Of course, space-time vortices only appear in the plural zones, and beings from these zones should be wary of travelling in Hyperspace, as the plurality of such beings' nature may cause them to undergo a total existance failure when re-entering normal space.
I really wanted to buy the NW-A3000 MP3 player when it's released here (everyone and their mom has an iPod... literally). iPods are nice and all, but I'd like something a bit different. Now that I don't know if I can trust Sony, where am I to turn? That thing was so cool looking too.
So, you mean that you don't know what to do because you were mainly basing your MP3(etc.) player purchase on what everyone else is using?
No offense, but here is an idea: how about you go out and try some of the MP3 players and just choose the one you like or you think works best for you, rather than choosing one because everyone is (or is not, in your case) using it? I understand the desire to feel like a non-conformist, but don't let conformity or non-conformity get in the way of function. If an iPod works best for you, then don't worry about who else has one. If an iPod doesn't work best for you, then get whatever else you want, as long as you are willing to support the company that produces it.
I will grant you that the Sony player does indeed look pretty cool, but being Sony, one has to wonder how well the software is designed and how easy it is to use over all. Of course, being Sony, I (like you) will never buy one after all of this crap they are pulling.
Disclaimer: I am a proud iPod owner, and I recommend it to a LOT of people, but not because it is "cool". I recommend it because it is REALLY easy and comfortable to use. However, if you do get one, the first thing to do is get rid of the Apple Ear Buds and plug in some real headphones. I personally use a set of Technics RP-DJ1200s.:D
Ummm... You know they have worked together in the past, don't you? I don't know if you can say they are friends, but they have collaborated on a number of things as well as toured together.
In fact, the reason I found out about Bela Fleck and the Flecktones was from DMB (Fleck did the banjo for the album version of Don't Drink the Water).
So, if DMB is that much of a problem for you, then I wonder why Bela Fleck didn't "drop several pegs in your mind" a number of years ago...
I understand and somewhat agree with what you are saying, but the idea of "good enough for now" is short-sighted at best, IMHO...
please allow me to pull some numbers out of my ass...
20 years ago, 9600baud was "good enough for now". 15 years ago, 14.4kbps was "good enough for now". 10 years ago, 33.6kbps (or was it 56kbps at that time?) was "good enough for now." (well, for some people...those of us on T1s or greater to university networks would beg to differ). 5 years ago, 1.4Mbps cable was "good enough for now (speaking from my own experience)...
Now? Some companies, like Apple are allowing downloading of TV programs. Some day that may become movies, or as someone else mentioned "IPTV". I imagine that somewhere around that time, 100Mbps Fibre will be "good enough for now", but will eventually be surpassed. Someday we will see something like "1Gbps? Good enough for now..."..."1Tbps? Good enough for now..."
I would not be surprised if those came in my lifetime...
The Grandparent post (to which I responded) said that he didn't get more than 1.2Mbps on a 12Mbps DSL line...
Even with mine, I almost never get much faster than 1~2Mbps on individual fast connections (e.g. downloading from servers in Japan, using BitTorrent, etc), but I have definitely had more than 10 connections each downloading at about 1Mbps simultaneously...
This kind of makes sense for me because of the factors involved: 1.) I use AirPort Extreme, so really, my computer (and one of my roommates on the same type of computer) am limited to a theoretical max. of 54Mbps; 2.) my other roommate is directly connected to the router using 100Mbps ethernet; and 3.) lots of places on the internet are just not able to handle connections that fast and/or have lots of simulatenous users so have to divide their bandwidth (I think...does that make sense?).
Anyway, the point is, even with all three of us using the connection simultaneously, I highly doubt we ever max. out the connection. On the plus side, for the most part regardless of how much bandwidth any of us is using (which is almost always less than the theoretical max), we never individually experience slow-downs in our connection from our own personal little side of the internet (well, except when my other PowerBook using roommate is streaming music to the AirPort Express to his stereo).
Well...my Japanese roommate set the whole thing up, so I don't know the exact details...I'm pretty sure the installation wasn't free, but I am pretty sure it wasn't more than 3months worth (so about 15,000 yen). Interestingly enough, we got it when they were doing a campaign, so we got the first 3 months free (or free installation if you want to look at it that way). The wait for instillation was about a month. This was 2 years ago, BTW...We've been on the same service ever since...
As for campaigns, things seem to have calmed down a bit, though it wasn't that long ago that TEPCO was offering an initial free 3 (or was it 6?) months if you installed their "hikari-fibre" service. Pay attention to the ISPs campaigning in many stations and you can probably find a good deal.:D
Basically, that is the best idea. Recently (i.e. in the past year or year and a half), a lot of companies were pushing fibre optic connections and/or really fast ADSL connections, including some with deals like free installation and a free first #months for a certain contract (my ass says something like 2 years). Hell, not more than a year ago, YahooBB was giving away free WiFi capable routers with their ADSL service on top of the couple of months for free.
Of course, I believe that for things like high speed ADSL, it depends on your location. Shop around and see what you can find. Good luck.:D
take the words right out of my mouth...
on
Fiber Optic vs Copper
·
· Score: 5, Informative
the ever multiple-personalitied Anonymous Coward said:
In some non-US parts of the world, we've had bragging rights about fiber for MANY years now...When will you catch up?
I was just about to state something to that extent.
I am currenly on 100Mbps up/down fiber for just about US$50 per month (split among two other roommates equals less than $20/person) just outside of Tokyo. Lots of people say "The US is so broad that we can't do this!", but I fail to see why this kind of connection isn't available in US cities. I am outside of the most dense parts of Tokyo (in fact, I am in a suburb of Kawasaki), but that didn't stop the ISPs (So-Net in my case) from running fibre to apartments.
Come on, USA! At least in the cities, there is no reason to be so far behind with regards to residential access!
On the other hand, IF, by some crazy twist of science, this bit of science fiction eventually does become science fact, at least in the future the design and implementation of such a device will be public domain rather than being encumbered by patents.
seriously, I don't disagree with you. I would love to see very very VERY high quality, high detail data of the entire earth. I think it would be incredibly interesting and extremely useful, not only for future generations, but for the current generation as well.
However, there are always people that will say that because it can be used for EBIL!!! deeds, the information should not be made public.
New extension developer features
Nothing new since Firefox 1.5 Beta 2.
Forgive my ignorance, by if nothing has changed since Beta 2 in this respect, then why do some extensions still break?
Namely the "Farkit" extension in my case...
I assume there will be an update soon, but still...why the breakage?
P.S. does anyone else think it would be nice to have something similar to Farkit for Slashdot? i.e. when you do "Reply to This" and then select some text from the quote you are posting, right click, select "SlashdotIt", and have it bold, blockquote, and italicize in the text box? Anyone more knowledgeable than I care to try and hack something like that out?
But not as stupid as having those 'droids drop in on Ben... with the son of the guy who built them... and Ben not recognize them or say anything to the kid.
Perhaps he was just being cautious. I think we can assume that Ben was on Tattooine looking over Luke, and probably not paying close attention to the rebellion (from the glimpses of his shack, he doesn't seem to have anything that indicated that he was well in touch with the rest of the galaxy). He has no reason to expect droids to show up nor know their purpose when they do.
He did not lie when he said "I don't recall ever owning a droid" as far as we know. Also, he may not have much reason to recognize R2D2 as he never really did anything with R2...That was all Anakin, if you recall. Obi-Wan was using other droids in his ships. As for C3P0, well, as we saw in Cloud City (among other places), there are other droids with identical designs, so there is no reason to recognize 3P0 either...
However, it seems (to me) quite clear that the droids were sent to Tattooine with Leia by her "father" (Senator Organa, right?). It was only after Leia's ship was attacked that their mission (well, R2's anyway) became to find Obi-Wan.
To me, it seems to fit the plot rather well, with the only thing that seemed to happen by chance (or the will of the Force if you buy the article author's premise) was the droids coming to Luke first.
Look, "asshole", the lesser of two evils is still evil. If you think the man who came from the administration that brought us the DMCA wouldn't have pulled off more shit had he been elected, then you are deluded. Bush is bad. I didn't vote for him. Gore would have been bad. I didn't vote for him. Kerry would have been bad. I didn't vote for him.
In my opinion, voting for something you don't believe in is throwing your vote away.
Guess I'm not very good at this "democracy" thing, since I don't seem to agree with the majority.
Because if you never bother, then it will never change. There might be more blues than you think, just all of them are too jaded to vote, so it comes out overwhelmingly red every time. And if the blues get more and more jaded, then the margin becomes wider, although in reality the margin could be becoming smaller if only you just spoke up.
I couldn't agree more, and I understand very well what it is like to become apathetic about voting. In 2000 (when I was still living in the US), I voted. I voted Libertarian (not because I agreed with their final goals, but because I thought that given 4 years they could push things in a better direction). I was in Florida at the time. Talk about feeling like a vote was wasted, but I absolutely refused to vote for either of the major parties. The result? Harry Brown got something like 0.2% of the popular vote, IIRC.
So I took what may be considered the coward's way out (and if you call it that, I won't disagree) and simply left the country. Now I am living in a place where I have absolutely no voice at all. On the plus side, I am living under one of the most peaceful governments in the world (at least until they try to remove the war-renouncing ammendment from their constitution). But on the negative side, there is nothing I can do to fight their corruption except voice my concerns to those who can vote.
But for those of you who are still in the US fighting it out, it is not only your right, but your DUTY to vote for who you think is RIGHT, not for who you think is the lesser of two evils. If the person you want to see as president is not running, write them in! Get your like-minded friends to do so. Start a grass-roots campaign.
Worst case? (and probably what will happen) Nothing changes, but at least you have the clear conscience of voting your heart. 2nd Best case? The person you wanted to run takes notice that he/she has support and actually runs next time around. Meanwhile, assuming he/she is already some sort of representative, that person will feel he/she has a stronger voice in the legislature and hopefully start using it. Best case? Not only does the person you want take notice, but those who are running also take notice and actually realize that people aren't happy and maybe, just maybe (I know...I am WAY out on a limb here) they change their ways and policies to match what people want.
If you start nothing, then nothing will ever change. If you start something, things may not change, but a.) at least you have a clear conscience, and b.) there is at least a chance for change.
I know this doesn't mean much coming from a person who decided to run away from the problem. I also know that it is pretty naive. However, I also know that if people don't even attempt to effect a change, then nothing will ever change.
McCain made a big deal of the digital transition after Katrina hit due to the problems with interagency communication.
I find it hard to believe that technology was the issue in that situation. I had more information on hand while the shit was hitting the fan in New Orleans than it seems like a lot of government agencies did, and that was by only using IRC, Fark, and audio streams of police and military radio scanners in the area.
And I am in Japan!
Without pointing fingers at anyone, it is quite obvious that bureaucracy, incompetence, and lack of strong, capable leadership (at ALL levels) were the causes of communications problems in the Katrina aftermath, not technology.
They are also learning physics (and having calculus taught in those classes), which a.) wasn't integrated when I was in school (not to toot my own horn, but I was the only one in my class that figured that calculus and physics were completely related)
Just to clarify, I don't attribute this to my l33t br41n skillz (and I will be the first to argue that I lack them). I feel that is actually more the fault of the teachers and the system because they did nothing to show the connection between the two, and there was no incentive (i.e. some kind of reward like good marks from the teachers) to connect them. Basically, in calculus, we were learning the raw math of it with no real world context. In Physics, calculus was not a pre-requisite and about 85% of the class was not taking calculus at the time.
This is kind of why I think it is cool that in Japanese schools (well, at least the school I work at), calculus is being introduced (at a basic level) in the physics classes, where (IMHO) it makes sense to introduce it.
And the thinking behind my subject line is a big part of the problem (I hate that quote, by the way).
fireboy1919 insightfully said:
2) We don't have enough people who are good at it to teach it.
And to me, the problem is that there is not enough incentive for those who "can do it" to teach it. Teaching salaries (in the US) are not high. The hours are long, but not as long as some lines of work. However, there is a lot of shit in the education system that good teachers have to deal with and the low pay makes it not worth dealing with. Teachers not getting proper incentive and good teachers not getting the respect they deserve...these are the main part of the problem in my opinion.
There needs to be more incentive for "those who can" to teach! There also needs to be some better standards to ensure that those who can't, and especially those who can't teach, don't teach.
Of course (disclaimer: saying this as a teacher), it takes a special type of person to teach what you know well. I had a lot of professors in University that could do their work very well, but couldn't teach worth a crap.
So, the main problem (to me) is finding someone who both knows his/her stuff, AND can teach that to others. These people when they are found need to be given incentives to teach (good pay, respect).
IMNSHO, it should be difficult to become a teacher, but the incentives should make that difficulty worth facing. Otherwise, the trend of mediocre teachers will continue.
system absolutely intended to hammer the individual flat to the collective.
That sounds a LOT like the Japanese school system. Every nail gets pounded. Don't stick your head up or it will get cut off.
Of course, perhaps it is not ruled by mediocrity, because everyone is kind of expected to excel. But there is no reward for excelling more than others, and socially speaking, one receives punishment (through lack of recognition, ridicule by peers, pressure to not out-compete, etc...sound familiar?) for breaking the mould.
Mind you this is not only in schools, but in companies as well.
However, Japanese science and math education are ahead of the US. My 10th graders are learning math that I personally didn't learn until 11th grade in the States (Trig./Advanced math) and a lot of my peers didn't learn until 12th grade. These same 10th graders are doing biology that I was studying in 12th grade Bio.II in HS and Bio.I in University. They are also learning physics (and having calculus taught in those classes), which a.) wasn't integrated when I was in school (not to toot my own horn, but I was the only one in my class that figured that calculus and physics were completely related) and b.) wasn't even offered until 12th grade in my HS.
So, I'm not disagreeing with the parent post. Just giving another perspective on it. It seems the main problem in the US is the above mentioned "ruled by mediocrity". There is too much playing to the lowest common denominator rather than pushing everyone up to a (IMHO) reasonable level.
I hope that changes.
P.S. To give some perspective, I graduated from HS in Pennsylvania in 1996 and graduated university with a B.S. in Ecology/Marine Biology in Florida in 2000. I don't know well about the current US education system except that the FCATs (Florida's standardized test for 10th graders) seemed incredibly easy for students at that level. More insight would definitely be appreciated.:-)
The public in this country has taken a rash beating in the passed (past? Could a Slashdot grammar Nazi clarify?)
Past is a noun talking about the time before now (i.e. Past, present, and future), an adjective for talking about previous times (i.e. past tense, past few days), or a preposition (i.e. go past the post office)
Passed is either the past tense or past participle of the verb pass, and basically means to move past something (i.e. time passes, one car passed another, Those days have passed into history, etc).
So, for dustinbarbour the following would have been correct: The public in this country has taken a such a rash beating in the past years that we get all excited when things are decided in favor of the law. (I added the "such a" to make it more grammatically correct with the "that we..." though there are other ways of phrasing this).
Hope this helps. Now, Mods, do your job and mod me down with all of your hatred (for being off-topic).
Disclaimer: this post has not been check for its own grammar mistakes. Real grammar Nazis, do your worst!
Olsen is the third non-astronaut to visit the orbiting station.
Stop me if I am wrong, but doesn't "astronaut" mean "space traveler"? How does this make him a non-astronaut?
Or is it because, since he went up with the Russians, he is a "Cosmonaut"?
Seriously, this guy is going up there and doing some science, rather than just hanging out for the ride. He must have gone through some training in order to be able to go, regardless of the money he spent.
So, unless by "non-astronaut" you mean "cosmonaut", you are insulting the man, rather unfairly IMHO.
Next week, though, it could be the Windows XP installation CD image, which people download because they lost their CD but still have the license key on the side of their computer, and it will overwrite the first few blocks of the disk with random digits 1,000,000 times to try and ruin their hard drives while displaying the Windows installation images.
The point still stands. Unless you are Microsoft, you do not have the rights to distribute a Windows XP installation CD image over BitTorrent. Distributing such an image is against the law. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Microsoft.
Or, switch to Linux, FreeBSD, etc. and not have to worry about illegally downloading a.torrent of the install CD to re-install your system.
I am a Mac User, and I do not expect to be able to download disk images of the OS install disks in order to reinstall from a system failure. Instead, I back up my system, I make back-up copies of my install discs, and if it were to ever come to such a situation, I would go to the nearest Apple Store and ask for help. Nowhere in my recovery situations will I have to break the law.
So, again, only people downloading illegal files have to worry about poisoning on the BitTorrent networks.
Slashdot Mirror
Douglas Adams certainly was a hoopy frood.
No offense, but here is an idea: how about you go out and try some of the MP3 players and just choose the one you like or you think works best for you, rather than choosing one because everyone is (or is not, in your case) using it? I understand the desire to feel like a non-conformist, but don't let conformity or non-conformity get in the way of function. If an iPod works best for you, then don't worry about who else has one. If an iPod doesn't work best for you, then get whatever else you want, as long as you are willing to support the company that produces it.
I will grant you that the Sony player does indeed look pretty cool, but being Sony, one has to wonder how well the software is designed and how easy it is to use over all. Of course, being Sony, I (like you) will never buy one after all of this crap they are pulling.
Disclaimer: I am a proud iPod owner, and I recommend it to a LOT of people, but not because it is "cool". I recommend it because it is REALLY easy and comfortable to use. However, if you do get one, the first thing to do is get rid of the Apple Ear Buds and plug in some real headphones. I personally use a set of Technics RP-DJ1200s. :D
In fact, the reason I found out about Bela Fleck and the Flecktones was from DMB (Fleck did the banjo for the album version of Don't Drink the Water).
So, if DMB is that much of a problem for you, then I wonder why Bela Fleck didn't "drop several pegs in your mind" a number of years ago...
please allow me to pull some numbers out of my ass...
20 years ago, 9600baud was "good enough for now". 15 years ago, 14.4kbps was "good enough for now". 10 years ago, 33.6kbps (or was it 56kbps at that time?) was "good enough for now." (well, for some people...those of us on T1s or greater to university networks would beg to differ). 5 years ago, 1.4Mbps cable was "good enough for now (speaking from my own experience)...
Now? Some companies, like Apple are allowing downloading of TV programs. Some day that may become movies, or as someone else mentioned "IPTV". I imagine that somewhere around that time, 100Mbps Fibre will be "good enough for now", but will eventually be surpassed. Someday we will see something like "1Gbps? Good enough for now..."..."1Tbps? Good enough for now..."
I would not be surprised if those came in my lifetime...
Even with mine, I almost never get much faster than 1~2Mbps on individual fast connections (e.g. downloading from servers in Japan, using BitTorrent, etc), but I have definitely had more than 10 connections each downloading at about 1Mbps simultaneously...
This kind of makes sense for me because of the factors involved: 1.) I use AirPort Extreme, so really, my computer (and one of my roommates on the same type of computer) am limited to a theoretical max. of 54Mbps; 2.) my other roommate is directly connected to the router using 100Mbps ethernet; and 3.) lots of places on the internet are just not able to handle connections that fast and/or have lots of simulatenous users so have to divide their bandwidth (I think...does that make sense?).
Anyway, the point is, even with all three of us using the connection simultaneously, I highly doubt we ever max. out the connection. On the plus side, for the most part regardless of how much bandwidth any of us is using (which is almost always less than the theoretical max), we never individually experience slow-downs in our connection from our own personal little side of the internet (well, except when my other PowerBook using roommate is streaming music to the AirPort Express to his stereo).
Nice, eh?
As for campaigns, things seem to have calmed down a bit, though it wasn't that long ago that TEPCO was offering an initial free 3 (or was it 6?) months if you installed their "hikari-fibre" service. Pay attention to the ISPs campaigning in many stations and you can probably find a good deal. :D
Basically, that is the best idea. Recently (i.e. in the past year or year and a half), a lot of companies were pushing fibre optic connections and/or really fast ADSL connections, including some with deals like free installation and a free first #months for a certain contract (my ass says something like 2 years). Hell, not more than a year ago, YahooBB was giving away free WiFi capable routers with their ADSL service on top of the couple of months for free.
Of course, I believe that for things like high speed ADSL, it depends on your location. Shop around and see what you can find. Good luck. :D
I am currenly on 100Mbps up/down fiber for just about US$50 per month (split among two other roommates equals less than $20/person) just outside of Tokyo. Lots of people say "The US is so broad that we can't do this!", but I fail to see why this kind of connection isn't available in US cities. I am outside of the most dense parts of Tokyo (in fact, I am in a suburb of Kawasaki), but that didn't stop the ISPs (So-Net in my case) from running fibre to apartments.
Come on, USA! At least in the cities, there is no reason to be so far behind with regards to residential access!
Sounds good to me...
seriously, I don't disagree with you. I would love to see very very VERY high quality, high detail data of the entire earth. I think it would be incredibly interesting and extremely useful, not only for future generations, but for the current generation as well.
However, there are always people that will say that because it can be used for EBIL!!! deeds, the information should not be made public.
Too bad, IMHO. :(
- Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Namely the "Farkit" extension in my case...
I assume there will be an update soon, but still...why the breakage?
P.S. does anyone else think it would be nice to have something similar to Farkit for Slashdot? i.e. when you do "Reply to This" and then select some text from the quote you are posting, right click, select "SlashdotIt", and have it bold, blockquote, and italicize in the text box? Anyone more knowledgeable than I care to try and hack something like that out?
He did not lie when he said "I don't recall ever owning a droid" as far as we know. Also, he may not have much reason to recognize R2D2 as he never really did anything with R2...That was all Anakin, if you recall. Obi-Wan was using other droids in his ships. As for C3P0, well, as we saw in Cloud City (among other places), there are other droids with identical designs, so there is no reason to recognize 3P0 either...
However, it seems (to me) quite clear that the droids were sent to Tattooine with Leia by her "father" (Senator Organa, right?). It was only after Leia's ship was attacked that their mission (well, R2's anyway) became to find Obi-Wan.
To me, it seems to fit the plot rather well, with the only thing that seemed to happen by chance (or the will of the Force if you buy the article author's premise) was the droids coming to Luke first.
IMHO. :-)
In my opinion, voting for something you don't believe in is throwing your vote away.
Guess I'm not very good at this "democracy" thing, since I don't seem to agree with the majority.
So I took what may be considered the coward's way out (and if you call it that, I won't disagree) and simply left the country. Now I am living in a place where I have absolutely no voice at all. On the plus side, I am living under one of the most peaceful governments in the world (at least until they try to remove the war-renouncing ammendment from their constitution). But on the negative side, there is nothing I can do to fight their corruption except voice my concerns to those who can vote.
But for those of you who are still in the US fighting it out, it is not only your right, but your DUTY to vote for who you think is RIGHT, not for who you think is the lesser of two evils. If the person you want to see as president is not running, write them in! Get your like-minded friends to do so. Start a grass-roots campaign.
Worst case? (and probably what will happen) Nothing changes, but at least you have the clear conscience of voting your heart. 2nd Best case? The person you wanted to run takes notice that he/she has support and actually runs next time around. Meanwhile, assuming he/she is already some sort of representative, that person will feel he/she has a stronger voice in the legislature and hopefully start using it. Best case? Not only does the person you want take notice, but those who are running also take notice and actually realize that people aren't happy and maybe, just maybe (I know...I am WAY out on a limb here) they change their ways and policies to match what people want.
If you start nothing, then nothing will ever change. If you start something, things may not change, but a.) at least you have a clear conscience, and b.) there is at least a chance for change.
I know this doesn't mean much coming from a person who decided to run away from the problem. I also know that it is pretty naive. However, I also know that if people don't even attempt to effect a change, then nothing will ever change.
And I am in Japan!
Without pointing fingers at anyone, it is quite obvious that bureaucracy, incompetence, and lack of strong, capable leadership (at ALL levels) were the causes of communications problems in the Katrina aftermath, not technology.
**Ripped shamelessly from the Fark headline.**
But, it still gets a better Doom 3 framerate than a Dual G5 PowerMac. :p
**Ripped shamelessly from my own comment on Fark.**
disclaimer: I am a Mac User.
Helluva nice guy, though.
Sorry. Seemed a little Monty Python-esque.
Good-bye, sweet karma.
This is kind of why I think it is cool that in Japanese schools (well, at least the school I work at), calculus is being introduced (at a basic level) in the physics classes, where (IMHO) it makes sense to introduce it.
fireboy1919 insightfully said:
And to me, the problem is that there is not enough incentive for those who "can do it" to teach it. Teaching salaries (in the US) are not high. The hours are long, but not as long as some lines of work. However, there is a lot of shit in the education system that good teachers have to deal with and the low pay makes it not worth dealing with. Teachers not getting proper incentive and good teachers not getting the respect they deserve...these are the main part of the problem in my opinion.There needs to be more incentive for "those who can" to teach! There also needs to be some better standards to ensure that those who can't, and especially those who can't teach, don't teach.
Of course (disclaimer: saying this as a teacher), it takes a special type of person to teach what you know well. I had a lot of professors in University that could do their work very well, but couldn't teach worth a crap.
So, the main problem (to me) is finding someone who both knows his/her stuff, AND can teach that to others. These people when they are found need to be given incentives to teach (good pay, respect).
IMNSHO, it should be difficult to become a teacher, but the incentives should make that difficulty worth facing. Otherwise, the trend of mediocre teachers will continue.
Of course, perhaps it is not ruled by mediocrity, because everyone is kind of expected to excel. But there is no reward for excelling more than others, and socially speaking, one receives punishment (through lack of recognition, ridicule by peers, pressure to not out-compete, etc...sound familiar?) for breaking the mould.
Mind you this is not only in schools, but in companies as well.
However, Japanese science and math education are ahead of the US. My 10th graders are learning math that I personally didn't learn until 11th grade in the States (Trig./Advanced math) and a lot of my peers didn't learn until 12th grade. These same 10th graders are doing biology that I was studying in 12th grade Bio.II in HS and Bio.I in University. They are also learning physics (and having calculus taught in those classes), which a.) wasn't integrated when I was in school (not to toot my own horn, but I was the only one in my class that figured that calculus and physics were completely related) and b.) wasn't even offered until 12th grade in my HS.
So, I'm not disagreeing with the parent post. Just giving another perspective on it. It seems the main problem in the US is the above mentioned "ruled by mediocrity". There is too much playing to the lowest common denominator rather than pushing everyone up to a (IMHO) reasonable level.
I hope that changes.
P.S. To give some perspective, I graduated from HS in Pennsylvania in 1996 and graduated university with a B.S. in Ecology/Marine Biology in Florida in 2000. I don't know well about the current US education system except that the FCATs (Florida's standardized test for 10th graders) seemed incredibly easy for students at that level. More insight would definitely be appreciated. :-)
(g) in the courtroom: But I met her in a Yahoo chat room, so she must have been 18 or over, your Honor.
Passed is either the past tense or past participle of the verb pass, and basically means to move past something (i.e. time passes, one car passed another, Those days have passed into history, etc).
So, for dustinbarbour the following would have been correct: The public in this country has taken a such a rash beating in the past years that we get all excited when things are decided in favor of the law.
(I added the "such a" to make it more grammatically correct with the "that we..." though there are other ways of phrasing this).
Hope this helps. Now, Mods, do your job and mod me down with all of your hatred (for being off-topic).
Disclaimer: this post has not been check for its own grammar mistakes. Real grammar Nazis, do your worst!
Or is it because, since he went up with the Russians, he is a "Cosmonaut"?
Seriously, this guy is going up there and doing some science, rather than just hanging out for the ride. He must have gone through some training in order to be able to go, regardless of the money he spent.
So, unless by "non-astronaut" you mean "cosmonaut", you are insulting the man, rather unfairly IMHO.
Or, switch to Linux, FreeBSD, etc. and not have to worry about illegally downloading a .torrent of the install CD to re-install your system.
I am a Mac User, and I do not expect to be able to download disk images of the OS install disks in order to reinstall from a system failure. Instead, I back up my system, I make back-up copies of my install discs, and if it were to ever come to such a situation, I would go to the nearest Apple Store and ask for help. Nowhere in my recovery situations will I have to break the law.
So, again, only people downloading illegal files have to worry about poisoning on the BitTorrent networks.