... the public perception is that scientists are getting research funding that they are squandering in the science equivalent of the $56,000 hammer sold to the military...
No, it just means that few people will benefit. The price of the home won't be materially affected. The cost of the service will depend mostly on demand. Homeowners aren't likely to pay $150,000 for the service.
Seriously, maybe the spending IS the problem. Let's just take this hundred million we have to borrow and spend it on a bunch of people who will never appreciate the value of what they are getting because they don't fucking need it and couldn't imagine paying for it if they had the money burning a hole in their pockets.
There are a multitude of other things that can go wrong with brain development or otherwise cause you to be stupid. For instance, lead poisoning as a child or being raised by creationists and attending prayer meetings where rattlesnakes are handled.
Perfect.:)
The bit I don't get is how "a genetic mutation that causes mammalian neural tissue to expand and fold" disproves "'dumber species will have different genes'? Since, well, it's a gene that's different. Also, conflating folding of the neural tissues with intelligence (rather than simply viewing it as a necessary precursor) sounds like the modern version of "men are more intelligent than women because their brains weigh more."
There's no data showing that it's even a necessary precursor or has anything to do with growing a smarter brain. Surely humans are born with a defect in that gene sometimes. Are they dumb?
Not to say that he can't be right, but he has been pursuing this idea of "religious people are happier/mentally healthier" for several years. He has a lot invested and a lot of publications on the matter. It doesn't give the impression of a researcher free of bias.
I'd be interested in knowing what they controlled for when calculating the strength of the effect they found. Did they account for age, family history, income, race, sex and social involvement?
Agreed, it's a dumbass idea. 3D print a gun and what have you got? A junky, inaccurate gun that will (if you're lucky) last long enough to misfire, shoot something you're not pointing at or blow up in your hand.
Guns are made out of steel for very good reasons.
Top uses:
cancer treatment -- cheap radiation treatments
Doses far too low, and more importantly, undirected.
food irradiation center
Doses ridiculously too low.
radiology center -- x-ray you while you're walking through. Gamma rays free of charge. Drink the water if you want a PET scan.
Errr, you do know that X-rays, gamma rays, and positrons are three different things? It's written on the back of your Geek card, somewhere in one of the microdots. What do you mean - you've left your electron microscope in your other leather-elbow-patched jacket?
urology center -- cheaper than a vasectomy
Doses far too low for effective sterilisation, so it'd actually be negatively effective because of the increased birth defect rate.
You get the idea.
No, I don't. Are you trying to be sarcastic, but haven't made it to chapter 2 of "Sarcasm for Dummies" (chapter 4 of the American edition)?
Sorry. Next time I'll try to dial it down a few notches so you can understand.
I thought the most efficient star factory was in Hollywood, where they efficiently turn no-talent chumps into overnight sensations using only skimpy clothes, hype and recycled plotlines, leaving behind only a trail of burned-out losers that the tabloids follow around for the remainder of their pathetic lines to show you how fat and out of shape they've gotten.
Of-course Madoff worked in a completely regulated environment, your point is backwards. Madoff was the product of the moral hazard created by the government, where people just assumed that gov't was all over his business, checking what's going on there, when in fact his previous ties to the government allowed him to be completely unregulated in an environment where everybody assumed he was.
That's what moral hazard does, that's what FDIC does, that's what Cyprus just went through (and will keep going through), that's how USA banking system collapsed (and was bailed out).
If I lose money with any business that is unregulated, don't worry about it, it's my money. Worry about yourself.
Err, no. Even the regulators trusted him because they knew him and thought he as a good guy so they let him skirt the regulations. A tighter regulatory regime would have forced them to audit him and then he wouldn't have been able to do what he did.
That and you should note that every financial deregulation move by the government has resulted in a flurry of new shady and ill-advised deals resulting in a wave of business collapses.
It's not the prospect of a bailout that makes regulation necessary. It's the harm that people do to others by acting irresponsibly. For example, you need to do business with banks. Do you want those banks' lending, investment and financial reporting practices to be unregulated or regulated? Would you be comfortable with a completely unregulated company holding your money, even for a little while?
My organization is looking at boards like this as system controllers for a variety of products. The form factor and specs are really attractive and the prices are cheap. Beaglebone is a pretty good fit to what we need, and the addition of on-board DSPs makes it better. The biggest barrier we run into on these kinds of devices is lack of industrial-rated parts and designs. Our products run in a variety of environments, many of them that can get hot (e.g. inside a chassis with other heat-producing stuff) or cold. I understand why they don't use industrial parts on stuff for hobbyists, but there's a market out there for tiny controller boards with the same kinds of interfaces and industrial ratings.
I have a friend who is quadriplegic. She needs a device that lets her BRAIN control her ARMS AND LEGS. They want to give her a phone she can dial with her MIND. Never mind that fact that it's a phone, which means to use it she probably will want to use her VOICE which works just fine.
Re:Let's bring that paranoia out front and center!
on
The Eternal Mainframe
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· Score: 1
I can read my email off line, open and edit documents, etc and quite a number of other things. I find the poke-with-my-fingers input and tiny screen UI to be more of an issue than the cloud dependence. I also have direct access to some of my other computers (those I have set up to allow me to log into them from my phone). The cloud dependence is not much of an issue because it's -- you know -- a phone. The reason I even HAVE it is for mobile connectivity. The reason I have the other computers is more mixed.
Good for you, recognising what your kid needs, and good for him, getting it. He will most probably do great that younger class. He'll be developmentally at or in the high end of the kids in his grade and likely end up in advanced classes, meaning he will get a better education overall. And he won't grow up under the curse of thinking he's dumb and clumsy because he can't keep up with the kids whose main advantage is they're a few months older than him.
Let's bring that paranoia out front and center!
on
The Eternal Mainframe
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· Score: 1
We all need a good look at it. Does it look ridiculous to everybody? Good. Now let's move on to things that might actually happen.
Server farms will offload much of the computer power and most people will use lightweight, low power portable devices? Yeah probably.
Server farms will get bigger and more powerful? Definitely.
That model will fit for every business and organization and individual user? No way. Won't happen.
Please keep in mind that my 3 year old Android phone is more powerful than any PC was in 1990.
Holding them back a grade, if we could remove the stigma, would be exactly what most of the "slow" kids need, because many of them are not really slow, they're younger than most of the kids in their classes. It would put them in classes with other kids who are closer to their level of ability and skill mastery. Instead, we hold back the whole curriculum so the "slow" (young) kids can keep up with the average.
And there's no reason we can't educate each child according to his or her ability, with the possible exception of the top 0.1% that teachers won't be able to keep up with.
Slashdot Mirror
... the public perception is that scientists are getting research funding that they are squandering in the science equivalent of the $56,000 hammer sold to the military...
What makes you think they're wrong?
No, it just means that few people will benefit. The price of the home won't be materially affected. The cost of the service will depend mostly on demand. Homeowners aren't likely to pay $150,000 for the service.
Seriously, maybe the spending IS the problem. Let's just take this hundred million we have to borrow and spend it on a bunch of people who will never appreciate the value of what they are getting because they don't fucking need it and couldn't imagine paying for it if they had the money burning a hole in their pockets.
Sounds like a giant waste of money to me. What else could you supply for $8500/home?
There are a multitude of other things that can go wrong with brain development or otherwise cause you to be stupid. For instance, lead poisoning as a child or being raised by creationists and attending prayer meetings where rattlesnakes are handled.
Perfect. :)
The bit I don't get is how "a genetic mutation that causes mammalian neural tissue to expand and fold" disproves "'dumber species will have different genes'? Since, well, it's a gene that's different. Also, conflating folding of the neural tissues with intelligence (rather than simply viewing it as a necessary precursor) sounds like the modern version of "men are more intelligent than women because their brains weigh more."
There's no data showing that it's even a necessary precursor or has anything to do with growing a smarter brain. Surely humans are born with a defect in that gene sometimes. Are they dumb?
The chief researcher's curriculum vitae: http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/resources/pdfs/David%20Rosmarin.pdf (search the doc for "spiritual")
Not to say that he can't be right, but he has been pursuing this idea of "religious people are happier/mentally healthier" for several years. He has a lot invested and a lot of publications on the matter. It doesn't give the impression of a researcher free of bias.
I'd be interested in knowing what they controlled for when calculating the strength of the effect they found. Did they account for age, family history, income, race, sex and social involvement?
Agreed, it's a dumbass idea. 3D print a gun and what have you got? A junky, inaccurate gun that will (if you're lucky) last long enough to misfire, shoot something you're not pointing at or blow up in your hand. Guns are made out of steel for very good reasons.
Doses far too low, and more importantly, undirected.
Doses ridiculously too low.
Errr, you do know that X-rays, gamma rays, and positrons are three different things? It's written on the back of your Geek card, somewhere in one of the microdots. What do you mean - you've left your electron microscope in your other leather-elbow-patched jacket?
Doses far too low for effective sterilisation, so it'd actually be negatively effective because of the increased birth defect rate.
No, I don't. Are you trying to be sarcastic, but haven't made it to chapter 2 of "Sarcasm for Dummies" (chapter 4 of the American edition)?
Sorry. Next time I'll try to dial it down a few notches so you can understand.
No, if they said "senior" without being told he was senior that's a lie, not exaggeration or assumption.
I thought the most efficient star factory was in Hollywood, where they efficiently turn no-talent chumps into overnight sensations using only skimpy clothes, hype and recycled plotlines, leaving behind only a trail of burned-out losers that the tabloids follow around for the remainder of their pathetic lines to show you how fat and out of shape they've gotten.
But this does seem better.
Yeah, but 3x the price would be fine for an industrial-rated controller.
USSR had a track record too.
Of-course Madoff worked in a completely regulated environment, your point is backwards. Madoff was the product of the moral hazard created by the government, where people just assumed that gov't was all over his business, checking what's going on there, when in fact his previous ties to the government allowed him to be completely unregulated in an environment where everybody assumed he was.
That's what moral hazard does, that's what FDIC does, that's what Cyprus just went through (and will keep going through), that's how USA banking system collapsed (and was bailed out).
If I lose money with any business that is unregulated, don't worry about it, it's my money. Worry about yourself.
Err, no. Even the regulators trusted him because they knew him and thought he as a good guy so they let him skirt the regulations. A tighter regulatory regime would have forced them to audit him and then he wouldn't have been able to do what he did. That and you should note that every financial deregulation move by the government has resulted in a flurry of new shady and ill-advised deals resulting in a wave of business collapses.
It's not that hard to build a reactor that can't melt down at all.
You get the idea.
It's not the prospect of a bailout that makes regulation necessary. It's the harm that people do to others by acting irresponsibly. For example, you need to do business with banks. Do you want those banks' lending, investment and financial reporting practices to be unregulated or regulated? Would you be comfortable with a completely unregulated company holding your money, even for a little while?
It serves no purpose.
Its purpose is to make people money. It works for that (sometimes).
My organization is looking at boards like this as system controllers for a variety of products. The form factor and specs are really attractive and the prices are cheap. Beaglebone is a pretty good fit to what we need, and the addition of on-board DSPs makes it better. The biggest barrier we run into on these kinds of devices is lack of industrial-rated parts and designs. Our products run in a variety of environments, many of them that can get hot (e.g. inside a chassis with other heat-producing stuff) or cold. I understand why they don't use industrial parts on stuff for hobbyists, but there's a market out there for tiny controller boards with the same kinds of interfaces and industrial ratings.
I have a friend who is quadriplegic. She needs a device that lets her BRAIN control her ARMS AND LEGS. They want to give her a phone she can dial with her MIND. Never mind that fact that it's a phone, which means to use it she probably will want to use her VOICE which works just fine.
The Egyptian government...
I can read my email off line, open and edit documents, etc and quite a number of other things. I find the poke-with-my-fingers input and tiny screen UI to be more of an issue than the cloud dependence. I also have direct access to some of my other computers (those I have set up to allow me to log into them from my phone). The cloud dependence is not much of an issue because it's -- you know -- a phone. The reason I even HAVE it is for mobile connectivity. The reason I have the other computers is more mixed.
Good for you, recognising what your kid needs, and good for him, getting it. He will most probably do great that younger class. He'll be developmentally at or in the high end of the kids in his grade and likely end up in advanced classes, meaning he will get a better education overall. And he won't grow up under the curse of thinking he's dumb and clumsy because he can't keep up with the kids whose main advantage is they're a few months older than him.
We all need a good look at it. Does it look ridiculous to everybody? Good. Now let's move on to things that might actually happen.
Server farms will offload much of the computer power and most people will use lightweight, low power portable devices? Yeah probably.
Server farms will get bigger and more powerful? Definitely.
That model will fit for every business and organization and individual user? No way. Won't happen.
Please keep in mind that my 3 year old Android phone is more powerful than any PC was in 1990.
But subjectively, the media have blown everything completely out of proportion.
Somewhere, a child was abducted by a person.
But the media reports it as everyones child everywhere is minutes away from to be taken next.
Nothing sells like hysteria.
Holding them back a grade, if we could remove the stigma, would be exactly what most of the "slow" kids need, because many of them are not really slow, they're younger than most of the kids in their classes. It would put them in classes with other kids who are closer to their level of ability and skill mastery. Instead, we hold back the whole curriculum so the "slow" (young) kids can keep up with the average.
And there's no reason we can't educate each child according to his or her ability, with the possible exception of the top 0.1% that teachers won't be able to keep up with.