is over
is that you get to see when the information changed. You watch the flow of news change and clarify, and the same again with opinions.
in addition, I was happy to see many apologise for things they said when under emotional stress. Please don't let these posts be modded down, not everyone admits their mistakes, and it helps to cut down the flames
well done
Total Collected: $204,504.35
Number of Payments: 8501
only several hundred had donated at the time this was linked to
way to go slashdotters!
don't know where to donate? you do now
If the Bush administration calls something other than war then there will be a huge backlash against arabs and people of the middle east here.
attacking civilians puts you on the same level as the terrorists, think carefully about that
also make sure you know who the enemy is, we all make mistakes... America has been there before with The Unibomber
whatever the US decides, I hope they leave the nuclear weapons out of it
we don't all live in the US
If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. -Dr. Martin Luther King
a hotline has been set up for those Australians with family in America
1800 002 214
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has more for those who need it
if it could drive from Australia to southern Germany... or any part of Germany
is it really to hard to read the posts?
maybe it is, it's far too hard to type...
*rolls eyes*
is it really to hard to read the posts?
I know a lot of kids who have never picked up the habit of reading.
I grew up with computers and videos and the rest of it, but I was encouraged to read (whatever I liked) from an early age... once the habit of reading is there, you start to explore other kinds of material
maybe Harry isn't educational in a strict sense, but if he encourages kids to read Asimov or Tolkien down the track, I think he's worth it
huge society differences can also be science fiction, like Ursula Le Guin's Dispossessed.
so many filters remove "unusual" religions. so depending on who made the software, and what religion they are, others do not exist...
We operate a tutoring business that uses computers to grade some 500 tests per week. We think what we're doing has a real effect on children's ability to compute and that it's positively correlated with their math test scores. We've needed access to data for years to test that hypothesis but privacy concerns thwarted that access. This year, we finally gained access and sure enough, our hypothesis was confirmed. Those data not only showed us we're on the right track, they also suggested changes in what we're doing. Was the public interest better served by denying access?
while I do think that is fair use of government data, I don't think many people would want their math test scores available to the public on the internet
making records available behind the counter is different to sticking up posters in the street...
the analogy may not be totally accurate, but I don't see why there can't be a middle ground
don't underestimate it's usefulness
after you become homeless it's hard to break the cycle
not having a contact point only increases the effect of homelessness, no one can offer you a job or a place to live if they cannot contact you
I've spoken to some youth workers who help homeless kids with email addresses (they used free services like Hotmail) and they were surprised how much it helped, even things like keeping contact with each other and youth workers
isolation is increased when communication is cut off, if you have no phone and no snail mail address, an email address may give you a little more stability...
MAKE $$$ FAST FROM HOME!!! is hardly going to be important to them, as they don't have homes, but being able to email a resume... that's another story...
It's not funny at all, it's the entire point of science fiction.
Science fiction allows an idea to be followed through hypothetically. It may be an obvious science topic, or something a little more subtle, more social.
You may see what problems may arise, and how they might be handled, how they should not be handled... the dangers involved, and what may bring about the dangers in the first place.
Actual science flaws as well (eg. Jurassic Park)
Or just to see what it might be like, as an alternative (Imagine, written by John Lennon is what I would call "social science fiction")... in novel form, something like Ursula LeGuin's Dispossessed
Science fiction is also more accessable to the masses. The Matrix, 2001, Gattaca, Stargate... they introduce scary topics as a form of entertainment. Thought control, human slavery by machines, machine independance, artificial intelligence, genetic bigotry, matter transmission... Things a lot of people would rather not think about, as it's too scary.
Hypothetical exploration is good for humans... it reduces FUD; promotes ideas, preparation and decision making and it's also a good way to test an idea and see how well it holds up... without hurting anyone (not including bad writing)
Joe Blo who may not think about science or technology very much, may have quite strong feelings about not wanting a Matrix running his life, a HAL situation, or to be thought of as genetically inferior... science fiction can help focus opinions on things that may become important... not just science and technology, but social issues too.
Which is why I'd always choose science fiction over Adam Sandler...
</babble>
<coffee>
They've been about dumbing down computers so that "the rest of us" can use them. That's why I personally never liked Apple much.
dumbing down? we don't need a world full of programmers...
Apple made personal computers a reality... Computers for average users.
As more and more people use computers in their daily lives, there will be more of a need for "average user" machines.
Desktop publishing, a GUI that's intuitive and responsive, an interface that is not intimidating or confusing to a new user, reliable for those who don't upgrade very often... quality hardware that lasts... and more recently, easy to access the internet
These are the things that matter to "average" users. They don't want to learn command prompts... they have simple needs, which shouldn't be hard to meet
"In this case, Thornton was able to perform a wide range of manual tasks, including grocery shopping, driving, making beds, doing laundry and dressing herself," wrote Judge Michael Daly Hawkins in Thornton v. McClatchy Newspapers, 01 C.D.O.S. 7070. "Her inability to type and write for extended periods of time is not sufficient to outweigh the large number of manual tasks that she can perform."
I find it a little odd that domestic tasks are being weighed evenly against workplace tasks... as far as I can see, isn't this trying to assess her fitness in the workplace?
I would have thought being unable to do the main (?) part of her work would be substantially limiting... or is the limitation for living as a whole and not just for working?
*pondering*
on the practical side, teaching has been suggested, maybe she'll have some luck there...
Teflon has many uses, frying pans might be the most well known to the average joe, but some people find the other uses more important, especially those that save lives
the best way to kill a project, mire it in personal squabbles whenever someone's precious idea is thrown out in favour of another.
never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups... or was that never underestimate the stupidity of large groups in power...
*I need coffee*
anyways, you pool enough people, you'll end up with a lot more stupidity... but it does depend on the people, what they are trying to achieve and why they are working together...
think the Beatles, not the Spice Girls...
Some have argued that geeks and nerds are committing a form of social parricide, turning on their parents and almost all other elders, as clueless, hostile and incompetent.
When parents and teachers display their lack of knowledge about new technology to young kids, it ruins the image they set up for themselves that they are the teachers, that they know what is good for the kids. When kids know more about a subject than the teacher teaching it, they lose respect in the eyes of the children, based on what their parents and most school systems teach. If you felt you were being controlled by an idiot, wouldn't you rebel?
It's easy to blame the kids for thinking their elders are "clueless, hostile and incompetent", but lots of adults DO get hostile when shown up as clueless and incompetent in front of children.
Lots of kids get put down for knowing more than teachers (and their parents)... but if kids weren't taught that the knowledge is what breeds the respect, maybe they wouldn't behave like that...
and also if they got the respect they deserve for hard work learning things their parents don't understand...
Teach your kids the difference between life experience, life knowledge and education. And maybe have some discussions about respect, where it comes from, who they do respect and why... and maybe why they don't respect some things... they may have good reasons, maybe they don't, but I doubt they've been asked...
its not about "mentioning everyone", its about "not excluding most people"
and to not exclude them, they have to all be mentioned... this is where it gets silly...
Why did I not mention grandfathers and cousins? Because they're not being excluded here
Why not? they're not mentioned... which is your basis for the argument of sexism here...
it's hardly a secret that the majority of readers at Slashdot are male, based on knowing your audience, I don't think this was a sexist comment. As a woman I didn't find it offensive. There are far more males than females here...
There's a lot of guys out there who will give this book to their girlfriends, it's not a strange concept.
Just because boyfriends weren't mentioned doesn't make them excluded.
You can't mention every "group" all the time, whether it's the sexes or ethics groups or socio-economic groups...
Second, how is "crap like this" the reason why women arn't taken seriously in the world of "geeks"?
Not in regard to the world of geeks, but when serious equality issues are trying to be resolved, it's the nit-picking of things like this that people concentrate on, not the issue at hand, it trivialises serious battles, no matter on what ground they are being fought on.
the way he was speaking implied to me that he sees "geeks" as only male
This is where paranoia can cause a lot of problems, if you expect bigotry, you will in time create it. Attacking those who aren't trying to box people in, only creates resentment, towards you and the people you are trying to "protect".
When you see something like this, try and think of it as being written by someone you know doesn't support sexism. Would you see it in another light? If so, you're projecting your own fears upon someone who may well not deserve it.
Why is the average Tech salary for women $10,000 under men?
Because governments still haven't passed laws on pay having to be equal between the sexes, until it's a law, don't think any company will choose to spend more money.
That aside, there is also the issue that a lot of women abandon their careers to raise children, not just tech careers, but in general. Many men do this too, but not nearly as many as women. This does have an affect on wages earned.
since replying to my comment is only an attempt to critisize someone on thier right to critisize
I'm disagreeing with your opinion, not saying you don't have the right to your opinion, there's a big difference... again, paranoia is not your friend
my comment might make someone realize that they should put more thought into the stereotypes they have
What about the sterotype you have? that anyone who does not mention a female in a generalisation is being sexist?
I'm probably getting more exasperated with regards to this topic as I see it brought up again and again at Slashdot (mostly by males as it turns out), and it's not done in a way that improves the relationship between the sexes, or offers solutions, it's usually blame and pointing the finger. This doesn't get anyone anywhere, especially the women you're trying so valiantly to defend...
Just because someone isn't mentioned, doesn't mean they are excluded...
try your local radio or tv stations...