If you read the This Is Local London article linked from the Wikipedia article, it clearly says that the buyers knew they were not buying the Tower Bridge.
As a press conference at the British-American Chamber of Commerce in New York with 50 correspondents, the question he had been waiting for came almost at once: "The bridge was only built in 1832. It is not the bridge with houses on it, not the bridge of the nursery rhyme. What's so special about it?"
Mr Luckin told them: "London Bridge is not just a bridge. It is the heir to 2,000 years of history going back to the First Century AD, to the time of the Roman Londinium..."
Admittedly, that's the story from the guy who sold the bridge, but I don't see any of the buyers claiming they got ripped off.
Very good point! Unfortunately, I think it's already been cemented by treaty with other countries. Maybe in our children's children's time, there will be a big multilateral treaty to make copyrights sane again.
Just because the Bush administration pushed it, and expects the Senate to ratify it, doesn't mean that it's automatic. We can at least show them they don't have as much support as they thought. I'm going to write to Hillary Clinton, that shining beacon of truth in the face of corporate, um... Well, I'm going to write to Chuck Schumer, that dashing defender of the... Aw, who am I kidding?
Re:Another "Blame Microsoft" Business Model
on
Real's Reality
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· Score: 1
I hate RealPlayer and its "features" just as much as anyone on this thread, but come on! I find a lot of people using Microsoft WMP because it's the one that's already on their computer. I'm sure that if the Real managers had the opportunity, they'd pull the same scummy trick, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't abusing their near-monopoly status.
Edwards wasn't in the Senate when the DMCA passed, but what makes you so sure he wouldn't have voted for it? There's nothing I can find on his campaign website about intellectual property.
I'd just like to point out here that driving a car is a privilege, not a right. Do you believe that driving tests "convict a person before he has committed any wrongdoing" too?
The real problem is that NM has spent billions on car infrastructure and next to nothing on public transportation. I lived in Albuquerque for two years without a car, and they made life difficult for me. But I was able to do it because I chose to live and work near downtown and transit. It's almost impossible to live in some parts of NM without driving, which is why most of the people with suspended licenses get right back on the roads.
This is interesting. Does that mean that Americans who DON'T want to export our crappy IP laws should write their senators and ask them to vote against this treaty?
Not that I'm expecting much from MY senators, corporate lapdogs Clinton and Schumer, but...
Huh? Will you RTFA already? The total average annual number of pedestrians killed by cars in NYC is around 250. The average yearly number of pedestrians killed by cars on the sidewalk in NYC is about 12.
This entire/. discussion is about how the government at all levels is derelict in its duty to responsibly manage our energy resources. Failing to arrange for proper pedestrian facilities is just a part of that big picture.
No, kinda hard to jaywalk on the sidewalk. The average yearly number of total pedestrian deaths is around 250. And the most common cause of car-pedestrian collision is turning drivers failing to yield to pedestrians crossing the street with the right-of-way. But nice try blaming the victim.
And I don't see how local and state governments that let sidewalks turn to grass but still manage to build hundreds of miles of four-lane highways are derelict.
I don't know where you live, but in New York City (probably the most pedestrian-friendly city in the country) cars kill a dozen pedestrians on sidewalks every year.
In North Carolina, where I lived for a year, they decided in the 70s that they didn't need sidewalks any more, and the government stopped requiring property owners to maintain them. The result is that if you try to walk anywhere outside of a town center, your choice is the shoulder or the grass.
I guess I'll have to keep posting this for the rest of my life, because people don't seem to hear it:
Yes, oil dependence is an economic and political problem. Yes, fossil fuels are an ecological disaster. But switching to cars powered by hydrogen, solar or whatever is not going to stop us from turning the world into a place where you can't walk to the corner grocery store without worrying about being run over. Can we put some geek energy towards solving that problem, please?
Yeah, but RTFP, it says right there that you need to already be on the payroll. You can't just go and join the labor market. So all this means is that your company doesn't need to get you a work permit. Big deal.
The ability to convey ideas clearly and forcefully, and the ability to follow writing conventions closely have almost nothing to do with each other. Focusing on spelling and grammatical points is usually just a way to avoid responding to the substance of writings by people who didn't go to the right schools.
Sorry, that wasn't clear. I agreed with your earlier post, and was just adding my own $.02. It's the gee-whiz clueless developers at Microsoft and the judges at the Siemens science fair that I have a beef with.
This is similar to web sites that compare offering prices, say for hardware. As long as we have the tools to know what prices people are selling at, I don't have a problem in them knowing what prices we're buying at.
And as many people have said, this is the same function that bargaining fulfills.
This Anonymous Coward makes a good point. Deaf people can use keyboards much easier than these fingerspelling recognizers. The only value in fingerspelling recognition is that it shows promise for the handshape component of a full sign recognition system.
Now we just have to figure out what the point of a sign recognition system is...
As a hearing person who actually took the time to understand something about sign languages, I'm getting really sick of these ignorant techies and their stupid gloves. Get a clue people!
Fingerspelling is not sign language
Sign language translation is really complicated (think of all the problems with machine translation, compounded by a language that's very different from well-known Western European spoken languages, and that no one writes)
Have you ever tried asking a real live Deaf person what kind of technology they could actually use?
Re:Words change in meaning over time
on
Isn't It Ironic?
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This is analogous to 1984 where the language was slowly restricted to eliminate concepts and hence control thought.
No, it's not. One is an example of natural semantic change through metonymy, the other is an example of top-down, centrally planned change aimed at thought control.
Re:So language can change, but not now?
on
Isn't It Ironic?
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· Score: 1
And you don't see a reason here to improve the accuracy with which we use words? WE CAN MAKE THIS BETTER!
Your optimism is touching. People have tried for thousands of years to "MAKE THIS BETTER," and failed.
In fact, no, this irony business doesn't infuse me with passion about accuracy. There are subfields of language (like legalese and scientific journals) where accuracy is more rigidly enforced. Outside of these subfields, trying to improve accuracy in language is like trying to get everyone to color-coordinate their clothes: it doesn't matter much in the long run, and in the short run it just makes you look like a rude, controlling person.
So language can change, but not now?
on
Isn't It Ironic?
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· Score: 1
I find it iro^H^H^Hsilly that the author lists several different meanings that the word "ironic" has acquired over the centuries, but isn't willing to accept the possibility that it could acquire any more.
Basically, "ironic" has been used for a long time as a fancy literary and philosophical term, and recently enough people heard the word used without being told any of the meanings. They took a guess and came up with meanings like "sarcastic," "cynical" and just plain "sucky," which were reasonable given the context.
Now the literary and philosophical types are all upset because everyone's using their word "wrong." Get over it! Maybe if you weren't so boring, people would understand what you're talking about. But now they've got your word and you're not getting it back, so if you want to be clear among yourselves, just add a qualifier like "Socratic irony" or "rhetorical irony." Then you'll be able to tell who's a part of your in-group again.
You don't own the language. Meanings change over time. You'll deal. Everyone will be able to understand each other just as well as they always have (i.e. not very).
Slashdot Mirror
Well, someone in America did buy the London Bridge back in 1968. But he knew what he was getting.
Very good point! Unfortunately, I think it's already been cemented by treaty with other countries. Maybe in our children's children's time, there will be a big multilateral treaty to make copyrights sane again.
Just because the Bush administration pushed it, and expects the Senate to ratify it, doesn't mean that it's automatic. We can at least show them they don't have as much support as they thought. I'm going to write to Hillary Clinton, that shining beacon of truth in the face of corporate, um... Well, I'm going to write to Chuck Schumer, that dashing defender of the... Aw, who am I kidding?
Probably even better than your Ukrainian.
I hate RealPlayer and its "features" just as much as anyone on this thread, but come on! I find a lot of people using Microsoft WMP because it's the one that's already on their computer. I'm sure that if the Real managers had the opportunity, they'd pull the same scummy trick, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't abusing their near-monopoly status.
Problems with Muni Light? Is that why Kucinich lost Ohio?
So intellectual property is intellectual theft?
Edwards wasn't in the Senate when the DMCA passed, but what makes you so sure he wouldn't have voted for it? There's nothing I can find on his campaign website about intellectual property.
I'd just like to point out here that driving a car is a privilege, not a right. Do you believe that driving tests "convict a person before he has committed any wrongdoing" too?
The real problem is that NM has spent billions on car infrastructure and next to nothing on public transportation. I lived in Albuquerque for two years without a car, and they made life difficult for me. But I was able to do it because I chose to live and work near downtown and transit. It's almost impossible to live in some parts of NM without driving, which is why most of the people with suspended licenses get right back on the roads.
This is interesting. Does that mean that Americans who DON'T want to export our crappy IP laws should write their senators and ask them to vote against this treaty?
Not that I'm expecting much from MY senators, corporate lapdogs Clinton and Schumer, but...
Huh? Will you RTFA already? The total average annual number of pedestrians killed by cars in NYC is around 250. The average yearly number of pedestrians killed by cars on the sidewalk in NYC is about 12.
/. discussion is about how the government at all levels is derelict in its duty to responsibly manage our energy resources. Failing to arrange for proper pedestrian facilities is just a part of that big picture.
This entire
No, kinda hard to jaywalk on the sidewalk. The average yearly number of total pedestrian deaths is around 250. And the most common cause of car-pedestrian collision is turning drivers failing to yield to pedestrians crossing the street with the right-of-way. But nice try blaming the victim.
And I don't see how local and state governments that let sidewalks turn to grass but still manage to build hundreds of miles of four-lane highways are derelict.
I don't know where you live, but in New York City (probably the most pedestrian-friendly city in the country) cars kill a dozen pedestrians on sidewalks every year.
In North Carolina, where I lived for a year, they decided in the 70s that they didn't need sidewalks any more, and the government stopped requiring property owners to maintain them. The result is that if you try to walk anywhere outside of a town center, your choice is the shoulder or the grass.
I guess I'll have to keep posting this for the rest of my life, because people don't seem to hear it:
Yes, oil dependence is an economic and political problem. Yes, fossil fuels are an ecological disaster. But switching to cars powered by hydrogen, solar or whatever is not going to stop us from turning the world into a place where you can't walk to the corner grocery store without worrying about being run over. Can we put some geek energy towards solving that problem, please?
Yeah, but RTFP, it says right there that you need to already be on the payroll. You can't just go and join the labor market. So all this means is that your company doesn't need to get you a work permit. Big deal.
Um, don't you mean "see that Gore indeed had the higher number of votes"? See this article for details.
Even with a paper trail, it's still possible to bury the news.
You're absolutely right.
The ability to convey ideas clearly and forcefully, and the ability to follow writing conventions closely have almost nothing to do with each other. Focusing on spelling and grammatical points is usually just a way to avoid responding to the substance of writings by people who didn't go to the right schools.
Sorry, that wasn't clear. I agreed with your earlier post, and was just adding my own $.02. It's the gee-whiz clueless developers at Microsoft and the judges at the Siemens science fair that I have a beef with.
This is similar to web sites that compare offering prices, say for hardware. As long as we have the tools to know what prices people are selling at, I don't have a problem in them knowing what prices we're buying at.
And as many people have said, this is the same function that bargaining fulfills.
This Anonymous Coward makes a good point. Deaf people can use keyboards much easier than these fingerspelling recognizers. The only value in fingerspelling recognition is that it shows promise for the handshape component of a full sign recognition system.
Now we just have to figure out what the point of a sign recognition system is...
- Fingerspelling is not sign language
- Sign language translation is really complicated (think of all the problems with machine translation, compounded by a language that's very different from well-known Western European spoken languages, and that no one writes)
- Have you ever tried asking a real live Deaf person what kind of technology they could actually use?
For more info, see some of my papers.This is analogous to 1984 where the language was slowly restricted to eliminate concepts and hence control thought.
No, it's not. One is an example of natural semantic change through metonymy, the other is an example of top-down, centrally planned change aimed at thought control.
Your optimism is touching. People have tried for thousands of years to "MAKE THIS BETTER," and failed.
In fact, no, this irony business doesn't infuse me with passion about accuracy. There are subfields of language (like legalese and scientific journals) where accuracy is more rigidly enforced. Outside of these subfields, trying to improve accuracy in language is like trying to get everyone to color-coordinate their clothes: it doesn't matter much in the long run, and in the short run it just makes you look like a rude, controlling person.
Basically, "ironic" has been used for a long time as a fancy literary and philosophical term, and recently enough people heard the word used without being told any of the meanings. They took a guess and came up with meanings like "sarcastic," "cynical" and just plain "sucky," which were reasonable given the context.
Now the literary and philosophical types are all upset because everyone's using their word "wrong." Get over it! Maybe if you weren't so boring, people would understand what you're talking about. But now they've got your word and you're not getting it back, so if you want to be clear among yourselves, just add a qualifier like "Socratic irony" or "rhetorical irony." Then you'll be able to tell who's a part of your in-group again.
You don't own the language. Meanings change over time. You'll deal. Everyone will be able to understand each other just as well as they always have (i.e. not very).