I was just in Eddie Bauer today buying a new belt, and the lady there had to break out her 3-ring binder to tell me what 'XL' means in terms of measurements. Of course, I thought of this book:-)
I predict large fuzzy giggling bunnies from outer space will dominate the next movie
As annoying as large furry creatures can be, I am secretly hoping that some Giant Space Hamsters show up in the D&D movie. Alas, I may have to wait for a Dragonlance movie if one ever materializes....
so when is all this biotechnology gonna be put to use for something worthwhile instead of just another release of the same insert-somewhere-moist game we've been playing since humans existed?
And I thought I was the only one who could remember the specifics of setting PPP up from 3 years ago, but always forgot to take lunch with him in the morning.
When corporations willingly restrain themselves, I have to ask "For how long?" What's stopping them from threatening to introduce this again in 5 years. And 5 years after that. How long before the media and people in general will ignore them doing this, because they've heard about happening so many times?
(Keep in mind what Nestle did in China - giving formula to new mothers for a few months for free - until they dried up, and then they started charging them for it. The UN pointed out to them they were violating human rights and made them stop. They started again 5 years later. What can the UN do? You can't continually work people into a frenzy every 5 years over the exact same thing.)
Bah. Go pick up a Jane's sim, and take a look at the manual in there. Anyway, if people are scared of technology, then how would giving them a bunch of links be in any way adventagous over giving them a printed copy?
My biggest question is to do with the Q3A manual. In the past, manuals for FPS games have been little more than decorations in the box. Anything that you really wanted to know about the game (i.e. a printed copy of cmdlist/cvarlist with explanations) you had to go elsewhere on the net to get. Why? Isn't telling you how to use the game the point of a manual? Why not fill it with info on how to modify the game. Point out that.pk3 files are little more than renamed.zip files. Point out how you are and aren't allowed to modify the game (to avoid another Generations fiasco), give a quick refernce guide to the client and server side API's, as well as the flavour of assembler that is used in the VM. There's so much MORE to do with a manual for this game. The question is - is id going to do this, or are we going to be left fending for ourselves again?
Beige shall be the colour of computers and the colour of computers shall be beige. Black shall they not be, nor either shall they be grey, unless they will then be painted beige. Translucent anything is right out.
Bad people die too. We just don't care about them. Hence, we don't mourn for them. After all, what better way to punish a person than to try and forget they ever existed.
And they're off! We already have some vague allusions to C++ being a bad idea, and the cross platform card has been played mighty early, implying that C is better than C++ for that. This is an exciting match, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll keep you updated as the race continues. We have yet to see any real material claims, be we expect plenty of personal anecdotes and opinions this match. It promises to be an exciting time, so stay tuned!
an old IBM break-spring (the one with the nice-click) keyboard.
Is there somewhere on the web from where I can order one of these? I can't find any mention of IBM making them any more. I swear I saw a place on the web that sold keyboards like them (they also had one with a pencil eraser in the middle of it), but I can't find it at all.
Other than that obvious contradiction, I still can't figure out what's being said here. This sounds like a massive cop out on the part of Katz. He doesn't want to enforce blinds on his own activity (as evidenced by his previous article), he probably doesn't want the goverenment or a company to control what he can see, but he'll let a computer program do so? That makes no sense, so I don't think that's what he would be saying.... then what?
l. Is this information necessary? Do we need to know it? Does it advance knowledge, inform or entertain us? Or does it tell us something we already know, provide a service when we can easily do ourselves, replicate what already exists?
You can't know that. Aside from the fact that there is no way to prove conclusively that, once and for all time a piece of information is Useful and Good or Useless and Bad (i.e. to be shown to you or not), it will limit you the mode of thought that the AI has. Think about it - if those who wrote this software considered health issues to be very important to know, then you would constantly be given health updates - which might cause certain people to become hypochondriacs. Or, if they considered product recalls past a certain level of urgency (i.e. child care equipment, cars), etc. -- seeing that information all the time might make one into a consumer advocate.
Your mind is the sum of the information that you have experienced in your lifetime, give or take a bit of magic. Turning the continued evolution of your mind over to an AI coded by other people would make your mind into a reflection of the programmers who wrote that AI.
Wouldn't it?
2. Do we need this new product? Does it have unintended consequences? Will it be almost instantly out-of-date?
Sexual reproduction has unintended concequences - copying errors produce genetic mutations. These 'unintended concequences' allow evolution.
5. Are we leaving human beings enough time, peace, and opportunity for at least some spiritual dimension in their lives? Or are we labor-saving and information-providing them to distraction? through?
Human beings (of the class that you're talking about here - you only seem concerned about the fate of middleclass technocrats) can easily get the time and peace for a spirtual dimension in thier lives - if they care enough to have one. If they don't, well, then no amount of peace and quiet will give them one. It will just make them bored.
You can't make people happy if they don't want to be happy.
Yes, and the only thing that matters in life is Linux and Perl. I forgot that anything as trivial as socket programing or real TCP/IP work is worth anything. So, yeah, his contribution was meaningless. Whatever.
It looks like there are trackballs on the keyboard, but I can't be sure. Nothing is mentioned in the fact sheet about it.
There's an 11 port USB hub on it, which is pretty damn nifty. If there isn't a trackball on the keyboard, you could put a wireless USB mouse on it easily.
Looks nifty. I would never buy one (if I ever find I have gratuitious amounts money to throw at a new system, it will be an Alpha workstation), but I can see how some people who have extra IPO money lying around and nothing better to do would like one.
Slashdot Mirror
I was just in Eddie Bauer today buying a new belt, and the lady there had to break out her 3-ring binder to tell me what 'XL' means in terms of measurements. Of course, I thought of this book :-)
(Yes, I was an XL... damn programming job...)
That went completley over your head, didn't it?
Office Space.
I predict large fuzzy giggling bunnies from outer space will dominate the next movie
As annoying as large furry creatures can be, I am secretly hoping that some Giant Space Hamsters show up in the D&D movie. Alas, I may have to wait for a Dragonlance movie if one ever materializes....
You're equating franchise pseudoliterature with 'Contemporary SF'?
so when is all this biotechnology gonna be put to use for something worthwhile instead of just another release of the same insert-somewhere-moist game we've been playing since humans existed?
Cool! That means that I must have been imagining all that crappy journalism!
Makes me feel better about the world that Time never existed.
And I thought I was the only one who could remember the specifics of setting PPP up from 3 years ago, but always forgot to take lunch with him in the morning.
Mmmm... time for my 4th cup of the day...
When corporations willingly restrain themselves, I have to ask "For how long?" What's stopping them from threatening to introduce this again in 5 years. And 5 years after that. How long before the media and people in general will ignore them doing this, because they've heard about happening so many times?
(Keep in mind what Nestle did in China - giving formula to new mothers for a few months for free - until they dried up, and then they started charging them for it. The UN pointed out to them they were violating human rights and made them stop. They started again 5 years later. What can the UN do? You can't continually work people into a frenzy every 5 years over the exact same thing.)
I have no doubts that these seeds will be back.
-- Your friendly neighbourhood cynic.
Bah. Go pick up a Jane's sim, and take a look at the manual in there. Anyway, if people are scared of technology, then how would giving them a bunch of links be in any way adventagous over giving them a printed copy?
My biggest question is to do with the Q3A manual. In the past, manuals for FPS games have been little more than decorations in the box. Anything that you really wanted to know about the game (i.e. a printed copy of cmdlist/cvarlist with explanations) you had to go elsewhere on the net to get. Why? Isn't telling you how to use the game the point of a manual? Why not fill it with info on how to modify the game. Point out that .pk3 files are little more than renamed .zip files. Point out how you are and aren't allowed to modify the game (to avoid another Generations fiasco), give a quick refernce guide to the client and server side API's, as well as the flavour of assembler that is used in the VM. There's so much MORE to do with a manual for this game. The question is - is id going to do this, or are we going to be left fending for ourselves again?
Beige shall be the colour of computers and the colour of computers shall be beige. Black shall they not be, nor either shall they be grey, unless they will then be painted beige. Translucent anything is right out.
While you're at it, Jane's WWII Fighters. And Jane's Longbow, and.....
Bad people die too. We just don't care about them. Hence, we don't mourn for them. After all, what better way to punish a person than to try and forget they ever existed.
Great, now you've gone and gotten me depressed.
And they're off! We already have some vague allusions to C++ being a bad idea, and the cross platform card has been played mighty early, implying that C is better than C++ for that. This is an exciting match, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll keep you updated as the race continues. We have yet to see any real material claims, be we expect plenty of personal anecdotes and opinions this match. It promises to be an exciting time, so stay tuned!
(
Is there somewhere on the web from where I can order one of these? I can't find any mention of IBM making them any more. I swear I saw a place on the web that sold keyboards like them (they also had one with a pencil eraser in the middle of it), but I can't find it at all.
Does anyone know if these are still available?
Other than that obvious contradiction, I still can't figure out what's being said here. This sounds like a massive cop out on the part of Katz. He doesn't want to enforce blinds on his own activity (as evidenced by his previous article), he probably doesn't want the goverenment or a company to control what he can see, but he'll let a computer program do so? That makes no sense, so I don't think that's what he would be saying.... then what?
l. Is this information necessary? Do we need to know it? Does it advance knowledge, inform or entertain us? Or does it tell us something we already know, provide a service when we can easily do ourselves, replicate what already exists?
You can't know that. Aside from the fact that there is no way to prove conclusively that, once and for all time a piece of information is Useful and Good or Useless and Bad (i.e. to be shown to you or not), it will limit you the mode of thought that the AI has. Think about it - if those who wrote this software considered health issues to be very important to know, then you would constantly be given health updates - which might cause certain people to become hypochondriacs. Or, if they considered product recalls past a certain level of urgency (i.e. child care equipment, cars), etc. -- seeing that information all the time might make one into a consumer advocate.
Your mind is the sum of the information that you have experienced in your lifetime, give or take a bit of magic. Turning the continued evolution of your mind over to an AI coded by other people would make your mind into a reflection of the programmers who wrote that AI.
Wouldn't it?
2. Do we need this new product? Does it have unintended consequences? Will it be almost instantly out-of-date?
Sexual reproduction has unintended concequences - copying errors produce genetic mutations. These 'unintended concequences' allow evolution.
5. Are we leaving human beings enough time, peace, and opportunity for at least some spiritual dimension in their lives? Or are we labor-saving and information-providing them to distraction? through?
Human beings (of the class that you're talking about here - you only seem concerned about the fate of middleclass technocrats) can easily get the time and peace for a spirtual dimension in thier lives - if they care enough to have one. If they don't, well, then no amount of peace and quiet will give them one. It will just make them bored.
You can't make people happy if they don't want to be happy.
Wtf? Why did that come out in all lower case? Is this a new /. bug or is Lynx just weird?
btw, the second edition of unix network programming comments on Linux compatibily/incompatibility extensively.
Yes, and the only thing that matters in life is Linux and Perl. I forgot that anything as trivial as socket programing or real TCP/IP work is worth anything. So, yeah, his contribution was meaningless. Whatever.
Some things in life matter more than being able to download the source to a web server.
True. Imagine what you could do with an 11 port USB hub....
Well, be thankful it doesn't result in fertilization - divison errors could be really nasty then.
And I hope that anyone using one would be smart enough to be careful about overclocking it too much.
:-)
Forgot to link to the fact sheet
Yes, the keyboard is wireless.
It looks like there are trackballs on the keyboard, but I can't be sure. Nothing is mentioned in the fact sheet about it.
There's an 11 port USB hub on it, which is pretty damn nifty. If there isn't a trackball on the keyboard, you could put a wireless USB mouse on it easily.
Looks nifty. I would never buy one (if I ever find I have gratuitious amounts money to throw at a new system, it will be an Alpha workstation), but I can see how some people who have extra IPO money lying around and nothing better to do would like one.