I have a Master's in CS. Yes, I agree that at the higher end CS is basically a specialized math degree. But there is that touch of applied math thrown in that separates it from a mathematician or statistician.
Even better, if you pair up a CS degree with something applied (physics, mech engineering, chemistry) you suddenly become someone very valuable to any organization trying to build advanced software. Yes, a biologist could hack out some code to study protein folding, but if you're also a CS guru then you can make a very efficient protein folding algorithm and save zillions of computing hours.
So let's say that a squatter has a domain that I REALLY want (for a customer, etc) for a legitimate use. Should I bite the bullet and feed the troll? Or find an alternative?
I guess personally I wonder if domain names matter so much anymore. It seems that the days of just going to "CompanyName.com" are over. Instead you google it, click through on an ad, type in from an email or business card, etc. So why not use "CompanyName2.com" or something.
It doesn't look pretty, unfortunately. To me, "CompanyName.biz" makes the company look like someone shady.
Anecdote: Finally "upgraded" from NCAA Football 2004 to NCAA Football 2006. Now there are in-game ads. "We would like to remind you this Red Zone play brought to you by Red Zone deoderant"
It is very annoying. I should have stuck with 2004.
I am writing this letter in regards to Bill H. R. 5319, the "Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006". Unfortunately, I only became aware of this legislation on Friday, July 28, 2006, by which the bill had already passed the House. Therefore, I hope that this letter reaches you in time to consider before the vote reaches the Senate floor.
I strongly urge you to consider all aspects of this site and to consider voting "No". I understand the title of this bill makes it extremely appealing, and difficult to argue against. After all, who would not want to eliminate online predators and protect our nation's youth? But when reviewing this bill, consider:
1. Will this bill truly protect children? 2. The potential ramifications, including limiting educational opportunities and infringing on civil liberties
By limiting access in public areas, such as libraries, are we truly providing any protection? Are children likely to undertake risky behavior when under the watchful eye of a librarian or technology education provider? Are online predators likely to ply their trade in a public location that is subject to electronic monitoring and access control? By restricting access in public places, we would in fact force children and predators to seek out Internet access at other, more private locations, which actually results in greater probability of unsafe and illegal activity.
Also, consider the fact that by preventing social networking via this world-wide portal, we are in fact preventing our children from communicating with other children in other countries and other cultures, thus limiting their world view and preventing them from gaining firsthand knowledge and experience of other cultures.
Furthermore, I am concerned with the civil liberties issue. This appears to be another step towards the "slippery slope" of restricting our citizens' rights. This potentially opens the door towards other infringements. Do we also restrict which books are available in the library? Do we restrict who is even allowed to enter a library? The true way to educate our children, and thus ensure a bright future for this country, is to encourage as much reading and information as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope you will seriously consider what I have stated.
You are absolutely right. My wife, who has two college degrees, is leaving her career to become a stay-at-home full time mom because that what she *wants* to do. And she gets nothing but crap from her female co-workers who now think I'm a terrible husband for "making her stay at home". Or another comment was "You are destroying everything our mother's fought for!" To which I reply, "You mean the right to choose?"
What about simply using IM instead of Email? It supports just about everything we need (i.e. file transfers), and follows more of a "telephone" model, with an answering machine if you are not there. The telephone system seems to work rather well.
When the PS2 launched, there was more demand than there were consoles. Now with this launch, they are pushing the price way up. Demand will drop, but maybe not enough that they still won't sell all PS3s on the shelves. So the result is simply the waiting list is not as long.
Actually, I think Sony might laugh all the way to the bank on this one.
Think about this...how many people paid $600 for a PS2 off of eBay?
I do like a lot of the ideals of Christianity, especially those being ignored by most self-proclaimed Christians-- like, charity, for instance. Humility is another oldy-but-goody. Kindness, and pacificism: two other good ones."
Actually, I think the GP is right, and you perhaps missed the point.
A pure CS graduate perhaps understands all the math and theory. But what does that mean to a commercial company? Companies exist to build products and services. Sure, there are jobs that are pure CS (Intel, MS, Sun, etc), but the vast majority of programmers actually do other things, and simply use programming/IT as a tool to get the job done.
My advice to CS students is always to build some knowledgebase beyond pure CS. It doesn't matter if its healthcare, automotive construction, finance, aerospace, whatever. But to really find a job as a programmer you have to know something to apply your programming skills towards.
I remember back when I was in school (Computer Science). One Monday morning waiting for class to start me and some buddies were chatting about coding all weekend. One older dude who was listening in scoffed at us and said, "I've got better things to do than sit in front of a computer for hours on end! I have a life!".
To which I replied, "If you don't like sitting in front of a computer for hours, you might seriously want to think about a different career path, eh?". He didn't reply.
Of course, this was 1997 so I know exactly why he was there. In 1997 CS classes were packed because everybody wanted to make big money. When I went back for my Master's in 2005 it was a different story. People were there because they love CS, not because they love money. It made school a lot more enjoyable.
My wife is fixin' to pop out her first, and I honestly feel really bad for all the parents out there that are really trying. No matter what you do, someone criticizes you. Spend too much time with your kids? Not enough time? Let them run free in the neighborhood and play outside and learn stuff? Or keep them safe by tracking them every minute?
What it comes down to is this...look at the mistakes your parents made, and yet you probably turned out OK. Just admit to yourself that as a parent you are human, and do your best, love your kids, admit when you make a mistake, and use your best judgement. Chances are they will turn out OK.
It is scary, because there is no "reset" button on kids. You can't "erase" mistakes. But remember that kids are like neural nets. One single parenting mistake mixed in with tons of great parenting, the good stuff will outweigh the bad.
Basically, in order to grab market share, different pieces of the market need/want different sets of features. The aggregate total of ALL those features becomes the bloated MS Office suite.
Although the "not showering" has been posted several times as a joke, there is a corollary to this that you might be able to use. Shower at the gym.
Where I used to work we got free health club membership, so I got in the habit of using their shower every day after working out, and I never really showered at home.
Or perhaps you joined a gym anyways. In that case, you can earn a tiny bit back of your membership fee by using their shower instead of yours (after you work out, of course. I'm not condoning going to the gym just to take a shower).
Try Fable. Doesn't require 120 hours to finish, you can save anywhere (*very* important feature for the casual adult gamer), and plays like an RPG with leveling, character building, etc.
Elder Scrolls 3 is similar in most of the above respects, but it has about 200 hours of gameplay, so you might never finish.
If you are looking for a more "Final Fantasy-ish" console-style RPG, you're screwed. I know, because I've looked. I cannot find a decent console-style RPG that lets you save anywhere and doesn't require a 3-hour uninterrupted block.
What works well (not that I would encourage anything illegal) is PC-based emulation of the classic SNES RPGs. Because the emulator can save the state of your game anywhere, so you can just play for 30 minutes or so and not have to hunt for a save point.
Yours is an insightful story. I've never thought "against the gain" so to speak, as all the financial advisers I've ever spoken to fully recommend purchase over rent. Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.
But even if you sell the house within a year or two its still not a bad thing. You might have gotten some appreciation (average ~6%, or at least stability, so you can sell the house and get that money back.
It sounds like another possibility you are suggestion is the assumption that you might lose your job and have no income for a substantial period. But I've never considered that as a realistic concern. I've always ensured I have 3-6 months living expenses saved up, and I assumed I could either find a new job or sell my house within 6 months. Maybe that's a bad assumption. But I've never been out of work for more than 3 months, and I've been in my career for over 10 years.
OK, I must admit, I've never seen a Doctor Who episode (but I've obviously heard a lot about it, being a/. geek and all).
Anyways, my question is out there to Doctor Who experts. If I want to start watching it, which of the 800+ episodes do I start with? Should I start with the new series? Or some particular older serial?
The parent comment was posted so long ago I may never see a reply to this, but...
Why do you think that getting a mortgage and buying a house was a stupid mistake? I guess it depends on the type of mortgage. If you have an interest-only ARM then that's a bad situation, but a fixed-rate mortgage is not a bad thing. The money is not disappearing, its turning into equity for your house, and since your house value will most likely increase over the next 10-20 years its actually sort of like a long-term savings account.
Again, why do you think that a mortgage is a bad thing? I'm not trolling, I'm honestly curious? Because perhaps there is some hidden badness that I'm not aware of that I should be.
Slashdot Mirror
Operating System developer.
Compiler developer.
Artificial Intelligence researcher.
Search engine algorithm developer.
I have a Master's in CS. Yes, I agree that at the higher end CS is basically a specialized math degree. But there is that touch of applied math thrown in that separates it from a mathematician or statistician.
Even better, if you pair up a CS degree with something applied (physics, mech engineering, chemistry) you suddenly become someone very valuable to any organization trying to build advanced software. Yes, a biologist could hack out some code to study protein folding, but if you're also a CS guru then you can make a very efficient protein folding algorithm and save zillions of computing hours.
So let's say that a squatter has a domain that I REALLY want (for a customer, etc) for a legitimate use. Should I bite the bullet and feed the troll? Or find an alternative?
I guess personally I wonder if domain names matter so much anymore. It seems that the days of just going to "CompanyName.com" are over. Instead you google it, click through on an ad, type in from an email or business card, etc. So why not use "CompanyName2.com" or something.
It doesn't look pretty, unfortunately. To me, "CompanyName.biz" makes the company look like someone shady.
Apologies...I cannot remember the author, but I once read a horror short story:
"He woke up frightened and reached for a match, and a match was put into his hand."
Creepy...
Hey! What about the hard-working Americans losing their jobs to globalization? Can't have it both ways, ya know.
Anecdote: Finally "upgraded" from NCAA Football 2004 to NCAA Football 2006. Now there are in-game ads. "We would like to remind you this Red Zone play brought to you by Red Zone deoderant"
It is very annoying. I should have stuck with 2004.
Dear Sir,
I am writing this letter in regards to Bill H. R. 5319, the "Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006". Unfortunately, I only became aware of this legislation on Friday, July 28, 2006, by which the bill had already passed the House. Therefore, I hope that this letter reaches you in time to consider before the vote reaches the Senate floor.
I strongly urge you to consider all aspects of this site and to consider voting "No". I understand the title of this bill makes it extremely appealing, and difficult to argue against. After all, who would not want to eliminate online predators and protect our nation's youth? But when reviewing this bill, consider:
1. Will this bill truly protect children?
2. The potential ramifications, including limiting educational opportunities and infringing on civil liberties
By limiting access in public areas, such as libraries, are we truly providing any protection? Are children likely to undertake risky behavior when under the watchful eye of a librarian or technology education provider? Are online predators likely to ply their trade in a public location that is subject to electronic monitoring and access control? By restricting access in public places, we would in fact force children and predators to seek out Internet access at other, more private locations, which actually results in greater probability of unsafe and illegal activity.
Also, consider the fact that by preventing social networking via this world-wide portal, we are in fact preventing our children from communicating with other children in other countries and other cultures, thus limiting their world view and preventing them from gaining firsthand knowledge and experience of other cultures.
Furthermore, I am concerned with the civil liberties issue. This appears to be another step towards the "slippery slope" of restricting our citizens' rights. This potentially opens the door towards other infringements. Do we also restrict which books are available in the library? Do we restrict who is even allowed to enter a library? The true way to educate our children, and thus ensure a bright future for this country, is to encourage as much reading and information as possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope you will seriously consider what I have stated.
Sincerely,
xxx
OK, I didn't RTFA, but...
How come every time a great game designed for PC starts targeting a console the game ends up sucking?
Deus Ex -> Deus Ex 2
Morrowind -> Oblivion
So if CoD3 targets the console from the beginning, is the game going to be not as good?
That's a very interesting question.
Some would make some emasculating comments and question my masculinity.
Others would think it was "noble".
As for me, I might actually enjoy it. Who knows?
You are absolutely right. My wife, who has two college degrees, is leaving her career to become a stay-at-home full time mom because that what she *wants* to do. And she gets nothing but crap from her female co-workers who now think I'm a terrible husband for "making her stay at home". Or another comment was "You are destroying everything our mother's fought for!" To which I reply, "You mean the right to choose?"
What about simply using IM instead of Email? It supports just about everything we need (i.e. file transfers), and follows more of a "telephone" model, with an answering machine if you are not there. The telephone system seems to work rather well.
I think you are exactly right.
When the PS2 launched, there was more demand than there were consoles. Now with this launch, they are pushing the price way up. Demand will drop, but maybe not enough that they still won't sell all PS3s on the shelves. So the result is simply the waiting list is not as long.
Actually, I think Sony might laugh all the way to the bank on this one.
Think about this...how many people paid $600 for a PS2 off of eBay?
Government issued smartcards, with a simple PKI (and revocation system) would be a perfect method for establishing identity
But...but...I though National ID cards were a Bad Idea?
But now it seems that this commentBlob thinks they are a Good Idea.
I'm so confused.
"I mean, if I believed in Jesus.
I do like a lot of the ideals of Christianity, especially those being ignored by most self-proclaimed Christians-- like, charity, for instance. Humility is another oldy-but-goody. Kindness, and pacificism: two other good ones."
Maybe you're a Humanist?
Actually, I think the GP is right, and you perhaps missed the point.
A pure CS graduate perhaps understands all the math and theory. But what does that mean to a commercial company? Companies exist to build products and services. Sure, there are jobs that are pure CS (Intel, MS, Sun, etc), but the vast majority of programmers actually do other things, and simply use programming/IT as a tool to get the job done.
My advice to CS students is always to build some knowledgebase beyond pure CS. It doesn't matter if its healthcare, automotive construction, finance, aerospace, whatever. But to really find a job as a programmer you have to know something to apply your programming skills towards.
Amen to that.
I remember back when I was in school (Computer Science). One Monday morning waiting for class to start me and some buddies were chatting about coding all weekend. One older dude who was listening in scoffed at us and said, "I've got better things to do than sit in front of a computer for hours on end! I have a life!".
To which I replied, "If you don't like sitting in front of a computer for hours, you might seriously want to think about a different career path, eh?". He didn't reply.
Of course, this was 1997 so I know exactly why he was there. In 1997 CS classes were packed because everybody wanted to make big money. When I went back for my Master's in 2005 it was a different story. People were there because they love CS, not because they love money. It made school a lot more enjoyable.
Why is this moderated up at all?
My wife is fixin' to pop out her first, and I honestly feel really bad for all the parents out there that are really trying. No matter what you do, someone criticizes you. Spend too much time with your kids? Not enough time? Let them run free in the neighborhood and play outside and learn stuff? Or keep them safe by tracking them every minute?
What it comes down to is this...look at the mistakes your parents made, and yet you probably turned out OK. Just admit to yourself that as a parent you are human, and do your best, love your kids, admit when you make a mistake, and use your best judgement. Chances are they will turn out OK.
It is scary, because there is no "reset" button on kids. You can't "erase" mistakes. But remember that kids are like neural nets. One single parenting mistake mixed in with tons of great parenting, the good stuff will outweigh the bad.
Joel S. talks about this. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/printerFriendly/arti cles/fog0000000020.html
Basically, in order to grab market share, different pieces of the market need/want different sets of features. The aggregate total of ALL those features becomes the bloated MS Office suite.
I'm not really familiar with Austrailia, but in the United States most public Universities have Small Business Centers that provide free help.
For example, near where I live in Florida, the University of West Florida offers services.
Or the United States Small Business Association provides resources.
My wife made use of these when she started up her business. Its been about 18 months, not making a profit yet but sales have been increasing.
Although the "not showering" has been posted several times as a joke, there is a corollary to this that you might be able to use. Shower at the gym.
Where I used to work we got free health club membership, so I got in the habit of using their shower every day after working out, and I never really showered at home.
Or perhaps you joined a gym anyways. In that case, you can earn a tiny bit back of your membership fee by using their shower instead of yours (after you work out, of course. I'm not condoning going to the gym just to take a shower).
"would give my right arm for a decent RPG"
Try Fable. Doesn't require 120 hours to finish, you can save anywhere (*very* important feature for the casual adult gamer), and plays like an RPG with leveling, character building, etc.
Elder Scrolls 3 is similar in most of the above respects, but it has about 200 hours of gameplay, so you might never finish.
If you are looking for a more "Final Fantasy-ish" console-style RPG, you're screwed. I know, because I've looked. I cannot find a decent console-style RPG that lets you save anywhere and doesn't require a 3-hour uninterrupted block.
What works well (not that I would encourage anything illegal) is PC-based emulation of the classic SNES RPGs. Because the emulator can save the state of your game anywhere, so you can just play for 30 minutes or so and not have to hunt for a save point.
Actually, I did mean to type "against the grain", so your original interpretation is correct. "Against the gain" was a typo.
Yours is an insightful story. I've never thought "against the gain" so to speak, as all the financial advisers I've ever spoken to fully recommend purchase over rent. Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.
But even if you sell the house within a year or two its still not a bad thing. You might have gotten some appreciation (average ~6%, or at least stability, so you can sell the house and get that money back.
It sounds like another possibility you are suggestion is the assumption that you might lose your job and have no income for a substantial period. But I've never considered that as a realistic concern. I've always ensured I have 3-6 months living expenses saved up, and I assumed I could either find a new job or sell my house within 6 months. Maybe that's a bad assumption. But I've never been out of work for more than 3 months, and I've been in my career for over 10 years.
OK, I must admit, I've never seen a Doctor Who episode (but I've obviously heard a lot about it, being a /. geek and all).
Anyways, my question is out there to Doctor Who experts. If I want to start watching it, which of the 800+ episodes do I start with? Should I start with the new series? Or some particular older serial?
The parent comment was posted so long ago I may never see a reply to this, but...
Why do you think that getting a mortgage and buying a house was a stupid mistake? I guess it depends on the type of mortgage. If you have an interest-only ARM then that's a bad situation, but a fixed-rate mortgage is not a bad thing. The money is not disappearing, its turning into equity for your house, and since your house value will most likely increase over the next 10-20 years its actually sort of like a long-term savings account.
Again, why do you think that a mortgage is a bad thing? I'm not trolling, I'm honestly curious? Because perhaps there is some hidden badness that I'm not aware of that I should be.
Thanks for any replies.