This group was caught with six copies of "Sim City" and three copies of "Grand Theft Auto", valued at $6.5 million. One member of the group also was carrying a marijuana cigarette with an estimated street value of $1.7 million.
If liability issues kill the implementation of self-driving cars, then it's time to kill all the lawyers. Personally, I would much rather have a robot driving a car than a teenager. Or an old person. Or a drunk. Or somebody on a cellphone. Or me, when I'm daydreaming, frankly. Who hasn't experienced that thing where you jerk alert and suddenly realize some part of your brain you're not even aware of has been driving for the last 45 minutes - on the freeway, at 75 mph - while the rest of your head has been somewhere else? There will still be wrecks, but I think we'll have fewer of 'em. I'll take my chances with the robots. Really, one HUGE problem in this country is that nobody understands risk assessment. It's the kind of ignorance that gave us the completely ineffective PATRIOT Act in response to 9/11.
It's best for the advance of freedom in China for Google to comply and get its foot in the door. 'Dangerous' information will leak in through the cracks, which will widen over time. A revolution changed China from a monarchy into a Communist state, but it will be evolution that will move it from Communism to... who knows what? Capitalism and democracy? Maybe. China is already moving in that direction.
While it's relatively easy to predict some technological developments (i.e., color TV when you already have black-and-white TV), most of the real innovations sneak up on us unexpectedly. Even Microsoft, the biggest computer technology company in the world, totally missed the importance of the Internet until it was already here. I predict that, while some of these things may happen, and may even happen 'on schedule', the most important developments in nanobiotech will be impossible to know until it gets here.
Me too. I worked at a small-town radio station in the early 70's and we had more staff and better equipment (except for Jennifer...) than WKRP. But I still loved it. Characters and their interactions always sell the show.
I hope this show will have two geeks just like the ones Matthew Broderick consulted with in Wargames. The geeky glasses-wearing social outcast and bearded t-shirted fat guy with a beard are ubiquitous in IT. They nailed it.
From the press release: "One of the most talked about aspects of the system is its wireless keyboard and mouse combo called the Lapboard." Yes. Thanks to Slashdot. Of course, what they don't mention is the fact that what is being SAID about it is that it looks like crap.:)
Ah, the computer wars of the mid-80's. At INFO magazine, we were right in the middle, bashing IBM and Atari, giving grudging admiration to the Mac, and singing the praises of the Commodore 64 and Amiga. Those were the days. Anyone still interested in such things might be interested in visiting my INFO nostalgia page at: http://airship.home.mchsi.com/infomag.htm
- Mark R. Brown, former Managing Editor, INFO Magazine
PS Very nice article at Ars, by the way. Great research. Those numbers are almost impossible to find, and I think they did a great job. Love the graphs.:)
I hate to say this, but as a 'mature' person myself, I've got to wonder if his age isn't a factor. It seems to be difficult for many older people to understand the fluidity and immediacy of the Web. They're used to more labor- and capital-intensive means of disseminating information. In the past, it took a newspaper, TV station, or other media enterprise to spread a story - true or false - to the world. The Web has given everyone that power. I think those who grew up with the older systems still have a mindset that says 'someone is in charge of this', when in fact, no one is. There's no way to moderate and fact-check every word that goes onto the Web. I have at least a dozen forums I go to regulary and post my prattle without anyone policing it. The only one responsible for that content is me. Could I be sued for libel? Of course. Can the sites I post to? I hope not. Because if they can, they'll all shut down tomorrow. Nobody is going to put his business, his reputation, and his wallet behind the accuracy of what I post. And they shouldn't have to. To me, the Web is no more responsible for what's posted on it than the phone company was for what was posted on their telephone poles in the previous generation. Or for what was said over their lines, for that matter. And that's the way it should be. Remember, Mr. Seigenthaler, one side effect of being a staunch proponent of free speech is that some of it is bound to be directed at you.
Of course this will bring more kids into science. However, they will only become horribly disillusioned once they become real scientists. Until I was 12, I really, really wanted to be a scientist, because movies and comic books had taught me that scientists: (a) Are often asked to create super-science weapons with which to save the world from dangerous space invaders (b) Build rockets and fly to other planets in them with buxom blondes (c) Get to create monsters and zombies, or at least dig up mummies. (d) Can travel through time to fight dinosaurs and/or weird futuristic megalomaniacs with bulging foreheads (d) Are most likely to be exposed to something that will give them superpowers (e) Are well-respected by politicians, journalists, and the public at large Of these, the last was perhaps the cruelist fiction.
Anyone know how much Mark Hamill was paid to play Luke Skywalker? Would he have been better off to have worked for free and just kept the lightsabre? I suspect that may be the case. If so, that's kind of warped.
You nailed it with the 'night all the time' bit. But it's also: (a) In a more eccentric orbit than any other planet. (b) In a longer orbit than any other planet. (c) In a more inclined orbit than any other planet. So it's more eccentric, lazier, and tipsier than any other planet. Bacchus is therefore a perfect name for it. Oh, and since it's so cold there should be plenty of ice for the alcholic beverages.:)
Canadian Exploration Plans
on
Ice Lake on Mars
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Meanwhile, the Canadian Space Agency today released an artist's rendition of their new planned Mars Explorer Vehicle.
The hook is that beverage service is not even included. By day 3, they expect to be able to charge you another $100 million for each can of Coke. And it won't even be real Coke, just some weird Uzbekistan knockoff named 'Koke'. (Please imagine unintelligible Cyrillic characters between quotes. I am poor and cannot afford to waste my few precious real Cyrillic characters in Slashdot posts.)
There are significant health risks to certain individuals when targeted by 'non-lethal' riot-control measures. For example, persons with acute asthma (like me) can experience a fatal reaction to tear gas or pepper spray. Likewise, I imagine a person with lens implants in their eyes (like me) might be at risk for permanent damage, even blindness, when exposed to this 'non-lethal' microwave weapon. And there is always the high probability of people being hurt in a stampede to get away from such weapons. 'Non-lethal' does not mean 'harmless', people. And guess what? The government won't care.
Recently in Iowa City (my hometown) there was a guest editorial in the local newspaper complaining that allowing the city's firemen to give one another free haircuts deprived local haircutters of their livelihood. The Mayor and the City Council got on it right away and banned the city's firefighters from giving each other haircuts. (True story.) So anything you do for somebody else that could potentially make a profit for anyone who is in business is now illegal? You can't give a buddy a free beer, because that deprives the local bar of business. You can't have friends over for dinner because they might have gone to a restaurant for dinner. Heck, you probably can't even have sex with your significant other, because they might have gone to a prostitute! I hate the 21st century. I think I'll to out and sue somebody.
I just had my annual review, and one of the things my boss ranked me high on was 'being informed' and 'proactively seeking solutions'. He was most impressed with the fact that I found, downloaded, and provided lots of Oracle technical information just an hour after we had decided to evaluate Oracle as a vendor. I also got high points for 'taking the lead' in learning about business rules and use cases and presenting that information to our team. Guess where I got all my information? Since the development project we worked on all year went belly up a couple of months ago, frankly cruising the 'net was the only thing I did all year that got me points in my evaluation. So which time was actually wasted? the hundreds of hours I spent on a project that was scrapped, or the time I spent on the 'net that got me bonus points with the boss? Go figure.
Personally, I'm in favor of applying the death penalty to any criminal who has shown himself (or herself) to be a complete sociopath. If someone habitually does stuff that is self-serving and is unrepentant, society is better off without them. I think we should start with those a**holes on the freeway who cut you off. Or maybe we should just leave it up to the people. Let them vote on who lives and who dies. After all, they've shown their collective wisdom by electing wise leaders to run our country. Why not let them dole out the death penalty directly, as well?
Slashdot Mirror
This group was caught with six copies of "Sim City" and three copies of "Grand Theft Auto", valued at $6.5 million. One member of the group also was carrying a marijuana cigarette with an estimated street value of $1.7 million.
If liability issues kill the implementation of self-driving cars, then it's time to kill all the lawyers.
Personally, I would much rather have a robot driving a car than a teenager. Or an old person. Or a drunk. Or somebody on a cellphone. Or me, when I'm daydreaming, frankly. Who hasn't experienced that thing where you jerk alert and suddenly realize some part of your brain you're not even aware of has been driving for the last 45 minutes - on the freeway, at 75 mph - while the rest of your head has been somewhere else?
There will still be wrecks, but I think we'll have fewer of 'em. I'll take my chances with the robots.
Really, one HUGE problem in this country is that nobody understands risk assessment. It's the kind of ignorance that gave us the completely ineffective PATRIOT Act in response to 9/11.
It's best for the advance of freedom in China for Google to comply and get its foot in the door. 'Dangerous' information will leak in through the cracks, which will widen over time. A revolution changed China from a monarchy into a Communist state, but it will be evolution that will move it from Communism to... who knows what? Capitalism and democracy? Maybe. China is already moving in that direction.
While it's relatively easy to predict some technological developments (i.e., color TV when you already have black-and-white TV), most of the real innovations sneak up on us unexpectedly. Even Microsoft, the biggest computer technology company in the world, totally missed the importance of the Internet until it was already here.
I predict that, while some of these things may happen, and may even happen 'on schedule', the most important developments in nanobiotech will be impossible to know until it gets here.
Me too. I worked at a small-town radio station in the early 70's and we had more staff and better equipment (except for Jennifer...) than WKRP. But I still loved it. Characters and their interactions always sell the show.
I hope this show will have two geeks just like the ones Matthew Broderick consulted with in Wargames. The geeky glasses-wearing social outcast and bearded t-shirted fat guy with a beard are ubiquitous in IT. They nailed it.
From the press release: :)
"One of the most talked about aspects of the system is its wireless keyboard and mouse combo called the Lapboard."
Yes. Thanks to Slashdot.
Of course, what they don't mention is the fact that what is being SAID about it is that it looks like crap.
Ah, the computer wars of the mid-80's.
:)
At INFO magazine, we were right in the middle, bashing IBM and Atari, giving grudging admiration to the Mac, and singing the praises of the Commodore 64 and Amiga.
Those were the days.
Anyone still interested in such things might be interested in visiting my INFO nostalgia page at: http://airship.home.mchsi.com/infomag.htm
- Mark R. Brown, former Managing Editor, INFO Magazine
PS Very nice article at Ars, by the way. Great research. Those numbers are almost impossible to find, and I think they did a great job. Love the graphs.
"Kill meeeee.... Kill meeee.....!"
I hate to say this, but as a 'mature' person myself, I've got to wonder if his age isn't a factor. It seems to be difficult for many older people to understand the fluidity and immediacy of the Web. They're used to more labor- and capital-intensive means of disseminating information. In the past, it took a newspaper, TV station, or other media enterprise to spread a story - true or false - to the world. The Web has given everyone that power. I think those who grew up with the older systems still have a mindset that says 'someone is in charge of this', when in fact, no one is. There's no way to moderate and fact-check every word that goes onto the Web.
I have at least a dozen forums I go to regulary and post my prattle without anyone policing it. The only one responsible for that content is me. Could I be sued for libel? Of course. Can the sites I post to? I hope not. Because if they can, they'll all shut down tomorrow. Nobody is going to put his business, his reputation, and his wallet behind the accuracy of what I post. And they shouldn't have to.
To me, the Web is no more responsible for what's posted on it than the phone company was for what was posted on their telephone poles in the previous generation. Or for what was said over their lines, for that matter. And that's the way it should be.
Remember, Mr. Seigenthaler, one side effect of being a staunch proponent of free speech is that some of it is bound to be directed at you.
"If you glue two things together that have never been glued together before, some schmuck will buy it." - George Carlin
I understand that it uses dupes on Slashdot as its souce of background noise. Good thinking. That way they know they'll never run out of input.
Didn't Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd do this in the movie "Trading Faces"? :)
Ummmm... Space Meat!.....
*drools*
You mean BOTH of them? :)
There is a third alternative - pare the population down until there are no more sociopaths. :)
Of course this will bring more kids into science. However, they will only become horribly disillusioned once they become real scientists. Until I was 12, I really, really wanted to be a scientist, because movies and comic books had taught me that scientists:
(a) Are often asked to create super-science weapons with which to save the world from dangerous space invaders
(b) Build rockets and fly to other planets in them with buxom blondes
(c) Get to create monsters and zombies, or at least dig up mummies.
(d) Can travel through time to fight dinosaurs and/or weird futuristic megalomaniacs with bulging foreheads
(d) Are most likely to be exposed to something that will give them superpowers
(e) Are well-respected by politicians, journalists, and the public at large
Of these, the last was perhaps the cruelist fiction.
Anyone know how much Mark Hamill was paid to play Luke Skywalker? Would he have been better off to have worked for free and just kept the lightsabre? I suspect that may be the case. If so, that's kind of warped.
You nailed it with the 'night all the time' bit. But it's also: :)
(a) In a more eccentric orbit than any other planet.
(b) In a longer orbit than any other planet.
(c) In a more inclined orbit than any other planet.
So it's more eccentric, lazier, and tipsier than any other planet. Bacchus is therefore a perfect name for it.
Oh, and since it's so cold there should be plenty of ice for the alcholic beverages.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Space Agency today released an artist's rendition of their new planned Mars Explorer Vehicle.
http://www.zamboni.com/machines/model700.html
They also announced that the expedition will be fully underwritten by the Canadian Hockey League.
The hook is that beverage service is not even included. By day 3, they expect to be able to charge you another $100 million for each can of Coke. And it won't even be real Coke, just some weird Uzbekistan knockoff named 'Koke'.
(Please imagine unintelligible Cyrillic characters between quotes. I am poor and cannot afford to waste my few precious real Cyrillic characters in Slashdot posts.)
The problem with both of them is that they can show you exactly WHERE you are, but they can't tell you WHY.
There are significant health risks to certain individuals when targeted by 'non-lethal' riot-control measures. For example, persons with acute asthma (like me) can experience a fatal reaction to tear gas or pepper spray. Likewise, I imagine a person with lens implants in their eyes (like me) might be at risk for permanent damage, even blindness, when exposed to this 'non-lethal' microwave weapon.
And there is always the high probability of people being hurt in a stampede to get away from such weapons.
'Non-lethal' does not mean 'harmless', people. And guess what? The government won't care.
Recently in Iowa City (my hometown) there was a guest editorial in the local newspaper complaining that allowing the city's firemen to give one another free haircuts deprived local haircutters of their livelihood. The Mayor and the City Council got on it right away and banned the city's firefighters from giving each other haircuts. (True story.)
So anything you do for somebody else that could potentially make a profit for anyone who is in business is now illegal? You can't give a buddy a free beer, because that deprives the local bar of business. You can't have friends over for dinner because they might have gone to a restaurant for dinner. Heck, you probably can't even have sex with your significant other, because they might have gone to a prostitute!
I hate the 21st century. I think I'll to out and sue somebody.
I just had my annual review, and one of the things my boss ranked me high on was 'being informed' and 'proactively seeking solutions'. He was most impressed with the fact that I found, downloaded, and provided lots of Oracle technical information just an hour after we had decided to evaluate Oracle as a vendor. I also got high points for 'taking the lead' in learning about business rules and use cases and presenting that information to our team. Guess where I got all my information? Since the development project we worked on all year went belly up a couple of months ago, frankly cruising the 'net was the only thing I did all year that got me points in my evaluation. So which time was actually wasted? the hundreds of hours I spent on a project that was scrapped, or the time I spent on the 'net that got me bonus points with the boss?
Go figure.
Personally, I'm in favor of applying the death penalty to any criminal who has shown himself (or herself) to be a complete sociopath. If someone habitually does stuff that is self-serving and is unrepentant, society is better off without them.
I think we should start with those a**holes on the freeway who cut you off.
Or maybe we should just leave it up to the people. Let them vote on who lives and who dies. After all, they've shown their collective wisdom by electing wise leaders to run our country. Why not let them dole out the death penalty directly, as well?