Maybe it's just me but I honestly don't care if some site logs that I viewed porn from so and so site for so many minutes. Why should I?
Things change. In 20 years from now when your life is scrutinized because you're running for office (or applying for a mortgage, or whatever they decide is a decent excuse), what information do you want to be archived about your current life?
Even if they (MS in this case) don't have a reason to sell the information, there's no reason why they couldn't save it. It might seem innocuous now, but who knows what will be verboten in the future. I doubt cigarette buyers in the 60s thought about what people would think 40 years later, but I bet they're glad the information isn't on file somewhere.
There's an unforseen issue here. It's the one where hardworking people see that their efforts are useless. All of these kinds of programs and projects undermine the people who have worked to get where they are.
Think about it. Why should you struggle to pay for college, someone will train you for free. Why should you work, there's always welfare. Yes these people need help. Yes we want them to be self sufficient. Yes we definitely want our bodies and our property to be safe. But we don't want to undermine the people who got there on their own.
The people who work hard and do the right things to get ahead in life without direct interference are the best resources we have. Those people won't exist if we keep telling them their efforts are useless.
It's just not as straightforward as people think.
I'm sure there are people who'll think this is a troll, but it's not intended that way.
I'd be more excited if they could do it from non-embryonic stem cells.
Think about stem cells this way, they're like organ donations. It's kind of sick, but the dead "person"* isn't using them anymore. We don't kill people to get kidneys, we don't kill people to get hearts, corneas, livers, or anything else. We just take the usable parts from the freshly dead.
It's probably disgusting, but it saves lives and otherwise the organs would be wasted. Stem cells are the same way, the research is going to save people who would otherwise die.
People do not have abortions or miscarriages to give science more research material. Get that? No one who would have lived is harmed. We don't kill unborn children for science. These are either cells grown expressly for that purpose or harvested from freshly dead.
* person is in quotes because dead things aren't people anymore.
You need to promise to put your kids in daycare (assuming "family" means kids, of course.. otherwise why'd you want a bigger house out of the city).
Employers want the workers to work. So if you can sell them on the idea that you'd be more productive, they might consider it. No way they'll believe you can accomplish anything if you're the main caregiver for your kids though.
And remember that they have to treat everyone fairly, so trust in your track record and promises aren't going to be enough. There will have to be an evaluation method in place, rules, and all sorts of things. Most people who telecommute actually work harder than they do at the office.
Seriously, PitDroids is an awesome game, fun to play and adaptable for varying levels of skill. It's puzzle based and non-violent.
Droidworks was actually obnoxious to play in comparison, with each "level" taking more than 30 minutes to play. I only played the demo, but it was monotonous, loud, and stupid. And the puzzle was all about gear ratios. Talk about "educational", might as well get ToonTalk (which teaches kids to "program" in a faux-Lego 3D environment) or ReaderRabbit.
There are a lot of games out there for those who like solving puzzles. Not just board game rip-offs. In fact, several of the computer game rating sites have a "puzzle" genre.
I've enjoyed a lot of the Dreamcatcher games too.
But watch out for the violence in those.
If you're getting just one, PitDroids. The graphics are good, the sound is good, the game play is good (interface is decent), and since it's a LucasArts game, you'll be able to order it forever.
You might also want to look at Toontalk, which is an extremely graphically oriented "programming" language that has a lot of research behind it in showing how children learn algorithmic thinking through play.
What I don't like about stock options is that you're getting an investment in the same company where you work. Yes that gives you better control over its success (by working your ass off and hoping everyone else does the same), but it hurts your diversification of investments.
Plus if there is a problem, you have all of your eggs in one basket.
Not all startups are dot coms, but a lot of businesses fail for a variety of reasons, even if it was a good idea, even if there were good people at the top, even if you yourself worked hard.
Stock options are the carrot the workers see, and it's always good management to show the carrot instead of showing the stick. You want your employees to work hard, like it was their own company. Slackers bring everyone down. So you show them ownership in the company.
It doesn't matter if the owner(s) has any intention of making the company public, if they think you might be bought out, if the market might change, or if they had good intentions from the start. The employee who takes stock options in lieu of real cash is still allowing people to gamble his rightfully due earnings.
Anyone who chooses to gamble a portion of their earnings without having enough cash left over for immediate needs and an emergency fund is stupid. So you work for a place assuming that stock options are worth about as much as the back of the sheet of paper the offer was written on.
If it helps you work hard to think you might be rewarded in the end, well, that's different. But
that is the scam. Stock options are worth more to your employer as an incentive to get harder working employees than they will most likely be worth to the employee.
It's your money. You should be able to choose how it's invested. Make sure you get enough cash to handle diversifying your investments, that way a loss isn't the end of the world, and should you lose your job and your investment you aren't left with nothing. If the job doesn't offer enough cash, renegotiate or look elsewhere. Stock options have to be considered worthless until you can exercise them, it's not actually compensation until then.
Sure 6 years ago stock options in Yahoo! could have been a good deal. But it's the same as when someone says "I'll put this $20 I owe you on number 32 on this roulette wheel." Yeah you could make an amazing return, but your odds suck.
I'll take the cash. And for what it's worth, I've been saying that for more than 5 years.
There are software programs out there. Some come with workbooks too, but even just the CD is helpful.
They have exercises, native speakers reading the conversations, word-by-word sound outs (and translations), and some even have voice pattern recognitions and can grade you on how well you say things. (Microphone required.)
I have Irish tapes (and the companion book) and never got anywhere. I have the Irish CD software and manage to do some regularly. Some of this is that I don't actually have a tape player anymore... I haven't seen any CD versions of the tapes yet.
None of this is a substitute for interacting with real people, of course, but it still helps. And there are some languages for which there are no classes nearby.
Someone else commented on how the books and tapes were expensive, but honestly I found the software for $20 on sale. That's cheaper than the tapes.
It seems like this procedure could be of tremendous use for farm animal breeding programs. They're already using weird things like artificial insemination with frozen sperm and choosing sperm donors from a catalog.
It seems like researchers in the middle of farm country would have concentrated on that.
It honestly seems like they're researching the wrong problem if you apply this to humans. More contraceptive research is needed. People shouldn't have children accidentally.
Moreover, I can't see why women would want to have this done to them, to be treated like a cow, only good for breeding.
What? I have to store crap on my computer because you want to know if I've been there before? What do I get out of it?
The question says "we know we have a larger number of anonymous users" [than people who register], a majority of the people who turn off cookies are going to be in this group. And there's no incentive to keep the cookie even if you got people to accept it.
However, there is an easy way to associate IP address with "real human". Put the IP address in the cookie. Everyone loves that.
"Nuclear" scares people.
That's why MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Images) are called that, the original acronym was NMR, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Doctors thought that would be too scary for patients and the public, so they dropped the "nuclear".
I thought that's why people like "feeder plants" but think nuclear power is going to kill them. (The word "reactor" is also taboo.)
I don't think many people think about things that scare them. They certainly don't study them or have an open mind.
We need error-detecting and correcting DNA. Someone get on this
DNA is error-detected and corrected by the nucleus's proteins. There are two strands, partially so they can be "checksummed". Some DNA damage corrupts the same place on both strands and the reconstruction efforts will be flawed.
Some times the reconstructed DNA is good and
the change isn't noticible. Sometimes the whole cell dies. The rest of the time you get a living cell with a mutation. Some of those mutations cause continual growth and division (cancer), and some of them cripple the cell in some way.
We're exposed to DNA breaking radiation, chemicals, and just plain aging every day and billions of cells recover all the time. It's a probability question. The probability of an unrecoverable error is low, the probability that that error will cause cancer is low, but every incident of DNA damage has that same probability. Lots of damage increases the odd of a bad result.
The first people to receive the benefits of new technology would probably
begin by being able to see only light, the team's research shows.
They expect it to get better, of course, but human trials aren't expected to start for at least a year. It's a small step, and there are a lot of people who'd like a way to see again. Especially the people who were blinded after a lifetime of seeing, and that's one of the kinds of blindness "cured" by this procedure.
Like the curing dog blindness discussion,
I'm not sure that everyone will be happy. There are a lot of blind people who think that being blind is what makes them special. It would be great if blindness really could be cured even if some people opted against it.
As for it being science fiction leading the science, it will be a long time until we get
the built-in cameras and zoom features. Too bad!
I keep hearing about deaf people who think cochlear implants are evil and about blind people who would refuse surgery. Generally the reasoning given is "Would Stevie Wonder be as talented if he could see? --- no of course not." As if they really believe his blindness caused him to be a good musician.
So I wonder if there would be any takers for this treatment.
Absolutely. Writing and mousing are incompatible for right-handers.
It honestly seems like it would be a much better idea to have left handed mice. When I find one I like as well as my trackball, I'm going to buy 2, one for home, one for work.
Since mice are the main cause of wrist/hand RSI, it really makes sense to mouse with your non-dominant hand (and be careful, of course).
I know I could double my salary in the private sector...
What I found is that all the programming jobs for a science-related company pay MUCH less than jobs at non-related companies. And that's doubly true if they find out you have applicable knowledge.
It's almost as if they expect to pay you as if you have no computer skills at all, just because you know something else too.
I can tell you why I got out of science programming, $$$. The second reason is the attitude that says "you're underpaid because you have 3 times the skills of everyone else and we expect you to work 3 times harder too."
Somehow I get the feeling that what happened to me isn't rare. I'm going where I'm appreciated and where I'm decently paid for my time and experience... even if it doesn't touch my scientific experience. It's still better to be appreciated instead of scorned.
I'd take a really interesting job in a heartbeat if I didn't get this ridiculous attitude that I'm worth less because I have two kinds of applicable experience.
A discussion area needs a large population to get a lot of activity [...]
If you get too many people using it, things get diluted until there is no content.
Accountability is key to maintaining some sense of decorum, and it is supposed to be work afterall. What I found the most useful was the regular news links posted regarding trends that were relevant to the industry. (It's actually how I got started reading slashdot regularly.) And it gets people thinking about how external news impacts the company, their jobs, and the technical decisions they make.
If you're planning to have separate forums, sorting by physical region seems to be key. People will put messages in the social groups about book signings and stuff nearby, and that gets irritating when "nearby" is actually a different continent. For actual business related groups, that's not as much of an issue.
Generally for technical books I search at addall.com (www.addall.com) and purchase from whatever place has the best price on all the books I was buying. Since they vouch for their merchants, it seems a decent place to start. That's actually how I started ordering from bookpool.
Bars in California don't allow smoking. Yes this did increase the time I spend in them. By about 100%.
I like the storage idea, but I've mostly seen it in country dance bars. I kind of associate lockers with physical activity, and I don't bring my laptop to the gym.
For that matter, what I'd really like in a geek bar is somewhere that has good food, doesn't allow children, and where you can talk to other people who can read (yes I'm a snob, I generally don't get along with illiterates). If they play the same kinds of games I like, great! I think I'd like a social club with a nice bar and counter food service. I certainly agree that the food shouldn't be all fried and greasy... but I like there to be choices.
I hate sports being on TV, but I don't really like TV in bars at all. I don't really like loud music either, something that merges with the background noise would be great.
A lot of people have talked about the kind of computer stuff they want, but what I'd really like is the opportunity to talk to people in person, somewhere that feels comfortable, where you can play cards, play networked games, or even just talk to new people. It's hard to do anything social in bars because you can't hear anything.
Restaurants have the other problem, you're supposed to have brought your whole party with you, so you can't talk to anyone new. They aren't quiet and they get really upset when you bring out cards or a game. Coffee bars would be fine except they all close about 6pm here and they don't usually have real food.
We really need something open late, so you can have a quiet drink after a movie, after dinner, or even spend a whole evening there.
I send in information about a "virus" and it gets picked up and distributed through this centralized information source, suddenly real mail is discarded.
Whenever people want a centralized point for information, what they're really wanting is something they can automate to eliminate a problem. What they forget is that they're also giving someone else power over their information stream.
I'm sure someone will say, we just don't want to have to hunt for the information, we'll review it before we implement it. But only a short time will pass before someone will put out a script that updates automatically.
Think ORBS. Remember that legitimate people can't send email to their friends. When it started it was just a list so you'd know who wasn't playing the right game. And it's almost impossible to get your server off the list. But very easy for you to get on by some malicious person.
Extrapolate. People submit "viruses" that contain, 'Dear ****,' and all email with that goes away. Sure, you all know enough not to just trust the source of centralized virus information. But 90% of people don't. Why would someone make something up just to hurt people?
This will end up being a huge ethical dilemma. The article says that they use embryonic cortical cells (from the brain area)... wanna bet that the embryonic rat doesn't develop much after that?
So medical professionals are going to have to choose between the lives of older people and the lives of potential human babies.
The humor in this is going to be the justification for abortions. "Grandma needed stem cells to fix her brain, so we had to do it!"
I foresee religious groups out protesting against this procedure. And I'd love to see the doctors who had to choose whether the pope should get the treatment.
Slashdot Mirror
Things change. In 20 years from now when your life is scrutinized because you're running for office (or applying for a mortgage, or whatever they decide is a decent excuse), what information do you want to be archived about your current life?
Even if they (MS in this case) don't have a reason to sell the information, there's no reason why they couldn't save it. It might seem innocuous now, but who knows what will be verboten in the future. I doubt cigarette buyers in the 60s thought about what people would think 40 years later, but I bet they're glad the information isn't on file somewhere.
There's an unforseen issue here. It's the one where hardworking people see that their efforts are useless. All of these kinds of programs and projects undermine the people who have worked to get where they are.
Think about it. Why should you struggle to pay for college, someone will train you for free. Why should you work, there's always welfare. Yes these people need help. Yes we want them to be self sufficient. Yes we definitely want our bodies and our property to be safe. But we don't want to undermine the people who got there on their own.
The people who work hard and do the right things to get ahead in life without direct interference are the best resources we have. Those people won't exist if we keep telling them their efforts are useless.
It's just not as straightforward as people think.
I'm sure there are people who'll think this is a troll, but it's not intended that way.
I'd be more excited if they could do it from non-embryonic stem cells.
Think about stem cells this way, they're like organ donations. It's kind of sick, but the dead "person"* isn't using them anymore. We don't kill people to get kidneys, we don't kill people to get hearts, corneas, livers, or anything else. We just take the usable parts from the freshly dead.
It's probably disgusting, but it saves lives and otherwise the organs would be wasted. Stem cells are the same way, the research is going to save people who would otherwise die.
People do not have abortions or miscarriages to give science more research material. Get that? No one who would have lived is harmed. We don't kill unborn children for science. These are either cells grown expressly for that purpose or harvested from freshly dead.
* person is in quotes because dead things aren't people anymore.
(assuming "family" means kids, of course.. otherwise why'd you want a bigger house out of the city).
Employers want the workers to work. So if you can sell them on the idea that you'd be more productive, they might consider it. No way they'll believe you can accomplish anything if you're the main caregiver for your kids though.
And remember that they have to treat everyone fairly, so trust in your track record and promises aren't going to be enough. There will have to be an evaluation method in place, rules, and all sorts of things. Most people who telecommute actually work harder than they do at the office.
Droidworks was actually obnoxious to play in comparison, with each "level" taking more than 30 minutes to play. I only played the demo, but it was monotonous, loud, and stupid. And the puzzle was all about gear ratios. Talk about "educational", might as well get ToonTalk (which teaches kids to "program" in a faux-Lego 3D environment) or ReaderRabbit.
There are a lot of games out there for those who like solving puzzles. Not just board game rip-offs. In fact, several of the computer game rating sites have a "puzzle" genre.
I've enjoyed a lot of the Dreamcatcher games too. But watch out for the violence in those.
If you're getting just one, PitDroids. The graphics are good, the sound is good, the game play is good (interface is decent), and since it's a LucasArts game, you'll be able to order it forever.
www.toontalk.com
toontalk
I am not affiliated with anyone at Animated Programs. My niece and nephew really liked it.
Plus if there is a problem, you have all of your eggs in one basket.
Not all startups are dot coms, but a lot of businesses fail for a variety of reasons, even if it was a good idea, even if there were good people at the top, even if you yourself worked hard.
Stock options are the carrot the workers see, and it's always good management to show the carrot instead of showing the stick. You want your employees to work hard, like it was their own company. Slackers bring everyone down. So you show them ownership in the company.
It doesn't matter if the owner(s) has any intention of making the company public, if they think you might be bought out, if the market might change, or if they had good intentions from the start. The employee who takes stock options in lieu of real cash is still allowing people to gamble his rightfully due earnings.
Anyone who chooses to gamble a portion of their earnings without having enough cash left over for immediate needs and an emergency fund is stupid. So you work for a place assuming that stock options are worth about as much as the back of the sheet of paper the offer was written on.
If it helps you work hard to think you might be rewarded in the end, well, that's different. But that is the scam. Stock options are worth more to your employer as an incentive to get harder working employees than they will most likely be worth to the employee.
It's your money. You should be able to choose how it's invested. Make sure you get enough cash to handle diversifying your investments, that way a loss isn't the end of the world, and should you lose your job and your investment you aren't left with nothing. If the job doesn't offer enough cash, renegotiate or look elsewhere. Stock options have to be considered worthless until you can exercise them, it's not actually compensation until then.
I'll take the cash. And for what it's worth, I've been saying that for more than 5 years.
They have exercises, native speakers reading the conversations, word-by-word sound outs (and translations), and some even have voice pattern recognitions and can grade you on how well you say things. (Microphone required.)
I have Irish tapes (and the companion book) and never got anywhere. I have the Irish CD software and manage to do some regularly. Some of this is that I don't actually have a tape player anymore ... I haven't seen any CD versions of the tapes yet.
None of this is a substitute for interacting with real people, of course, but it still helps. And there are some languages for which there are no classes nearby.
Someone else commented on how the books and tapes were expensive, but honestly I found the software for $20 on sale. That's cheaper than the tapes.
It seems like researchers in the middle of farm country would have concentrated on that.
It honestly seems like they're researching the wrong problem if you apply this to humans. More contraceptive research is needed. People shouldn't have children accidentally.
Moreover, I can't see why women would want to have this done to them, to be treated like a cow, only good for breeding.
The question says "we know we have a larger number of anonymous users" [than people who register], a majority of the people who turn off cookies are going to be in this group. And there's no incentive to keep the cookie even if you got people to accept it.
However, there is an easy way to associate IP address with "real human". Put the IP address in the cookie. Everyone loves that.
"Nuclear" scares people. That's why MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Images) are called that, the original acronym was NMR, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Doctors thought that would be too scary for patients and the public, so they dropped the "nuclear".
I thought that's why people like "feeder plants" but think nuclear power is going to kill them. (The word "reactor" is also taboo.)
I don't think many people think about things that scare them. They certainly don't study them or have an open mind.
DNA is error-detected and corrected by the nucleus's proteins. There are two strands, partially so they can be "checksummed". Some DNA damage corrupts the same place on both strands and the reconstruction efforts will be flawed.
Some times the reconstructed DNA is good and the change isn't noticible. Sometimes the whole cell dies. The rest of the time you get a living cell with a mutation. Some of those mutations cause continual growth and division (cancer), and some of them cripple the cell in some way.
We're exposed to DNA breaking radiation, chemicals, and just plain aging every day and billions of cells recover all the time. It's a probability question. The probability of an unrecoverable error is low, the probability that that error will cause cancer is low, but every incident of DNA damage has that same probability. Lots of damage increases the odd of a bad result.
They expect it to get better, of course, but human trials aren't expected to start for at least a year. It's a small step, and there are a lot of people who'd like a way to see again. Especially the people who were blinded after a lifetime of seeing, and that's one of the kinds of blindness "cured" by this procedure.
Like the curing dog blindness discussion, I'm not sure that everyone will be happy. There are a lot of blind people who think that being blind is what makes them special. It would be great if blindness really could be cured even if some people opted against it.
As for it being science fiction leading the science, it will be a long time until we get the built-in cameras and zoom features. Too bad!
So I wonder if there would be any takers for this treatment.
It honestly seems like it would be a much better idea to have left handed mice. When I find one I like as well as my trackball, I'm going to buy 2, one for home, one for work.
Since mice are the main cause of wrist/hand RSI, it really makes sense to mouse with your non-dominant hand (and be careful, of course).
WRONG! You have two weeks to send thank yous for all the items you received. The only exception is you get the two weeks from when the item arrives.
The thank yous are to confirm arrival of mailed items as well as your obligation to show your appreciation.
That means if you're going on a two-week honeymoon you should do most of them beforehand.
What I found is that all the programming jobs for a science-related company pay MUCH less than jobs at non-related companies. And that's doubly true if they find out you have applicable knowledge.
It's almost as if they expect to pay you as if you have no computer skills at all, just because you know something else too. I can tell you why I got out of science programming, $$$. The second reason is the attitude that says "you're underpaid because you have 3 times the skills of everyone else and we expect you to work 3 times harder too."
Somehow I get the feeling that what happened to me isn't rare. I'm going where I'm appreciated and where I'm decently paid for my time and experience... even if it doesn't touch my scientific experience. It's still better to be appreciated instead of scorned.
I'd take a really interesting job in a heartbeat if I didn't get this ridiculous attitude that I'm worth less because I have two kinds of applicable experience.
Or DON'T have kids! That would reduce the pressure on land quite a bit. It's OK to live your life without children. Really.
Get a nice tombstone, give the historians something to look at. It's a better legacy than adding to the over-population of our only planet.
If you get too many people using it, things get diluted until there is no content.
Accountability is key to maintaining some sense of decorum, and it is supposed to be work afterall. What I found the most useful was the regular news links posted regarding trends that were relevant to the industry. (It's actually how I got started reading slashdot regularly.) And it gets people thinking about how external news impacts the company, their jobs, and the technical decisions they make.
If you're planning to have separate forums, sorting by physical region seems to be key. People will put messages in the social groups about book signings and stuff nearby, and that gets irritating when "nearby" is actually a different continent. For actual business related groups, that's not as much of an issue.
Both addall and bookpool are pretty decent.
I like the storage idea, but I've mostly seen it in country dance bars. I kind of associate lockers with physical activity, and I don't bring my laptop to the gym.
For that matter, what I'd really like in a geek bar is somewhere that has good food, doesn't allow children, and where you can talk to other people who can read (yes I'm a snob, I generally don't get along with illiterates). If they play the same kinds of games I like, great! I think I'd like a social club with a nice bar and counter food service. I certainly agree that the food shouldn't be all fried and greasy... but I like there to be choices.
I hate sports being on TV, but I don't really like TV in bars at all. I don't really like loud music either, something that merges with the background noise would be great.
A lot of people have talked about the kind of computer stuff they want, but what I'd really like is the opportunity to talk to people in person, somewhere that feels comfortable, where you can play cards, play networked games, or even just talk to new people. It's hard to do anything social in bars because you can't hear anything.
Restaurants have the other problem, you're supposed to have brought your whole party with you, so you can't talk to anyone new. They aren't quiet and they get really upset when you bring out cards or a game. Coffee bars would be fine except they all close about 6pm here and they don't usually have real food.
We really need something open late, so you can have a quiet drink after a movie, after dinner, or even spend a whole evening there.
I send in information about a "virus" and it gets picked up and distributed through this centralized information source, suddenly real mail is discarded.
Whenever people want a centralized point for information, what they're really wanting is something they can automate to eliminate a problem. What they forget is that they're also giving someone else power over their information stream.
I'm sure someone will say, we just don't want to have to hunt for the information, we'll review it before we implement it. But only a short time will pass before someone will put out a script that updates automatically.
Think ORBS. Remember that legitimate people can't send email to their friends. When it started it was just a list so you'd know who wasn't playing the right game. And it's almost impossible to get your server off the list. But very easy for you to get on by some malicious person.
Extrapolate. People submit "viruses" that contain, 'Dear ****,' and all email with that goes away. Sure, you all know enough not to just trust the source of centralized virus information. But 90% of people don't. Why would someone make something up just to hurt people?
The potential for abuse is astronomical.
Virginia's 9th district rep is Rick Boucher not "Dan" Boucher.
So medical professionals are going to have to choose between the lives of older people and the lives of potential human babies.
The humor in this is going to be the justification for abortions. "Grandma needed stem cells to fix her brain, so we had to do it!" I foresee religious groups out protesting against this procedure. And I'd love to see the doctors who had to choose whether the pope should get the treatment.