>>> You can't be on higher moral ground if the only way you can deal with violence is with more violence.
Oh, I don't know about that. I think a bit of "lesser" violence might be a pretty good deterrent. Right now, we've got a choice between locking someone up for years or their entire life, or capital punishment. Neither choice seems to be working. Locking them up for years means we're paying the tab, and a number of them manage a fairly comfortable life in prison. Capital punishment holds the promise of mistakes, and really isn't punishment to the kind of killer that hates life.
How about a compromise? You murder someone, and we're pretty sure you're the killer (video evidence, etc.), you don't get life in prison, or the chair. Instead, you get to endure a long life of torture. Stab somebody to death, their family gets to stop by once a week and make a few cuts with a razor blade. Nothing life-threatening, but a little revenge, taken out over a long period of time. Not comfortable with victims doing it? Let the state handle it. Similar with gunshots and other means. You don't get killed. You just get to "enjoy" the experience you gave to your victim...for a long, long time.
Don't know about you, but that's bound to cut down on the number of murders over the years...especially if we televise the more famous ones. "Rape and murder" cases would likely plunge pretty quickly, too. Of course, you'd probably have to put those punishments on cable.:)
The wrist thing looks like a hair tie she put on her wrist. The other spot isn't so obvious, but considering the scene, it appears she just finished sliding down the hill on the tube she's carrying, so it might be snow on the camera lens from a previous shot. Perhaps she's laughing because she almost crashed into the photographer during the attempted shot. It might be a speck of snow on the lens.
That said, I'm sure somebody will use it of proof of something supernatural...
Probably not, but if he's innocent, he has the advantage that the prosecutor isn't likely to push for his conviction anyway, just "to get somebody". All other factors being equal, the Groklaw Effect must provide some protection(s) for F/OSS developers, even outside the IT realm. On the other hand, if he is guilty, the community likely won't rally around him, "just because he's famous". If he is guilty, the F/OSS community's ethical/moral standards are more likely to assist in his conviction, simply because murder is wrong.
Either way, at least he's not likely to be dancing on cars at the trial...
No, but IIRC, lightning is only part of the problem. Ice, wind gusts, etc., all come into play. Taken alone, they're each fairly minor (lightning won't necessarily destroy the shuttle on it's own, but even "minor" skin damage might increase reentry risks), but there's no real good reason to force the schedule.
>>>Back to the topic... it would probably take more space than we can imagine to contain all that information. If space has no bounds, then the sum of all the knowledge about our universe would also have no bounds. Even with great compression, the amount of space required to store an infinite amount of information would also be infinite.
True, but that's doing it the hard way. Instead of taking all knowledge about everything (at all points in time?!!), the ideal solution would be to view the properties of a smaller portion of the universe (a part of some lab), then use our understanding of the universe to determine how that portion of the universe came to acquire those properties (position, various energies and mixtures, etc.).
At that point, with sufficient understanding of the fundamentals, we could "run the clock" backward or forward, and determine not only what happened in the past to give that portion the properties it has, but also determine likelihoods of what may happen in the future, not only to the portion we're viewing, but extrapolate it's affect on the rest of the universe. The more we do it, the more accurate our predictions become over longer distances and periods of time.
Heisenberg might even be satisfied somewhat, as our influences in viewing that portion of the universe would provide us with known quantities of perturbance, which we could then use to determine origination at a specific point in time.
On the downside, it might be a little disturbing to discover that carefully timed nose picking triggers supernovas in far-off galaxies...or it might become a new form of entertainment.:)
Um, because "God" brings along more money and power? It's a pain to get people to give you money and do things for you for the sake of everything. On the other hand...ah, I'd better just leave the rest to you.
I think that's the problem. The assumption that they know what they're doing. It's no big deal if they're working on these items, as time will tell whether they're correct or not.
The author, and some folks here, are simply questioning the perceived elevation of string theorists into "The Physics Elite", while for the most part, string theory hasn't brought much in the way of a tangible increase in knowledge. In that way, it's necessary, if only to wake up those in the field, to allow them to respond with examples of how their work has benefited humanity, either directly or indirectly. More than that, it also allows the folks that have set up the hierarchy to take another look at their hiring qualifications and perhaps decide that they need to have more diversity.
Personally, I cringe when I hear "the math is too complicated". That's the kind of thing I heard about algebra, trig, undergrad calculus, etc. Each time, these complaints are, at best, complaints from those who didn't put forth a serious effort (the guys at school that partied too much), and at worst, those folks who like to make themselves feel more important than people that aren't at their level.
Granted, I don't do string theory problems during my lunch, but that's because I don't survive on a paycheck from the local physics lab. And for what it's worth, at one time Newton's work was "elite".
In other words, to a certain extent, it's always good to question authority. If they're honestly doing their best, they will be able to show it. If their authority is a sham, they will try and crush your rebellion. The reaction to this book should tell the story to a degree.
>>>in the absence of any massive interstella explosions that change the velocity of the Sun,
Likely wouldn't make a difference, even then. For most practical purposes, an exploding star (or other object or group of objects) still centers it's collective influence on the original point, at least until the remnants congeal into distinct bodies, which then might affect other objects. As the objects in question are so far away, their influence on the happenings in our own solar system are miniscule, to the point that they can be ignored.
On the other hand, even one fairly far away might shower us in killer radiation...which might be a problem...but even the largest "close" explosions would barely affect our solar system's gravitational situation.
Apply this to the "war on drugs" and other situations, and it's easy to see why this mindset is doomed to failure. You're virtually begging the kinds of folks that might commit a crime to take their crimes as far as they can. At the same time, you're discouraging normal citizens, who might otherwise intervene to help protect their communities, from doing so.
On the other hand, I can feel for the security admin who's tired of chasing down dead ends created by random people actively trying to punch holes in his network, "to help". At the least, you're wasting time that might be better spent on other improvements. At worst, you end up missing signal in the noise.
My guess is this is an attempt to stem their stock price bleeding. It's up 13 cents at the moment, and the usual pro-MS wall street folks are plastering it all over their headlines. As you hint, MS no longer cares about WHAT it produces, just that it produces something that might keep it's market value stable. The thought of neverending income might appeal to the likes of Forbes and such, but if it was really a viable market strategy, MS would have done it years ago, when Apple was "dead", and Linux was still learning to walk.
Today, MS no longer has the illusion as the only ballgame in town, and there are simply too many people who can't, or won't put themselves into a position that MS "owns" their data. It might presently, but even MS likes to present itself as simply being the only game in town. As that facade falls, we'll see a lot more of these "schemes" to keep the stock propped, but that's all they'll turn out to be.
Hell, MS can't even get it's most fervent supporters to pay for legal copies of it's products, how they expect users to smile and accept rental payments is beyond me...
>>Considering FF is still under 15% market share, I am going to go out on a limb and say you probably don't get out much.
Considering that 15% number has happened in a matter of a dozen or so months, from 2-5% in early 2005, it's tempting to say that the two of you just have different circles of friends. His are interested in what's new and ways of using their computers more efficiently, whereas your circle generally has to be dragged, kicking and screaming between software upgrades.
That isn't meant to be flamebait, but I can't imagine that most of the people you're referring to are the type of folks that influence others on their software decisions. On the other hand, his are more likely to trigger other users decisions, simply by default. "What's that you're using? Firefox? Oh, a browser? Is it better? How? Cool!" On the other hand, someone that watches another user use IE won't think twice about it.
Besides, I sense a little teenage angst with your remark. Most (older) people don't have a huge circle of friends, or get out much. They have families, coworkers, neighbors, and a few others, and they may not even see those others all that often, because they're more likely to be at home or work most of the time. On those occasions when they do get away for a few hours, their browser choice isn't likely the hot topic of the moment.
Not to mention, this is Slashdot, not exactly renowned for the vastness of the social lives of it's users. Which includes you...:)
>>The person who discovered this isn't just some random XBox blogger, this is a writer for a major magazine.
Well, not being a fanboy myself, I'm sure there's a better way you could phrase that. Yes, most intelligent people aren't going to risk their reputations like this, but that also doesn't mean someone will not. After all, employment by a major magazine (which is often more or less freelance) does not automatically qualify the author as a neutral party.
My mind's drawn to the fact that they recently had one of their "best" rootkits exposed. Perhaps some of the delay problems are due to that exposure, Sony was hoping to have it's "super secret" software controlling these things, and now that people are (more) suspicious of Sony's stuff, they've had to reengineer Blueray, software-wise, from the ground up?
This is just/. quality WAGing, but is it possible that Sony's discs are simply rebranded Verbatim disks? In such a case, Sony might use Verbatim discs in-house, as there wouldn't be much conflict of interest, and they simply forgot about/overlooked switching them to Sony branded ones, in their preshow rush? Still not good news for sony, but better than them having to admit that a competitors discs are a better quality/value.
Ah, the wonders of technology. Bet the folks living there are looking forward to calls like, "What do you mean you're sick? I just saw you at [venue of choice]! Consider yourself terminated!" or "Don't give me that, I saw you looking at that girl. Yes I did. I have it recorded!" or "Um, do you have to pick your nose when you're talking to me on the phone?" or "Yeah, I know you're in the middle of an important dinner. I was just calling you to ask how the food at that restaurant is, because I didn't want to spend the money if it's no good, and I saw you guys eating there. And what's that guy to your left eating?" or "You can't pay me back because you can't remember the PIN to your bank card? Hold on, let me flip on my Tivo, um, here it is..."
Slashdot Mirror
>>> like heaven...hardy a fit punishment for any crime.
:)
Ah, we can fix that. Hans' computer will be running XP, and the development environment...MS VS Pro. He'll beg for the chair!
Just joking, I wouldn't even do that to MS execs.
>>> You can't be on higher moral ground if the only way you can deal with violence is with more violence.
:)
Oh, I don't know about that. I think a bit of "lesser" violence might be a pretty good deterrent. Right now, we've got a choice between locking someone up for years or their entire life, or capital punishment. Neither choice seems to be working. Locking them up for years means we're paying the tab, and a number of them manage a fairly comfortable life in prison. Capital punishment holds the promise of mistakes, and really isn't punishment to the kind of killer that hates life.
How about a compromise? You murder someone, and we're pretty sure you're the killer (video evidence, etc.), you don't get life in prison, or the chair. Instead, you get to endure a long life of torture. Stab somebody to death, their family gets to stop by once a week and make a few cuts with a razor blade. Nothing life-threatening, but a little revenge, taken out over a long period of time. Not comfortable with victims doing it? Let the state handle it. Similar with gunshots and other means. You don't get killed. You just get to "enjoy" the experience you gave to your victim...for a long, long time.
Don't know about you, but that's bound to cut down on the number of murders over the years...especially if we televise the more famous ones. "Rape and murder" cases would likely plunge pretty quickly, too. Of course, you'd probably have to put those punishments on cable.
The wrist thing looks like a hair tie she put on her wrist. The other spot isn't so obvious, but considering the scene, it appears she just finished sliding down the hill on the tube she's carrying, so it might be snow on the camera lens from a previous shot. Perhaps she's laughing because she almost crashed into the photographer during the attempted shot. It might be a speck of snow on the lens.
That said, I'm sure somebody will use it of proof of something supernatural...
Probably not, but if he's innocent, he has the advantage that the prosecutor isn't likely to push for his conviction anyway, just "to get somebody". All other factors being equal, the Groklaw Effect must provide some protection(s) for F/OSS developers, even outside the IT realm. On the other hand, if he is guilty, the community likely won't rally around him, "just because he's famous". If he is guilty, the F/OSS community's ethical/moral standards are more likely to assist in his conviction, simply because murder is wrong.
Either way, at least he's not likely to be dancing on cars at the trial...
What's the difference between O.J. and Hans Reiser?
Hans kept a journal.
(Sorry everybody...)
Eh, well then, if anybody asks, I've been here all night, ok?
No, but IIRC, lightning is only part of the problem. Ice, wind gusts, etc., all come into play. Taken alone, they're each fairly minor (lightning won't necessarily destroy the shuttle on it's own, but even "minor" skin damage might increase reentry risks), but there's no real good reason to force the schedule.
Hey, I gave you a choice, the pr0n sites, or the PS3...
>>>Back to the topic... it would probably take more space than we can imagine to contain all that information. If space has no bounds, then the sum of all the knowledge about our universe would also have no bounds. Even with great compression, the amount of space required to store an infinite amount of information would also be infinite.
:)
True, but that's doing it the hard way. Instead of taking all knowledge about everything (at all points in time?!!), the ideal solution would be to view the properties of a smaller portion of the universe (a part of some lab), then use our understanding of the universe to determine how that portion of the universe came to acquire those properties (position, various energies and mixtures, etc.).
At that point, with sufficient understanding of the fundamentals, we could "run the clock" backward or forward, and determine not only what happened in the past to give that portion the properties it has, but also determine likelihoods of what may happen in the future, not only to the portion we're viewing, but extrapolate it's affect on the rest of the universe. The more we do it, the more accurate our predictions become over longer distances and periods of time.
Heisenberg might even be satisfied somewhat, as our influences in viewing that portion of the universe would provide us with known quantities of perturbance, which we could then use to determine origination at a specific point in time.
On the downside, it might be a little disturbing to discover that carefully timed nose picking triggers supernovas in far-off galaxies...or it might become a new form of entertainment.
...lost our balance, and fell backwards, smack on our butts. :)
The important part is that we keep getting up and using it as a learning experience to keep moving forward.
Um, because "God" brings along more money and power? It's a pain to get people to give you money and do things for you for the sake of everything. On the other hand...ah, I'd better just leave the rest to you.
I think that's the problem. The assumption that they know what they're doing. It's no big deal if they're working on these items, as time will tell whether they're correct or not.
The author, and some folks here, are simply questioning the perceived elevation of string theorists into "The Physics Elite", while for the most part, string theory hasn't brought much in the way of a tangible increase in knowledge. In that way, it's necessary, if only to wake up those in the field, to allow them to respond with examples of how their work has benefited humanity, either directly or indirectly. More than that, it also allows the folks that have set up the hierarchy to take another look at their hiring qualifications and perhaps decide that they need to have more diversity.
Personally, I cringe when I hear "the math is too complicated". That's the kind of thing I heard about algebra, trig, undergrad calculus, etc. Each time, these complaints are, at best, complaints from those who didn't put forth a serious effort (the guys at school that partied too much), and at worst, those folks who like to make themselves feel more important than people that aren't at their level.
Granted, I don't do string theory problems during my lunch, but that's because I don't survive on a paycheck from the local physics lab. And for what it's worth, at one time Newton's work was "elite".
In other words, to a certain extent, it's always good to question authority. If they're honestly doing their best, they will be able to show it. If their authority is a sham, they will try and crush your rebellion. The reaction to this book should tell the story to a degree.
>>>in the absence of any massive interstella explosions that change the velocity of the Sun,
Likely wouldn't make a difference, even then. For most practical purposes, an exploding star (or other object or group of objects) still centers it's collective influence on the original point, at least until the remnants congeal into distinct bodies, which then might affect other objects. As the objects in question are so far away, their influence on the happenings in our own solar system are miniscule, to the point that they can be ignored.
On the other hand, even one fairly far away might shower us in killer radiation...which might be a problem...but even the largest "close" explosions would barely affect our solar system's gravitational situation.
Hmmm, maybe those tremors aren't the result of a long ago "collision" between branes, but instead, the universe giggling at us... :)
>>>"a 15,000btu unit..."
:p
Hmmm, sounds like a rare case of truth in advertisement to me.
Apply this to the "war on drugs" and other situations, and it's easy to see why this mindset is doomed to failure. You're virtually begging the kinds of folks that might commit a crime to take their crimes as far as they can. At the same time, you're discouraging normal citizens, who might otherwise intervene to help protect their communities, from doing so.
On the other hand, I can feel for the security admin who's tired of chasing down dead ends created by random people actively trying to punch holes in his network, "to help". At the least, you're wasting time that might be better spent on other improvements. At worst, you end up missing signal in the noise.
You mean, provided they still have one after whatever dopey company sues them into poverty, right? :)
My guess is this is an attempt to stem their stock price bleeding. It's up 13 cents at the moment, and the usual pro-MS wall street folks are plastering it all over their headlines. As you hint, MS no longer cares about WHAT it produces, just that it produces something that might keep it's market value stable. The thought of neverending income might appeal to the likes of Forbes and such, but if it was really a viable market strategy, MS would have done it years ago, when Apple was "dead", and Linux was still learning to walk.
Today, MS no longer has the illusion as the only ballgame in town, and there are simply too many people who can't, or won't put themselves into a position that MS "owns" their data. It might presently, but even MS likes to present itself as simply being the only game in town. As that facade falls, we'll see a lot more of these "schemes" to keep the stock propped, but that's all they'll turn out to be.
Hell, MS can't even get it's most fervent supporters to pay for legal copies of it's products, how they expect users to smile and accept rental payments is beyond me...
>>Considering FF is still under 15% market share, I am going to go out on a limb and say you probably don't get out much.
:)
Considering that 15% number has happened in a matter of a dozen or so months, from 2-5% in early 2005, it's tempting to say that the two of you just have different circles of friends. His are interested in what's new and ways of using their computers more efficiently, whereas your circle generally has to be dragged, kicking and screaming between software upgrades.
That isn't meant to be flamebait, but I can't imagine that most of the people you're referring to are the type of folks that influence others on their software decisions. On the other hand, his are more likely to trigger other users decisions, simply by default. "What's that you're using? Firefox? Oh, a browser? Is it better? How? Cool!" On the other hand, someone that watches another user use IE won't think twice about it.
Besides, I sense a little teenage angst with your remark. Most (older) people don't have a huge circle of friends, or get out much. They have families, coworkers, neighbors, and a few others, and they may not even see those others all that often, because they're more likely to be at home or work most of the time. On those occasions when they do get away for a few hours, their browser choice isn't likely the hot topic of the moment.
Not to mention, this is Slashdot, not exactly renowned for the vastness of the social lives of it's users. Which includes you...
Trilingual, trilateral, hmmm...
>>The person who discovered this isn't just some random XBox blogger, this is a writer for a major magazine.
Well, not being a fanboy myself, I'm sure there's a better way you could phrase that. Yes, most intelligent people aren't going to risk their reputations like this, but that also doesn't mean someone will not. After all, employment by a major magazine (which is often more or less freelance) does not automatically qualify the author as a neutral party.
Maureen O'Gara, Rob Enderlee, etc...
My mind's drawn to the fact that they recently had one of their "best" rootkits exposed. Perhaps some of the delay problems are due to that exposure, Sony was hoping to have it's "super secret" software controlling these things, and now that people are (more) suspicious of Sony's stuff, they've had to reengineer Blueray, software-wise, from the ground up?
:)
Geez, this tinfoil hat's a little itchy.
This is just /. quality WAGing, but is it possible that Sony's discs are simply rebranded Verbatim disks? In such a case, Sony might use Verbatim discs in-house, as there wouldn't be much conflict of interest, and they simply forgot about/overlooked switching them to Sony branded ones, in their preshow rush? Still not good news for sony, but better than them having to admit that a competitors discs are a better quality/value.
Ah, the wonders of technology. Bet the folks living there are looking forward to calls like, "What do you mean you're sick? I just saw you at [venue of choice]! Consider yourself terminated!" or "Don't give me that, I saw you looking at that girl. Yes I did. I have it recorded!" or "Um, do you have to pick your nose when you're talking to me on the phone?" or "Yeah, I know you're in the middle of an important dinner. I was just calling you to ask how the food at that restaurant is, because I didn't want to spend the money if it's no good, and I saw you guys eating there. And what's that guy to your left eating?" or "You can't pay me back because you can't remember the PIN to your bank card? Hold on, let me flip on my Tivo, um, here it is..."
>>a huge Santa and grinning happy elves
That's a slightly disturbing mental picture.