I've found one of the causes for the overestimate phenomenon is other drivers watching out for 'the crazy one.' The trouble is that while 'the crazy one' might not get into accidents often the accidents they do get in are high velocity. Many people are shocked that I've only been in one accident after 10 years of driving. I am too. However, looking back, the one accident I was in, which was not technically my fault (rear-ended going 0mph by a driver going 50mph fortunately my car was thrown up into the air as his slid under mine), could have been prevented had I been more cautious, aware and predictable. Good drivers do not get from point A to point B as fast as possible; They get there alive.
All to often we feel overly safe while driving, because in general we humans are pretty intelligent, adaptive to various circumstances and self-preserving. However, when you think about the result of a near instantaneous change in speed, from 50mph to 0mph, on your body you realize that driving is a delicate dance with death in a crowded ball room and no one really knows how to dance.
I took a look at Microsoft Office. Running under VMWare on a 3 year old system, it was much faster than any other Office, even going back to '97. That's the extent of the good. The user interface is overwhelming and I mean that in the negative sense. At once you can see over a dozen different typefaces, and more attention grabbing graphics than I have attention for. Everything was shifting and changing colors without actually pushing a button. Just scrolling the mouse is deemed enough intent to make major visual changes to the interface. Office 2007 is a nightmare for anyone with even mild ADD or ADHD. That said, if there is a toned down version for us children over 18 who will actually be using the product it could be a very nice interface.
Not sure if this guy should be modded up or not since he is so rude. However, he makes a good point concerning near field and far field. I worked on a project as an undergraduate to build a near field microscope. Basically you run light through a piece of optical fiber that has a special needle-with-a-little-hole-in-the-tip end on it. As the light wave propagated from the tip, it would start out small, several times smaller than the wavelength of the light. The result was that the light would interact with features much smaller than the wavelength of the light. By moving the tip across the sample in a grid like fashion and detecting the reflected or transmitted light, it is possible to build a raster image of the sample in extremely high detail. I wouldn't be surprised if the effect were not common in nature and perhaps our own skin could cause it to happen. If that is the case, then it's possible that cell-phone radiation could interact with DNA or other small organelles which are needed for cell reproduction.
A calculator is used to assist mathematical thought. A calculator is a kind of language interpreter. In higher math, hand calculators are rarely used because calculations are rarely carried out to actual numbers. More often computers are used exclusively to view the expression of mathematical thought. I heard a quote once, "Language precedes thought." I believe it is the basis for some psychological theory. However, it seems clear to me that thought produces language. If the goal is to express thoughts and if computers can accurately express thoughts from one language to another, then why not use computers for that task almost exclusively? This would be wonderful, as an emphasis could be placed on beauty of thought rather than how it is expressed. In much the same way mathematics is able to focus and grow in beauty or eloquence as a result of computer aid.
"To start working, the ballast water must be pre-heated to about 100C but the whole system is insulated so that it only gradually loses heat and only needs to be refilled about once a month."
First, the article doesn't say it's only heated once a month, but refilled. This sentence is a lot like how a teenage girl might go "and then, and then, but and then but, and and and like." It's just a stream of facts with little connection. The engineers working on this almost certainly intend on heating the water, but it seems it won't take _much_ energy to do so, because the ballast will be well insulated. I have no idea why the water will need to be refilled... ever.
IAAFC(I am a fundamentalist Christian) and I've come to terms with the fact that I don't know the past. It's possible that what we perceive quite clearly when they read Genesis is really a cultural imprint. Even a direct translation literally interpreted can lead to misunderstandings. So, when I read Genesis 1, I read it a lot like I read Revelation. It's very mystical and symbolic. Here's a couple of questions: Did God really just sit down and do nothing for a day? What would it possibly mean for God to 'rest'? On the sixth day he created man, male AND female. However, chapter 2 give an account of how Eve came to be and it seems day six was a very long day indeed. Long enough for Adam to look at ALL the animals and decide none of them pleased him. Eat some fruit and so on. Day 1, God created light and there was evening and morning, yet it wasn't until the fourth day he created the sun and the moon to separate day and night. Funny, there was a day and a night before the sun existed. There are more little quirks in the story the deeper you dig into it. My point, is that it's leaving out vast amounts of detail and it scientifically and logically doesn't make sense according to human perception. Though, I believe it's true, I believe I'm unable to understand what it really all means. I've come to terms and said, "God can do anything." I don't believe he made dinosaurs to test our faith, but to give us faith. If we are willing to look at the vastness and the beauty of creation. The absolute miracle that life exists in all it's forms. The beauty of the human mind, self-aware and other-aware. It's all amazing. I think atheists and Christians can agree on that. I think when we look at all of nature in all of it's beauty (in life and death, living and nonliving) we all start to believe something. When we see remains of gigantic creatures we're struck with awe that such things lived and moved. As Christian believer, I'm inclined to wonder just how wise and powerful God is. Unbelievers, I imagine are still impressed and wonder how all of this came to be. Let's at least both be humble and recognize neither of us have the whole story.
Often times it's both at the same time a Google search for "Wikipedia chi rho" turns up "Labarum", which is exactly what I was looking for on the website I wanted to find it on. Sure, Wikipedia turns up the same thing, for this topic, but Google will correct my spelling or guess at what I really meant, Wikipedia does not.
I've often wondered if there are gravity lenses, what about gravity mirrors? With the proper calculations and precision I imagine one could send a beam of light from Earth to Earth and it would be a real time capsule. I imagine using this black hole would be our best shot. Send the light just close enough that it bends around the black hole and comes directly back to us... then wait however many light-years away it is times two. The thing I'm wondering is if the information would be distorted beyond recognition or if anyone would be listening once it came. Could an earth based telescope with a high powered laser be used in reverse for this?
It's a shame they're going down, but it's a bigger shame that they're going down because of their own goddamn stupidity and arrogance.
Is Spamhaus really going down over this? It's not Spamhaus that suffers... they aren't going down... for a brief time there's gonna be lots of spam flying around the internet, but in a short time everyone will switch to the new domain. No big deal. Spamhaus doesn't NEED it's users. Users need Spamhaus. The court has failed to punish Spamhaus, but rather will succeed in punishing all users of Spamhaus. That's the trouble with a US court and a US company trying to punish a British-based non-profit organization. What can either effectively do to Spamhaus?
In addition, I actually knew very little of Spamhaus or e360 before they missed their trial, but now I know quite a lot and now I think Spamhaus is really cool. e360 has provided the best possible marketing campaign for Spamhaus.
Just a thought, but it could be that we humans are remarkable good at picking out patterns... even when they don't exist. Constellations? How many of us as kids(or adults at work) can pick out pictures in ceiling tile holes? Our minds are always seeking to identify meaningful patterns.
A simple game some friends and I developed is to hole up a card and have a partner guess the color, suit and then value. If they fail to guess it, put the card in another pile without showing it to your partner. I almost always find that people believe they really can know what's on the back-side of a playing card if they think hard enough. Even after failing to guess the card nearly every time, people almost always frustrated that they can't figure out the pattern.
I'd like to also mention that this is the same paper that invented a drama (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/ 21/1442239) between several notable mathematicians. It seems the "New Yorker" is in the business of making news, not reporting it, ala "The Onion," but they seem to take themselves more seriously.
Since we'll never see this product anyway, let's pretend it's real. Supposing you connected one end of your capacitor to ground and connected a metal rake to the other end way up in the air... what's the possibility of charging the thing from ions in the atmosphere?
P.S. I'd prefer to not hear responses from the "just wouldn't work" crowd, but rather "it wouldn't work because of 'this' and I know because I have a Ph.D. in 'that'" crowd.
California democrats sue CERN for destroying plant with mini-black-holes created by their LARGE HADRON COLLIDER. The prosecution admits that while, "The earth isn't destroyed yet, they're pretty sure it will be soon."
Everyone who's dogging on this guy for doing something amazing just looks jealous. He has a good work ethic, seems to have great endurance and a good outlook on life. He could spend the next three years weaving baskets or stabilizing air pressure in an acoustic chamber. Either way, he's doing what he wants to do. Just don't disrespect the guy for having a strong work ethic.
I'd like you to explain this statement in more detail:
"If anything, the higher profits associated with this price of gas after the hurricane (when supplies are lowered by other forces) should demonstrate that under normal conditions, the industry is actually fairly competitive, and you're paying a relatively fair price for your gasoline."
Agreed, at times I've found I'd like to have folders and such, but when it comes to finding an old email I want to read I've never been more than 30 seconds away. The one thing I'd like though are stored searches(some kind of dynamic label?) and hierarchical searches. Ultimately, hierarchical stored searches would be mega-super-ultra cool. Overall though, I find my mail quickly, which is what matters.
I think the thing that was most enjoyable about the 'old' games, was that they always pushed the edge. One of my favorites was Ultima 7. The game play was very simple and consistent, but provided a ton of freedom. Once I beat the game, I spent a long time playing with the editor(cheat) mode, building castles out of gold bricks, making Lord british join my party and such. Wolfenstien, DOOM and Quake were much the same game, but all of them made huge leaps in gameplay. Then you had merging between MUDs, FPSs and Strategy(Ultima Online, Starcraft, etc...). The mixing of genres in a simple consistent way pushed the edge again. After that I started to grow up and found myself more interested in being social, so I'm not really up to date on how more modern games push the edge. However, I wonder what ideas slashdotters have for pushing the edge of gameplay.
This is clear, because as anyone can see(from the news) humankind has completely lost interest in warfare. We are reaching a historical time where men are clearly growing to hate fighting and violence. People would rather "just get along" than stand triumphantly on our enemies chest crying out, "Glory!!!" while shooting off our machine gun at random directions in the air. Nope, no more room for fighting games. None at all...
I am a little curious how it is immoral for google to censor search results. Everyone keeps calling it immoral, but I'd like to see a convincing arguement. Google is a company providing a service. They would like to provide the best possible service to as many customers as possible. They clearly have two classes of customers(there may be more): end users, which use email, web searches etc. and companies seeking adversiting space. In China, they are seeking to meet both parties needs as best as they can within the limits of the culture and government. This seems reasonable and moral to me.
Consider the following senario: A store owner tries his best to treat everyone equally and fairly. He attempts to minimize the time a customer must wait to be served. However "Bad-guy" comes in, cuts in line and broods about as if he is itching for someone to challenge him. The store owner has many options, but the two obvious ones are to: A: Confront Bad-guy(call poliece, ask him to leave, or some other action _against_ bad-guy.) OR B. Let Bad-guy have his way.
If the store owner observes A, he compromises his desire to minimize the time it takes for customers to be served and he may endanger his customers. If the store owner observes B, he compromises his desire to treat everyone fairly, but he ensures the safety of his customers. So the advent of Bad-guy brings in a third goal the store owner may have never encountered, keep customers safe, which I believe preceeds his first two goals. So, I believe the most moral option is A.
Similarly, I see Google as dealing with "Bad-guy" in a way to achieve the most moral outcome. It is possible that the most immoral option for Google appears at face value to be the least. It doesn't mean that justice will never be served, but in the immediate time-frame I think the most good results from Google's choice.
Slashdot Mirror
What are the right numbers Mr. Even-Smartassier?
I've found one of the causes for the overestimate phenomenon is other drivers watching out for 'the crazy one.' The trouble is that while 'the crazy one' might not get into accidents often the accidents they do get in are high velocity. Many people are shocked that I've only been in one accident after 10 years of driving. I am too. However, looking back, the one accident I was in, which was not technically my fault (rear-ended going 0mph by a driver going 50mph fortunately my car was thrown up into the air as his slid under mine), could have been prevented had I been more cautious, aware and predictable. Good drivers do not get from point A to point B as fast as possible; They get there alive. All to often we feel overly safe while driving, because in general we humans are pretty intelligent, adaptive to various circumstances and self-preserving. However, when you think about the result of a near instantaneous change in speed, from 50mph to 0mph, on your body you realize that driving is a delicate dance with death in a crowded ball room and no one really knows how to dance.
I took a look at Microsoft Office. Running under VMWare on a 3 year old system, it was much faster than any other Office, even going back to '97. That's the extent of the good. The user interface is overwhelming and I mean that in the negative sense. At once you can see over a dozen different typefaces, and more attention grabbing graphics than I have attention for. Everything was shifting and changing colors without actually pushing a button. Just scrolling the mouse is deemed enough intent to make major visual changes to the interface. Office 2007 is a nightmare for anyone with even mild ADD or ADHD. That said, if there is a toned down version for us children over 18 who will actually be using the product it could be a very nice interface.
Not sure if this guy should be modded up or not since he is so rude. However, he makes a good point concerning near field and far field. I worked on a project as an undergraduate to build a near field microscope. Basically you run light through a piece of optical fiber that has a special needle-with-a-little-hole-in-the-tip end on it. As the light wave propagated from the tip, it would start out small, several times smaller than the wavelength of the light. The result was that the light would interact with features much smaller than the wavelength of the light. By moving the tip across the sample in a grid like fashion and detecting the reflected or transmitted light, it is possible to build a raster image of the sample in extremely high detail. I wouldn't be surprised if the effect were not common in nature and perhaps our own skin could cause it to happen. If that is the case, then it's possible that cell-phone radiation could interact with DNA or other small organelles which are needed for cell reproduction.
A calculator is used to assist mathematical thought. A calculator is a kind of language interpreter. In higher math, hand calculators are rarely used because calculations are rarely carried out to actual numbers. More often computers are used exclusively to view the expression of mathematical thought. I heard a quote once, "Language precedes thought." I believe it is the basis for some psychological theory. However, it seems clear to me that thought produces language. If the goal is to express thoughts and if computers can accurately express thoughts from one language to another, then why not use computers for that task almost exclusively? This would be wonderful, as an emphasis could be placed on beauty of thought rather than how it is expressed. In much the same way mathematics is able to focus and grow in beauty or eloquence as a result of computer aid.
"To start working, the ballast water must be pre-heated to about 100C but the whole system is insulated so that it only gradually loses heat and only needs to be refilled about once a month." First, the article doesn't say it's only heated once a month, but refilled. This sentence is a lot like how a teenage girl might go "and then, and then, but and then but, and and and like." It's just a stream of facts with little connection. The engineers working on this almost certainly intend on heating the water, but it seems it won't take _much_ energy to do so, because the ballast will be well insulated. I have no idea why the water will need to be refilled... ever.
They didn't you just dreamed there was a standard model. You've been asleep for the past 40 years, no one has had the courage to tell you until now.
IAAFC(I am a fundamentalist Christian) and I've come to terms with the fact that I don't know the past. It's possible that what we perceive quite clearly when they read Genesis is really a cultural imprint. Even a direct translation literally interpreted can lead to misunderstandings. So, when I read Genesis 1, I read it a lot like I read Revelation. It's very mystical and symbolic. Here's a couple of questions: Did God really just sit down and do nothing for a day? What would it possibly mean for God to 'rest'? On the sixth day he created man, male AND female. However, chapter 2 give an account of how Eve came to be and it seems day six was a very long day indeed. Long enough for Adam to look at ALL the animals and decide none of them pleased him. Eat some fruit and so on. Day 1, God created light and there was evening and morning, yet it wasn't until the fourth day he created the sun and the moon to separate day and night. Funny, there was a day and a night before the sun existed. There are more little quirks in the story the deeper you dig into it. My point, is that it's leaving out vast amounts of detail and it scientifically and logically doesn't make sense according to human perception. Though, I believe it's true, I believe I'm unable to understand what it really all means. I've come to terms and said, "God can do anything." I don't believe he made dinosaurs to test our faith, but to give us faith. If we are willing to look at the vastness and the beauty of creation. The absolute miracle that life exists in all it's forms. The beauty of the human mind, self-aware and other-aware. It's all amazing. I think atheists and Christians can agree on that. I think when we look at all of nature in all of it's beauty (in life and death, living and nonliving) we all start to believe something. When we see remains of gigantic creatures we're struck with awe that such things lived and moved. As Christian believer, I'm inclined to wonder just how wise and powerful God is. Unbelievers, I imagine are still impressed and wonder how all of this came to be. Let's at least both be humble and recognize neither of us have the whole story.
Often times it's both at the same time a Google search for "Wikipedia chi rho" turns up "Labarum", which is exactly what I was looking for on the website I wanted to find it on. Sure, Wikipedia turns up the same thing, for this topic, but Google will correct my spelling or guess at what I really meant, Wikipedia does not.
This black hole: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/1 0/1626229
I've often wondered if there are gravity lenses, what about gravity mirrors? With the proper calculations and precision I imagine one could send a beam of light from Earth to Earth and it would be a real time capsule. I imagine using this black hole would be our best shot. Send the light just close enough that it bends around the black hole and comes directly back to us... then wait however many light-years away it is times two. The thing I'm wondering is if the information would be distorted beyond recognition or if anyone would be listening once it came. Could an earth based telescope with a high powered laser be used in reverse for this?
It's a shame they're going down, but it's a bigger shame that they're going down because of their own goddamn stupidity and arrogance.
Is Spamhaus really going down over this? It's not Spamhaus that suffers... they aren't going down... for a brief time there's gonna be lots of spam flying around the internet, but in a short time everyone will switch to the new domain. No big deal. Spamhaus doesn't NEED it's users. Users need Spamhaus. The court has failed to punish Spamhaus, but rather will succeed in punishing all users of Spamhaus. That's the trouble with a US court and a US company trying to punish a British-based non-profit organization. What can either effectively do to Spamhaus?
In addition, I actually knew very little of Spamhaus or e360 before they missed their trial, but now I know quite a lot and now I think Spamhaus is really cool. e360 has provided the best possible marketing campaign for Spamhaus.
Just a thought, but it could be that we humans are remarkable good at picking out patterns... even when they don't exist. Constellations? How many of us as kids(or adults at work) can pick out pictures in ceiling tile holes? Our minds are always seeking to identify meaningful patterns. A simple game some friends and I developed is to hole up a card and have a partner guess the color, suit and then value. If they fail to guess it, put the card in another pile without showing it to your partner. I almost always find that people believe they really can know what's on the back-side of a playing card if they think hard enough. Even after failing to guess the card nearly every time, people almost always frustrated that they can't figure out the pattern.
I'd like to also mention that this is the same paper that invented a drama (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/ 21/1442239) between several notable mathematicians. It seems the "New Yorker" is in the business of making news, not reporting it, ala "The Onion," but they seem to take themselves more seriously.
it takes no imagination to understand what it would mean if nations could be powered on water. We would all become very thirsty.
Since we'll never see this product anyway, let's pretend it's real. Supposing you connected one end of your capacitor to ground and connected a metal rake to the other end way up in the air... what's the possibility of charging the thing from ions in the atmosphere? P.S. I'd prefer to not hear responses from the "just wouldn't work" crowd, but rather "it wouldn't work because of 'this' and I know because I have a Ph.D. in 'that'" crowd.
California democrats sue CERN for destroying plant with mini-black-holes created by their LARGE HADRON COLLIDER. The prosecution admits that while, "The earth isn't destroyed yet, they're pretty sure it will be soon."
Everyone who's dogging on this guy for doing something amazing just looks jealous. He has a good work ethic, seems to have great endurance and a good outlook on life. He could spend the next three years weaving baskets or stabilizing air pressure in an acoustic chamber. Either way, he's doing what he wants to do. Just don't disrespect the guy for having a strong work ethic.
I'd like you to explain this statement in more detail:
"If anything, the higher profits associated with this price of gas after the hurricane (when supplies are lowered by other forces) should demonstrate that under normal conditions, the industry is actually fairly competitive, and you're paying a relatively fair price for your gasoline."
Agreed, at times I've found I'd like to have folders and such, but when it comes to finding an old email I want to read I've never been more than 30 seconds away. The one thing I'd like though are stored searches(some kind of dynamic label?) and hierarchical searches. Ultimately, hierarchical stored searches would be mega-super-ultra cool. Overall though, I find my mail quickly, which is what matters.
I think the thing that was most enjoyable about the 'old' games, was that they always pushed the edge. One of my favorites was Ultima 7. The game play was very simple and consistent, but provided a ton of freedom. Once I beat the game, I spent a long time playing with the editor(cheat) mode, building castles out of gold bricks, making Lord british join my party and such. Wolfenstien, DOOM and Quake were much the same game, but all of them made huge leaps in gameplay. Then you had merging between MUDs, FPSs and Strategy(Ultima Online, Starcraft, etc...). The mixing of genres in a simple consistent way pushed the edge again. After that I started to grow up and found myself more interested in being social, so I'm not really up to date on how more modern games push the edge. However, I wonder what ideas slashdotters have for pushing the edge of gameplay.
This is clear, because as anyone can see(from the news) humankind has completely lost interest in warfare. We are reaching a historical time where men are clearly growing to hate fighting and violence. People would rather "just get along" than stand triumphantly on our enemies chest crying out, "Glory!!!" while shooting off our machine gun at random directions in the air. Nope, no more room for fighting games. None at all...
Until everyone got it.. then imagine the penalties for not having it.
"Harvesting Scientists to Clone Human Embryos?"
I am a little curious how it is immoral for google to censor search results. Everyone keeps calling it immoral, but I'd like to see a convincing arguement. Google is a company providing a service. They would like to provide the best possible service to as many customers as possible. They clearly have two classes of customers(there may be more): end users, which use email, web searches etc. and companies seeking adversiting space. In China, they are seeking to meet both parties needs as best as they can within the limits of the culture and government. This seems reasonable and moral to me.
Consider the following senario: A store owner tries his best to treat everyone equally and fairly. He attempts to minimize the time a customer must wait to be served. However "Bad-guy" comes in, cuts in line and broods about as if he is itching for someone to challenge him. The store owner has many options, but the two obvious ones are to: A: Confront Bad-guy(call poliece, ask him to leave, or some other action _against_ bad-guy.) OR B. Let Bad-guy have his way.
If the store owner observes A, he compromises his desire to minimize the time it takes for customers to be served and he may endanger his customers. If the store owner observes B, he compromises his desire to treat everyone fairly, but he ensures the safety of his customers. So the advent of Bad-guy brings in a third goal the store owner may have never encountered, keep customers safe, which I believe preceeds his first two goals. So, I believe the most moral option is A.
Similarly, I see Google as dealing with "Bad-guy" in a way to achieve the most moral outcome. It is possible that the most immoral option for Google appears at face value to be the least. It doesn't mean that justice will never be served, but in the immediate time-frame I think the most good results from Google's choice.