interpretation of an object's use... which bring up the obvious question: How do you determine something's primary "purpose?"
If you go by primary use of said object/substance, then trucks are used to transport people instead of cargo, SUVs are specifically for paved freeways, anti-hypertensive drugs are used to combat baldness (Rogaine), and chemical weapons of mass destruction are used to cure cancer (chemotherapy with the nitrogen mustards)... yet none of these uses are the original intended "purpose."
By the same token, the overwhelming majority of firearms (in developed countries) are used to punch little round holes in sheets of paper at varying distances. Do guns make nifty weapons? Indeed they do... but the vast majority are never used for that purpose, and likely never will be.
To say that guns are only for killing is really a very politically-loaded statement, and makes you look like somebody with an agenda to push.
My cable company was more than happy to sell me a business account. I did purchase it through my personal corporation, but I don't know if that's a requirement to get the business class account. I supposedly get preferred access to bandwidth on my node, better tech support (which I virtually never use... calling tech support is a sign of weakness), a static IP, a bunch of email addresses, etc.
I don't know why your cable company wouldn't sell you a business account... I'm sure my cable company makes big bucks on the sizable install fee (you don't even want to know how much it was)... but otherwise the cost is only a bit more than residential service.
As I said, no problems (BTW, my provider is Cox cable), though YMMV
indeed, indeed... I agree with virtually everything you wrote.
My parent post was partially tongue-in-cheek, since even I cannot adequately explain to myself some of the more vile fringe pornography that populates the internet (you coprophiliacs and urophiliacs know who you are). I agree that early discussions with kids are paramount, and as a physician, I can give them the reproductive process in absolutely excruciating detail (they'll never want to ask me another question!).
Early discussion is also good to do with drugs... my father (also a physician) gave me the early, and very graphic skinny on the physiologic consequences of street drugs. Even at a young age, he put it into terms that I, as a youthful science geek, could readily understand. Ever go to an extended care facility and see a young guy who stroked out from his cocaine use? Ever witness the ever-present grimace, the incontinence, the contractures?
Yeah... the smell alone will pretty much extinguish your curiousity about drugs.
I'm setting up my own Email server (yes, paid the extra bucks to get a business broadband account), complete with filters, attachment blocking, etc. Even purchased and read a couple of books on the subject... it's proven to be quite an educational endeavor.
When my kids are old enough to use Email (pretty soon now), I want to provide them with something at least partially filtered by dear old dad... I' ve even saved about 2000 spam emails to help train the filters. I don't want to have the birds-and-the-bees conversation with my kids any earlier than I have to (and explaining some midgets-in-leather porno spam is NOT on my preferred activities list).
Doing something is so much better than just bitching, and so much more satisfying.
I don't think
on
Watching You
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
most people are concerned with such obviously beneficient uses of surveillance... if it saved my child's life I'd kiss the boots of the guys who invented it.
I think we all realize surveillance is going on... there's a huge amount of info out there on virtually everyone; that info exists, as it must in a increasingly computerized world. I think the real issue for most people is simply WHO has access to that information, and WHY they want it.
If the FBI wanted the info from my internet connection for the purposes of catching some terrorist, and they were able to give me a good reason why (and they asked me nicely)... Hell, I'd probably go get them some beers while they were sniffing the datastream. Some surveillance is useful... but I want targeted surveillance, not someone hoovering up terabytes of information for data-mining (and who knows what other potential nefarious purposes).
If someone's looking into my information, I just want the courtesy of knowing WHO and WHY... and I'll make my own decisions at that point.
My linux notebook is a 500 celeron with 256MB of RAM. Even running X and performing a bunch of tasks, it has yet to reach full use of the 256MB. I don't even remember the last time I ended up touching the swap partition.
Honestly, what notebook apps really need >512MB of RAM? I've seen servers run perfectly well with less than that. If it's simply a manifestation of a the-more-the-merrier philosophy, that's fine... we're all in touch with that.
I know exactly what you mean; those young losses are hard. I had one those last week myself.
My new job is more manageable than my last one... I work longer shifts, but fewer shifts. I get more days off, but I'm more wiped-out after work. It's a trade-off. but I'm happy with it.
I've already sort-of become the other docs' IT guy (unofficially, of course, and mostly for the other docs personal/office machines; the hospital has its own IT people for the official hardware). I've already built computers for several, and keep getting hardware/software/config questions from the rest (I've even recommended linux for some... particularly for file servers and such). I'm also in the process of putting together a web server and some pages for some of my colleagues... all sorts of good geek stuff.
Good to see you too, BTW. I'll try not to be a stranger the next time I catch one of your posts.
I think you are generalizing too broadly... but I'll grant you your point for the moment; some of them are simply ass-suckling yes-men. They may not know anything about earning an honest living, or about IT... but they are VERY GOOD at playing the machiavellian corporate game. THAT is their strength... and that is why you must understand them, and avoid them.
Schmoozing... hinting... innuendo... back-stabbing... manipulating... networking... paybacks... passive-agressive personalities all.
Sun-Tzu preached knowing your enemy, and part of that dictum is to understand his strengths, and not to fight him in an area where he is strong, and you are weak.
They may not know a DS3 from a fractional T-1, but they are very good at self-promotion, and they tend to survive in companies. They also make bad enemies (trust me), and it can really hurt you to end up on one of their "accounts receivable" lists for future retribution. They are VERY skilled in their own way, and they play a game that most geeks can never hope to play (not that you'd want to).
You underestimate these people at your own peril... I pity you if you have one for a boss.
Indeed, you are not here to please everybody (unless you're a public relations person *shudder*)... but it's unwise to gratuitously make enemies.
Seriously... are you really defending your condescending, arrogant, holier-than-thou attitude like it's a good thing? I hate people like that, and I'd say most people hate people like that. Don't you hate the woman at the DMV that talks to you like you're a child? Well... how do you think your boss and colleagues like it when you publicly humiliate them due to their lack of tech knowledge? Are you really going to justify it based on the predicate that they're inferior, and only got there because they kissed ass? I try to never talk down to my patients... they don't deserve it (wtf should they be experts on medicine? if they were, they wouldn't need me!), it harms the theraputic relationship, and it makes me look like an arrogant prick. Don't you hate arrogant doctors? Of course you do... everyone does... and so do I... so I strive to never be one.
Successfully navigating the corporate ladder is an art in and of itself... an acquired expertise, if you will. People like that can hurt you... badly. They can make your job really suck; they can even cost you your job. Why antagonize them? If you can't talk to them without burning them down to a cinder, then hang out in the server room and avoid them (you'll probably get more work done by avoiding their endless meetings anyway).
I'm not saying you don't have the right to dislike people... you most definitely have that right... but you're hurting yourself if you advertise that antipathy. Sublimate that emotion somehow. If your drive for revenge is that great... you could discretely BOFH them, but never publicly flaunt your enmity... you're just telling them where to shoot when things go bad.
CF is a disease that could be perfectly treated by gene therapy... it comes from a single defect, though the defect itself can vary, in the cell membrane Chloride channel. Treat the defect, and you can avoid all the consequences of CF (pneumonia, pancreatitis, sterility, Pseudomonas colonization, etc). CF is one of the most common genetic diseases, and is THE most common lethal genetic defect among caucasians.
For the non-medical, non-bio-science geeks, Here's some info courtesy of the NIH. Much like genetic counseling for various hemoglobinopathies, an argument can be made for the same approach here, particularly since some estimates put the CF gene prevalance at 5% in the white/northern european population.
Curiously, there's speculation as to how that gene became so prevalant... it appears to be protective against Cholera, and perhaps some other diarrheal illnesses. Additionally, it may also offer some resistance against Typhoid. The theory has been advanced that partial resistance among heterozygotes provided a genetic advantage during the plagues of humanity's past, which included Typhoid and Cholera.
KFG: I've taken care of many CF patients... Do you mind terribly if I ask your approximate age?
goes a long way... forget the ear; it wouldn't take much to "blow your head clean off" (in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood).
I believe the Mossad also did this with the headrest of a car that a terrorist leader was driving... inventive folks, the Mossad... they're like geeks with an unlimited supply of high-explosives.
As an aside, that's one of the reasons why the Mossad is perhaps the most feared intelligence organ in the free world... they are (and have been) inventive, and ruthless. Apart from the occasional screw-up (the reputed botched assassination of a Moroccan waiter in Norway in the early 1970's is one example), they have carried out assassinations of terrorists in multiple locations in the world... mostly in the wake of the massacre of Israeli atheletes at the '72 olympics by Black September (a palestinian militant group).
The Mossad is very good at what they do... and exploding phones are one of their specialties.
that is impressive... but not entirely surprising.
One of the computers was almost unusable... it was out of memory from all the bots, viruses, and worms running in memory. The fact that it was paging to disk constantly, with mad network activity was my first sign that something was rotten in denmark (my apologies to the IRC kiddiez whose bots I deleted... sorry guys, go find someplace else to install your scripts).
So much damage, and yet, the damage can be mitigated by a clueful user with the right tools... like the aforementioned program.
nice work... I'm sure your neighbors were pleased .
I'll third that, and add a recent story to illustrate the point.
I recently tuned up a couple of PCs that were being used in a library... these are the computers your mother warned you about... all alone, two win2k boxen, unpatched, unfirewalled, on an open cable modem connection.
Yes... it's as bad as you're thinking. Between the two machines, spybot seek-and-destroy found over 110 pieces of sypware, adbots, and cookie trackers. I also found a couple of zombie IRC bots, MSBlaster, Klez, Yaha, etc, etc, etc.
Spybot search-and-destroy is free (you should try to donate... it is a VERY valuable piece of software), and it makes your job that much easier.
That's two thumbs up from me, dave... highly recommended.
agreed... that little nitrogen capsule widget thingy in the newer guiness cans makes all the difference in the world... didn't know they had added it to the bottles (stopped drinking those years ago).
Now, normally I'd say bottled beer tastes truer to the tap than canned beer; like you, I find that the aluminum (I assume it's the aluminum) does something to the taste. I find this to be true even with stronger-tasting beers, though it's particularly noticeable in the lighter, thinner american beers.
Heh... then again, maybe it's all in my imagination... I've never done a double-blind "pepsi challenge," with beer from the bottle and beer from the can.
Actually, that seems like a good excuse for me to go drink some beer.
Here in most of the US (except maybe NY, and some of the more metropolitan areas), Guiness is just about the only stout you can find on tap. I like it, and I do like other darker beers... I just can't find them on tap.
"but you can get them in some stores." Feh. Don't even get me started on buying bottled beers... many of them, guiness included, are horrible out of the bottle (guiness in cans is much better... you actually get a decent head).
That's not to say I haven't had some damned good beers overseas... I have... they just aren't available here.
I'm not a beer snob; different strokes for different folks... you should drink what you like. For my own part, I'd have to say that I like guiness.
Heck, that alone should have bumped him up at least a slot or two.
If any one of those guys admitted to drinking swill (like anything that comes in a 40oz bottle, or any wine that has a screw-on cap).... that should automatically drop them out of the top ten. Taste has to count for something.
Never underestimate the value of that "regular guy" persona. Torvalds may be one of the "digeratti" (don't you just hate that expression?), but you sort of get the sense that he's a regular guy.
No napoleon complex, no "I'm bigger than all of you" attitude, no chip on his shoulder, no larger-than-life image, or an ego that you can't fit into a conference room. What's not to like about Linus? Never met him personally, but I've never heard of him acting like any sort of ass.
The best description I ever heard of Linus is that he's a "quiet revolutionary." I'd say that's perfectly put.
Wish I still had some of my old-school hacking proggies around, thinking in particular of my war-dialers.
You kids just don't know how hacking used to be... running your war-dialers at night, all night, for days on a 300 baud modem... all so your parents wouldn't complain about not being able to use the phone. It took days to dial through a single prefix.
After that, manually modem-dialing all those numbers to see what kind of computers you had called... A few local war-dialers could but a hurting on that ATA number...
This is all strictly hypothetical, of course, since I would NEVER suggest anything of such questionable legality...
The reason we used the ignitors and some long wires was so that we could get behind something before firing it up. Young as we were, we weren't totally stupid (and we'd had some close calls).
In fact, some of the heavier ordinance we built required detonation by remote control (we had an almost unlimited supply of gunpowder, and thus got into plenty of mischief). Not that we were that bright, we had just watched enough old war movies to realize that we didn't want any shrapnel in us, and understood that sometimes things fragment violently when exposed to high pressures. We cannibalized circuit boards out of an old remote-control car (plus some RadioShack project boxes)... it kept our precious little hides out of the Emergency Room.
For my money, there was no finer way to spend a saturday afternoon than shooting potatoes into the woods with the other neighborhood kids (of course, these days you'd probably be arrested as a terrorist and interrogated by the FBI).
Between that and bottle-rocket wars, it's a wonder one of us didn't lose an eye.
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
What you are alluding to is called a "gag clause," and used to be a part of some HMO contracts. It was designed to prevent a physician from discussing treatment options that the HMO does not cover... typically expensive treatments like bone marrow transplants for certain cancers, etc.
Such clauses are almost universally despised by the public in general, and the medical community in particular. A number of states have passed laws making them explicitly illegal.
Most all doctors I've ever known would give you the straight scoop... I sure as hell would. Without full knowledge of risks and benefits, there can be no real choice... it's that "informed" part of "informed consent."
Slashdot Mirror
interpretation of an object's use... which bring up the obvious question: How do you determine something's primary "purpose?"
... yet none of these uses are the original intended "purpose."
If you go by primary use of said object/substance, then trucks are used to transport people instead of cargo, SUVs are specifically for paved freeways, anti-hypertensive drugs are used to combat baldness (Rogaine), and chemical weapons of mass destruction are used to cure cancer (chemotherapy with the nitrogen mustards)
By the same token, the overwhelming majority of firearms (in developed countries) are used to punch little round holes in sheets of paper at varying distances. Do guns make nifty weapons? Indeed they do... but the vast majority are never used for that purpose, and likely never will be.
To say that guns are only for killing is really a very politically-loaded statement, and makes you look like somebody with an agenda to push.
Just a thought.
My cable company was more than happy to sell me a business account. I did purchase it through my personal corporation, but I don't know if that's a requirement to get the business class account. I supposedly get preferred access to bandwidth on my node, better tech support (which I virtually never use... calling tech support is a sign of weakness), a static IP, a bunch of email addresses, etc.
I don't know why your cable company wouldn't sell you a business account... I'm sure my cable company makes big bucks on the sizable install fee (you don't even want to know how much it was)... but otherwise the cost is only a bit more than residential service.
As I said, no problems (BTW, my provider is Cox cable), though YMMV
indeed, indeed... I agree with virtually everything you wrote.
My parent post was partially tongue-in-cheek, since even I cannot adequately explain to myself some of the more vile fringe pornography that populates the internet (you coprophiliacs and urophiliacs know who you are). I agree that early discussions with kids are paramount, and as a physician, I can give them the reproductive process in absolutely excruciating detail (they'll never want to ask me another question!).
Early discussion is also good to do with drugs... my father (also a physician) gave me the early, and very graphic skinny on the physiologic consequences of street drugs. Even at a young age, he put it into terms that I, as a youthful science geek, could readily understand. Ever go to an extended care facility and see a young guy who stroked out from his cocaine use? Ever witness the ever-present grimace, the incontinence, the contractures?
Yeah... the smell alone will pretty much extinguish your curiousity about drugs.
I'm rolling my own.
I'm setting up my own Email server (yes, paid the extra bucks to get a business broadband account), complete with filters, attachment blocking, etc. Even purchased and read a couple of books on the subject... it's proven to be quite an educational endeavor.
When my kids are old enough to use Email (pretty soon now), I want to provide them with something at least partially filtered by dear old dad... I' ve even saved about 2000 spam emails to help train the filters. I don't want to have the birds-and-the-bees conversation with my kids any earlier than I have to (and explaining some midgets-in-leather porno spam is NOT on my preferred activities list).
Doing something is so much better than just bitching, and so much more satisfying.
most people are concerned with such obviously beneficient uses of surveillance... if it saved my child's life I'd kiss the boots of the guys who invented it.
I think we all realize surveillance is going on... there's a huge amount of info out there on virtually everyone; that info exists, as it must in a increasingly computerized world. I think the real issue for most people is simply WHO has access to that information, and WHY they want it.
If the FBI wanted the info from my internet connection for the purposes of catching some terrorist, and they were able to give me a good reason why (and they asked me nicely)... Hell, I'd probably go get them some beers while they were sniffing the datastream. Some surveillance is useful... but I want targeted surveillance, not someone hoovering up terabytes of information for data-mining (and who knows what other potential nefarious purposes).
If someone's looking into my information, I just want the courtesy of knowing WHO and WHY... and I'll make my own decisions at that point.
My linux notebook is a 500 celeron with 256MB of RAM. Even running X and performing a bunch of tasks, it has yet to reach full use of the 256MB. I don't even remember the last time I ended up touching the swap partition.
Honestly, what notebook apps really need >512MB of RAM? I've seen servers run perfectly well with less than that. If it's simply a manifestation of a the-more-the-merrier philosophy, that's fine... we're all in touch with that.
I know exactly what you mean; those young losses are hard. I had one those last week myself.
My new job is more manageable than my last one... I work longer shifts, but fewer shifts. I get more days off, but I'm more wiped-out after work. It's a trade-off. but I'm happy with it.
I've already sort-of become the other docs' IT guy (unofficially, of course, and mostly for the other docs personal/office machines; the hospital has its own IT people for the official hardware). I've already built computers for several, and keep getting hardware/software/config questions from the rest (I've even recommended linux for some... particularly for file servers and such). I'm also in the process of putting together a web server and some pages for some of my colleagues... all sorts of good geek stuff.
Good to see you too, BTW. I'll try not to be a stranger the next time I catch one of your posts.
I think you are generalizing too broadly... but I'll grant you your point for the moment; some of them are simply ass-suckling yes-men. They may not know anything about earning an honest living, or about IT... but they are VERY GOOD at playing the machiavellian corporate game. THAT is their strength... and that is why you must understand them, and avoid them.
Schmoozing... hinting... innuendo... back-stabbing... manipulating... networking... paybacks... passive-agressive personalities all.
Sun-Tzu preached knowing your enemy, and part of that dictum is to understand his strengths, and not to fight him in an area where he is strong, and you are weak.
They may not know a DS3 from a fractional T-1, but they are very good at self-promotion, and they tend to survive in companies. They also make bad enemies (trust me), and it can really hurt you to end up on one of their "accounts receivable" lists for future retribution. They are VERY skilled in their own way, and they play a game that most geeks can never hope to play (not that you'd want to).
You underestimate these people at your own peril... I pity you if you have one for a boss.
It's a little weird to look back and actually admit to owning a pair of parachute pants (worn while I programmed on my C-64, thank you very much).
Yes, good times indeed.
BTW, haven't seen you in a while... how's practice with you these days (I've got a new ER job... I'm liking it)
Indeed, you are not here to please everybody (unless you're a public relations person *shudder*)... but it's unwise to gratuitously make enemies.
Seriously... are you really defending your condescending, arrogant, holier-than-thou attitude like it's a good thing? I hate people like that, and I'd say most people hate people like that. Don't you hate the woman at the DMV that talks to you like you're a child? Well... how do you think your boss and colleagues like it when you publicly humiliate them due to their lack of tech knowledge? Are you really going to justify it based on the predicate that they're inferior, and only got there because they kissed ass? I try to never talk down to my patients... they don't deserve it (wtf should they be experts on medicine? if they were, they wouldn't need me!), it harms the theraputic relationship, and it makes me look like an arrogant prick. Don't you hate arrogant doctors? Of course you do... everyone does... and so do I... so I strive to never be one.
Successfully navigating the corporate ladder is an art in and of itself... an acquired expertise, if you will. People like that can hurt you... badly. They can make your job really suck; they can even cost you your job. Why antagonize them? If you can't talk to them without burning them down to a cinder, then hang out in the server room and avoid them (you'll probably get more work done by avoiding their endless meetings anyway).
I'm not saying you don't have the right to dislike people... you most definitely have that right... but you're hurting yourself if you advertise that antipathy. Sublimate that emotion somehow. If your drive for revenge is that great... you could discretely BOFH them, but never publicly flaunt your enmity... you're just telling them where to shoot when things go bad.
CF is a disease that could be perfectly treated by gene therapy... it comes from a single defect, though the defect itself can vary, in the cell membrane Chloride channel. Treat the defect, and you can avoid all the consequences of CF (pneumonia, pancreatitis, sterility, Pseudomonas colonization, etc). CF is one of the most common genetic diseases, and is THE most common lethal genetic defect among caucasians.
For the non-medical, non-bio-science geeks, Here's some info courtesy of the NIH. Much like genetic counseling for various hemoglobinopathies, an argument can be made for the same approach here, particularly since some estimates put the CF gene prevalance at 5% in the white/northern european population.
Curiously, there's speculation as to how that gene became so prevalant... it appears to be protective against Cholera, and perhaps some other diarrheal illnesses. Additionally, it may also offer some resistance against Typhoid. The theory has been advanced that partial resistance among heterozygotes provided a genetic advantage during the plagues of humanity's past, which included Typhoid and Cholera.
KFG: I've taken care of many CF patients... Do you mind terribly if I ask your approximate age?
goes a long way... forget the ear; it wouldn't take much to "blow your head clean off" (in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood).
I believe the Mossad also did this with the headrest of a car that a terrorist leader was driving... inventive folks, the Mossad... they're like geeks with an unlimited supply of high-explosives.
As an aside, that's one of the reasons why the Mossad is perhaps the most feared intelligence organ in the free world... they are (and have been) inventive, and ruthless. Apart from the occasional screw-up (the reputed botched assassination of a Moroccan waiter in Norway in the early 1970's is one example), they have carried out assassinations of terrorists in multiple locations in the world... mostly in the wake of the massacre of Israeli atheletes at the '72 olympics by Black September (a palestinian militant group).
The Mossad is very good at what they do... and exploding phones are one of their specialties.
that is impressive... but not entirely surprising.
One of the computers was almost unusable... it was out of memory from all the bots, viruses, and worms running in memory. The fact that it was paging to disk constantly, with mad network activity was my first sign that something was rotten in denmark (my apologies to the IRC kiddiez whose bots I deleted... sorry guys, go find someplace else to install your scripts).
So much damage, and yet, the damage can be mitigated by a clueful user with the right tools... like the aforementioned program.
nice work... I'm sure your neighbors were pleased
.
I'll third that, and add a recent story to illustrate the point.
I recently tuned up a couple of PCs that were being used in a library... these are the computers your mother warned you about... all alone, two win2k boxen, unpatched, unfirewalled, on an open cable modem connection.
Yes... it's as bad as you're thinking. Between the two machines, spybot seek-and-destroy found over 110 pieces of sypware, adbots, and cookie trackers. I also found a couple of zombie IRC bots, MSBlaster, Klez, Yaha, etc, etc, etc.
Spybot search-and-destroy is free (you should try to donate... it is a VERY valuable piece of software), and it makes your job that much easier.
That's two thumbs up from me, dave... highly recommended.
agreed... that little nitrogen capsule widget thingy in the newer guiness cans makes all the difference in the world... didn't know they had added it to the bottles (stopped drinking those years ago).
Now, normally I'd say bottled beer tastes truer to the tap than canned beer; like you, I find that the aluminum (I assume it's the aluminum) does something to the taste. I find this to be true even with stronger-tasting beers, though it's particularly noticeable in the lighter, thinner american beers.
Heh... then again, maybe it's all in my imagination... I've never done a double-blind "pepsi challenge," with beer from the bottle and beer from the can.
Actually, that seems like a good excuse for me to go drink some beer.
Here in most of the US (except maybe NY, and some of the more metropolitan areas), Guiness is just about the only stout you can find on tap. I like it, and I do like other darker beers... I just can't find them on tap.
"but you can get them in some stores." Feh. Don't even get me started on buying bottled beers... many of them, guiness included, are horrible out of the bottle (guiness in cans is much better... you actually get a decent head).
That's not to say I haven't had some damned good beers overseas... I have... they just aren't available here.
I'm not a beer snob; different strokes for different folks... you should drink what you like. For my own part, I'd have to say that I like guiness.
Heck, that alone should have bumped him up at least a slot or two.
If any one of those guys admitted to drinking swill (like anything that comes in a 40oz bottle, or any wine that has a screw-on cap).... that should automatically drop them out of the top ten. Taste has to count for something.
Never underestimate the value of that "regular guy" persona. Torvalds may be one of the "digeratti" (don't you just hate that expression?), but you sort of get the sense that he's a regular guy.
No napoleon complex, no "I'm bigger than all of you" attitude, no chip on his shoulder, no larger-than-life image, or an ego that you can't fit into a conference room. What's not to like about Linus? Never met him personally, but I've never heard of him acting like any sort of ass.
The best description I ever heard of Linus is that he's a "quiet revolutionary." I'd say that's perfectly put.
Wish I still had some of my old-school hacking proggies around, thinking in particular of my war-dialers.
You kids just don't know how hacking used to be... running your war-dialers at night, all night, for days on a 300 baud modem... all so your parents wouldn't complain about not being able to use the phone. It took days to dial through a single prefix.
After that, manually modem-dialing all those numbers to see what kind of computers you had called... A few local war-dialers could but a hurting on that ATA number...
This is all strictly hypothetical, of course, since I would NEVER suggest anything of such questionable legality...
either slashdotted, or their webmaster is like most other geeks... furiously reloading slashdot pages at his terminal.
He got those pages offline quickly... neat work.
The reason we used the ignitors and some long wires was so that we could get behind something before firing it up. Young as we were, we weren't totally stupid (and we'd had some close calls).
In fact, some of the heavier ordinance we built required detonation by remote control (we had an almost unlimited supply of gunpowder, and thus got into plenty of mischief). Not that we were that bright, we had just watched enough old war movies to realize that we didn't want any shrapnel in us, and understood that sometimes things fragment violently when exposed to high pressures. We cannibalized circuit boards out of an old remote-control car (plus some RadioShack project boxes)... it kept our precious little hides out of the Emergency Room.
Those were the days.
For my money, there was no finer way to spend a saturday afternoon than shooting potatoes into the woods with the other neighborhood kids (of course, these days you'd probably be arrested as a terrorist and interrogated by the FBI).
Between that and bottle-rocket wars, it's a wonder one of us didn't lose an eye.
We used to build smaller variants of this idea out of pvc.
Big piece of PVC pipe (capped on one end, natch). Spray some hair spray in, stuff a potatoe into the end, and connect a battery to a model-rocket solar igniter you have in the bottom (get behind something in case the PVC fails).
Kaboom!
We found, after much experimentation, that there was quite a difference in the potential energy of various hair-spray products (which we had, of course, five-finger discounted from our mothers). "The Dry Look" turned out to be the most energetic brand.
You forgot Captain Pike, you trek n00b53r.
Kids...
What you are alluding to is called a "gag clause," and used to be a part of some HMO contracts. It was designed to prevent a physician from discussing treatment options that the HMO does not cover... typically expensive treatments like bone marrow transplants for certain cancers, etc.
Such clauses are almost universally despised by the public in general, and the medical community in particular. A number of states have passed laws making them explicitly illegal.
Most all doctors I've ever known would give you the straight scoop... I sure as hell would. Without full knowledge of risks and benefits, there can be no real choice... it's that "informed" part of "informed consent."