I'm complaining about the absence of true contributors to science, folks that have done groundbreaking work across various domains.
If there is a category for folks that make business and policy decisions, don't you think that there should at least be a category for folks that make contributions to the pure sciences?
Almost everything out there is for applied sciences and technology. Observational sciences (astrophysics), theoretical sciences (physics), pure mathematics, applied mathematics etc. are no less important -- but you do not even see a single mention of folks from those areas.
And do not think that everything that is pure does not have any application -- Fourier analysis was once considered a pure pursuit, today we use it in everything from DSP to spectroscopy.
It is disappointing to see that someone who solved the Poincare Conjecture wasn't mentioned but others who were less deserving were mentioned.
I was referring to pure sciences (e.g. theoretical physics and mathematics). All the ones out there are applied science/technology.
There is a difference. I would imagine that folks like Grigori Perelman who solved the Poincare conjecture would be in there, but instead I find Al Gore in that list. Nice.
People have stopped caring about fundamentals, all they care is about their own shiny new gadget.
I'd not be surprised if the average intellect of the population has also decreased, thanks to our wonderful media. Not to mention our educational system that cares more about getting better grades and a job than in making you understand the basics.
Interesting first post; I have been to India twice and have seen many of the remarkable changes brought by Narasimha Rao's and Dr. Manmohan Singh's economic liberalization. It is another example of what improvements can be made when a nation decides to discard the failed ideology of Communism.
India was never communist -- they had a quasi Socialist economy post independence, for a short while. During this time, the state owned most most things, but the private sector was also allowed ownership of a lot of things.
So, is there a reason that advances in pure sciences (e.g. Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) are not mentioned in these lists?
While some of those projects are science, most seem to be technology projects. The irony of this of course is that business and policy makers are given recognition, rather than some scientists and mathematicians, who probably make more significant contributions (e.g. Grigori Perelman).
What's ironic, of course, is that these magazines are called Scientific American and Popular Science./Rant
People talk as if the Dems were all angelic. I'm waiting for the day when the Dems come into power and videogames are banned because they're too dangerous. Or our tax money goes towards paying social security for bums on the street.
You do realize that this is a marketing trick, right?
If Google makes their data more portable, then everyone else will be forced to, especially after they've come out and asked others to.
Now imagine, if you can move all your data from $SERVICE to Google, and the only thing keeping you with $SERVICE is your data.
Basically, by allowing this, Google says you can leave the coolest hangout and go to other hangouts, but others should also be able to leave their hangouts and come hang out with Google.
Guess what's more likely to happen? More people are likely to come into Google, than the other way around, and they benefit. Of course, this only happens if they have good service, which they do.
But hey -- I will not stop you from thinking that Google does everything for the universal good etc etc. Sure, it's great, but make no mistake -- this will help them more than it will help you.
It's a great marketing idea and the fanboys are slurping it up. Way to go.
It's not religion, it's ethics. Look at the medical "experiments" the Nazi's performed without regard to either.
Nice try comparing the Nazis with folks who want to use nothing more than a cell. And even nicer try debunking the whole thing by denying the influence of religion.
Guess what? The embryo is nothing more than a cell. If you can kill a plant, eat an animal, you can use a cell.
It is not even a baby, it is nothing more than a cell - it is almost like a protozoan, nothing more. The equating of a cell with an entire human baby is done by religions that believe that life is somehow given by some religious voice-in-the-sky the moment the cell is formed.
Take that away, and look at it objectively, and you will see that all people are doing is replicate a cell for the purposes of scientific research.
Here is the thing - people can have ethics immaterial of religion. Just that those ethics tend to be a lot more well thought out and objective, than ethics that blindly equate a cell to a baby and scream hell and high-water.
I do not know where you live, but some of the biggest Halloween parties are held on the weekend before Halloween (yesterday/today).
Usually, on October 31st, you go trick-or-treating with the kids, and adults party the weekend before.
And where I live (Cincinnati), three of the biggest Halloween parties are all being held tonight - Cincinnati Sports League, Hustler and The Morgue. I'm sure there are more, though, but I'm off to the CSL party, dressed as a cross between an Orc and a Ringwraith, while the woman is dressed as an Ice Queen.
Umm, who said you had to play sports all the time?
Do it once or twice a week to unwind, and you'd be surprised at how consistent playing of any sport can improve your performance. I used to work at a certain national lab where I worked with some really smart people - and these people always had time for other things. Oh, they were geeks alright, but they loved doing other "athletic" things - and I'd really be careful about calling a theoretical physicist or a mathematician that what he does is "soft work". S/he probably think that writing an OS or software engineering is soft.
Just as being just athletic and not doing anything else is bad, doing geeky things and not doing anything athletic is equally bad. Both are at the opposite sides of the spectrum, and one is not better than the other.
How about being balanced, and finding time for work and play?
Uhh, depends on the kind of sport that you do, really.
While I cannot speak for every kind of sport out there, I've found that extreme sport tends to attract some of the smartest folks. I do a lot of rock-climbing and mountaineering, and most of the folks that I climb with tend at least have graduate school education or more (not that it's any measure, but it's a measure).
Same goes for a lot of things like whitewater rafting, kayaking and a lot of other sports.
Gaiman is unique because his stories are dark, yet he adds an element of humour to some of his works -- while there are other similar authors, Gaiman's books convey this a lot better (IMHO, YMMV and all that). The other thing I like about Gaiman are his twists, which are rather nice.
However, if you really want to read Gaiman's dark writing, look up some of his darker works without any humour. Smoke and Mirrors is an example - some of the stories are very different and quite dark.
The thing is, Gaiman does not write the cliched sword and sorcery kind of fantasy -- his books tend to be different from the traditional fantasy genre. And secondly, his writings are not the usual highschool English pattern that seem so common today.
And that's exactly what's going to happen. Today, a lot of companies do not use MS software (office & developer stuff, both) primarily because they do not want to be locked-in.
As MS becomes more and more restrictive, folks are going to want to move away towards more open solutions.
It's rather good for the Open Source community because this will speeden up corporations towards adopting alternate solutions.
Maybe - just maybe - because India is the world's largest democracy?
While India has not yet signed the NPT, they do have a no first strike policy.
They are surrounded by a communist military dictatorship on one side (China) and an Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship on the other (Pakistan - one supported by US).
You can hardly blame a nation-state for doing what is necessary for survival.
Secondly, the transfer of technology has only for the purpose of energy and power. India has also agreed to let international observers to ensure that the plants do not enrich weapons-grade fissile material but use them only for energy.
And btw, comparing India to NK is a nice troll there - the H1B bit was a nice add, too. One is the world's largest democracy that's been making economic progress by leaps and bounds, and the other is a military dictatorship run by a crazy person.
Way to go, combining Slashdot's racist prejudices and logical fallacies all in one go.
Slashdot Mirror
To our neighbors!.
I'm complaining about the absence of true contributors to science, folks that have done groundbreaking work across various domains.
If there is a category for folks that make business and policy decisions, don't you think that there should at least be a category for folks that make contributions to the pure sciences?
Almost everything out there is for applied sciences and technology. Observational sciences (astrophysics), theoretical sciences (physics), pure mathematics, applied mathematics etc. are no less important -- but you do not even see a single mention of folks from those areas.
And do not think that everything that is pure does not have any application -- Fourier analysis was once considered a pure pursuit, today we use it in everything from DSP to spectroscopy.
It is disappointing to see that someone who solved the Poincare Conjecture wasn't mentioned but others who were less deserving were mentioned.
I was referring to pure sciences (e.g. theoretical physics and mathematics). All the ones out there are applied science/technology.
There is a difference. I would imagine that folks like Grigori Perelman who solved the Poincare conjecture would be in there, but instead I find Al Gore in that list. Nice.
Science has been replaced by technology.
People have stopped caring about fundamentals, all they care is about their own shiny new gadget.
I'd not be surprised if the average intellect of the population has also decreased, thanks to our wonderful media. Not to mention our educational system that cares more about getting better grades and a job than in making you understand the basics.
Sad, that.
Interesting first post; I have been to India twice and have seen many of the remarkable changes brought by Narasimha Rao's and Dr. Manmohan Singh's economic liberalization. It is another example of what improvements can be made when a nation decides to discard the failed ideology of Communism.
India was never communist -- they had a quasi Socialist economy post independence, for a short while. During this time, the state owned most most things, but the private sector was also allowed ownership of a lot of things.
Perhaps you meant Socialism, not Communism?
So, is there a reason that advances in pure sciences (e.g. Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) are not mentioned in these lists?
/Rant
While some of those projects are science, most seem to be technology projects. The irony of this of course is that business and policy makers are given recognition, rather than some scientists and mathematicians, who probably make more significant contributions (e.g. Grigori Perelman).
What's ironic, of course, is that these magazines are called Scientific American and Popular Science.
Well said. Hats off, sir.
That's the thing though. My point is that both sides of the fence aren't exactly filled with folks that have our best interests in mind.
It's like choosing between the lesser of two evils. Libertarians, at the very least, have our freedoms before everything else.
Should have moved to NH.
Well said.
People talk as if the Dems were all angelic. I'm waiting for the day when the Dems come into power and videogames are banned because they're too dangerous. Or our tax money goes towards paying social security for bums on the street.
Easy - tests of response to stimuli.
Flash a light, show things etc. and observe responses.
You do realize that this is a marketing trick, right?
If Google makes their data more portable, then everyone else will be forced to, especially after they've come out and asked others to.
Now imagine, if you can move all your data from $SERVICE to Google, and the only thing keeping you with $SERVICE is your data.
Basically, by allowing this, Google says you can leave the coolest hangout and go to other hangouts, but others should also be able to leave their hangouts and come hang out with Google.
Guess what's more likely to happen? More people are likely to come into Google, than the other way around, and they benefit. Of course, this only happens if they have good service, which they do.
But hey -- I will not stop you from thinking that Google does everything for the universal good etc etc. Sure, it's great, but make no mistake -- this will help them more than it will help you.
It's a great marketing idea and the fanboys are slurping it up. Way to go.
That man has made more contributions to the world economy and the US than most, and needs to be respected for that.
Then again, trust a Slashdotter to portray one of the most influential men today in neoconservatism as an evil man.
Funny, really. The world and the US needs more people like him.
She just wasn't happy with parting the Red Sea.
It's not religion, it's ethics. Look at the medical "experiments" the Nazi's performed without regard to either.
Nice try comparing the Nazis with folks who want to use nothing more than a cell. And even nicer try debunking the whole thing by denying the influence of religion.
Guess what? The embryo is nothing more than a cell. If you can kill a plant, eat an animal, you can use a cell.
It is not even a baby, it is nothing more than a cell - it is almost like a protozoan, nothing more. The equating of a cell with an entire human baby is done by religions that believe that life is somehow given by some religious voice-in-the-sky the moment the cell is formed.
Take that away, and look at it objectively, and you will see that all people are doing is replicate a cell for the purposes of scientific research.
Here is the thing - people can have ethics immaterial of religion. Just that those ethics tend to be a lot more well thought out and objective, than ethics that blindly equate a cell to a baby and scream hell and high-water.
One crazy Slashdotter linking to a chauvinist nutjob does not constitute the whole community.
:)
Most of us tend to be quite well balanced in our thinking (and maybe a little "pussified" according to Kim Toit), thank you very much.
I do not know where you live, but some of the biggest Halloween parties are held on the weekend before Halloween (yesterday/today).
:)
Usually, on October 31st, you go trick-or-treating with the kids, and adults party the weekend before.
And where I live (Cincinnati), three of the biggest Halloween parties are all being held tonight - Cincinnati Sports League, Hustler and The Morgue. I'm sure there are more, though, but I'm off to the CSL party, dressed as a cross between an Orc and a Ringwraith, while the woman is dressed as an Ice Queen.
Party time!
Honestly, I thought that using the Enlightenment icon was totally ironic yet appropriate.
Sometimes, the nitpickers are just annoying -- just get over it and appreciate the irony dammit.
Umm, who said you had to play sports all the time?
Do it once or twice a week to unwind, and you'd be surprised at how consistent playing of any sport can improve your performance. I used to work at a certain national lab where I worked with some really smart people - and these people always had time for other things. Oh, they were geeks alright, but they loved doing other "athletic" things - and I'd really be careful about calling a theoretical physicist or a mathematician that what he does is "soft work". S/he probably think that writing an OS or software engineering is soft.
Just as being just athletic and not doing anything else is bad, doing geeky things and not doing anything athletic is equally bad. Both are at the opposite sides of the spectrum, and one is not better than the other.
How about being balanced, and finding time for work and play?
*SWOOOOOOOSH!!*
That was the sound of the joke flying over your head.
Uhh, depends on the kind of sport that you do, really.
While I cannot speak for every kind of sport out there, I've found that extreme sport tends to attract some of the smartest folks. I do a lot of rock-climbing and mountaineering, and most of the folks that I climb with tend at least have graduate school education or more (not that it's any measure, but it's a measure).
Same goes for a lot of things like whitewater rafting, kayaking and a lot of other sports.
Gaiman is unique because his stories are dark, yet he adds an element of humour to some of his works -- while there are other similar authors, Gaiman's books convey this a lot better (IMHO, YMMV and all that). The other thing I like about Gaiman are his twists, which are rather nice.
However, if you really want to read Gaiman's dark writing, look up some of his darker works without any humour. Smoke and Mirrors is an example - some of the stories are very different and quite dark.
The thing is, Gaiman does not write the cliched sword and sorcery kind of fantasy -- his books tend to be different from the traditional fantasy genre. And secondly, his writings are not the usual highschool English pattern that seem so common today.
> Just Use Linux
And that's exactly what's going to happen. Today, a lot of companies do not use MS software (office & developer stuff, both) primarily because they do not want to be locked-in.
As MS becomes more and more restrictive, folks are going to want to move away towards more open solutions.
It's rather good for the Open Source community because this will speeden up corporations towards adopting alternate solutions.
Nice to see MS digging their own grave!
> All these companies have is brands; it's a dangerous move by Google.
Well, it would be if Google had paid hard cash. They did not -- they paid with stock, which is a different story altogether.
Of course, we all know of the DotCom billionaires who were left with worthless pieces of paper, so let's see how far this goes.
Maybe - just maybe - because India is the world's largest democracy?
While India has not yet signed the NPT, they do have a no first strike policy.
They are surrounded by a communist military dictatorship on one side (China) and an Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship on the other (Pakistan - one supported by US).
You can hardly blame a nation-state for doing what is necessary for survival.
Secondly, the transfer of technology has only for the purpose of energy and power. India has also agreed to let international observers to ensure that the plants do not enrich weapons-grade fissile material but use them only for energy.
And btw, comparing India to NK is a nice troll there - the H1B bit was a nice add, too. One is the world's largest democracy that's been making economic progress by leaps and bounds, and the other is a military dictatorship run by a crazy person.
Way to go, combining Slashdot's racist prejudices and logical fallacies all in one go.
You forgot one -
In Korea, only old people wear rocket belts!
And that's why old people die!