Just exactly how many Human Resource departments do you think are going to take the time out of their busy days to go trolling on the internet tracking down email and mailing list leads for a prosepective employee who's a college drop out when they have hundreds and hundreds of resumes from programmers WITH degrees?
How many desktop users know what PGP encryption is? They're free to use it but the overwhelming majority don't.
On the other hand when shopping on line browsers automatically encrypt credit card transactions and other sensitive information. Sure its not perfect but its a heck of a lot more successful then having everyone rely on themselves for secure transactions online.
I don't think a mobile phone will ever handle household bandwidth needs. Other than that my Kyocera 7135 Smartphone is my MP3 Player, PDA, Phone, notepad, datebook, plays games, has 911 GPS, no 802.11 yet but I could add one with a SDIO expansion card....etc
It works fine. Very reliable. How often do you expect networks to go down and with number portability how is Verizon (or any carrier) going to be able to raise rates?
Whether you want to believe it or not a good proportion of Slashdot users really DO need to "get a life". This IS just a website after all but the way some folks get so worked up over it you would think they were in some sort of company meeting that was deciding arbitrarily the fate of their employment.
Then again if most Slashdot users are geeks and most geeks have some form of autism it would really explain their inability to just "let go" of an issue and not argue it into the ground.
The main difference between France then and the US now is that France had a MUCH larger percentage of their population starving while the US just has people who occasionalyl "go hungry" and their numbers are far far less.
Because there are other things to spend the money on does not make the space race pointless. Its not about how many starving people there are but about humans continuing to push the envelope and continue to innovate, create, dream and achieve.
Its hard to to do that when you only think about the problems that are around you.
You are confusing a person's ability to pay for food with a nation's ability to provide it in the first place.
Yes some Americans are too poor to buy food. But the food IS there. The US Government provides subsidies to farmers who's products go unbought because of a global food GLUT. The issue isn't food availability, its food affordability.
So yes the US is quite capable of feeding itself, and then some.
Annoying Prophets Who Think Because They Don't Like Something Its Destined To Fail = Annoying Prophets Who Think Because They Don't Like Something Its Destined To Fail
Check back with me in 2015, and see if they're any less annoying.
I already HAVE put money into investments and savings. Can I please actually enjoy something before I retire however? The purpose of saving and investing is not to save and invest EVERYTHING, just enough.
It pretty much shows how out of touch with reality most Slashdot posters are when they compare video game industry professionals with people who commit cold blooded murder.
In case you did not notice, your joke was not funny.
Yeah they're evil for protecting their work from the likes of those who probably won't ever leave their parents basements before they die.
Its not like the workers at Blizzard have families to feed or anything. And any company that tries to protect its IP is obviously evil because here in the Slashdot world, the dot.com mentality still exists where online business are somehow "different" from regular brick and morter business where its ok to earn a living. BUt not online! Don't you dare try to earn a living online! If you do, you're EVIL!
Aren't you overestimating the influence of Slashdot just a tad? The overwhelming majority of Blizzards customers don't even know Slashdot exists and even the ones who do don't always agree.
Take me for example. I'm a Blizzard customer and a Slashdot user. But I hardly ever agree with the Slashdot groupthink. I see nothing wrong with Blizzard's actions today and will remain a customer for years to come.
Why?
Because I like GOOD video games and Blizzard makes em. I don't want to have to wait 2 to 3 years for an open source half-assed equivalent to come out. Some of the very BEST open source games look like something that was first introduced 5 years ago. And before anyone goes off on a rant about how GOOD games don't always need the best graphics well I agree. But that doesn't mean I also want to be a second-class citizen on the video gaming front.
For the love of GAWD can't you pedantic nerdy geeks keep politics out of ONE realm of your lives? Folks just want to play games not stand on idealogical grounds for or against something. Whatever happened to just appreciating good work without an alterior motive?
Uh no it doesn't work that way or that quickly. Evolution works by "selecting" the genes of the survivors because the survivors are the only ones who live to pass their genes on.
But in the modern world, foods are enriched with vitamin D. It no longer matters if your skin can make it or not and we also have sunscreens and better management of our time to prevent over-exposure to the sun. So the sun is no longer an evolutionary pressure that would cause current humans to darken or lighten.
So if you want darker skin kids, you'll have to find a dark skin lady to be your wife.:-)
Ok now that we've gotten that out of the way lets get back on topic.
There was more to the PBS special than "PBS says black people are black because of sunlight". The scientific explanation was that in parts of Africa where sunlight is most intense human skin has the least amount of trouble manufacturing vitamin D. Therefore there's an overabundance of that kind of sunlight hence the darker pigmentation to shield against it.
As humans moved further away from Africa the sunlight became less intense making vitamin D production less efficient with darker pigmentations so the skin became lighter. In nordic regions where this type of sunlight is the lowest in those parts of the world people have nearly pale skin.
There was also a "re-darkening" of the skin as people discovered new regions of the earth which also had very intense sunlight, such as Austraila.
Slashdot Mirror
I would not want to live in a house that only costs $40,000.
Anarchist much?
You must be an EXCELLENT coder.
Just exactly how many Human Resource departments do you think are going to take the time out of their busy days to go trolling on the internet tracking down email and mailing list leads for a prosepective employee who's a college drop out when they have hundreds and hundreds of resumes from programmers WITH degrees?
Make no mistake about it, open sourcers make bad businessmen!
How many desktop users know what PGP encryption is? They're free to use it but the overwhelming majority don't.
On the other hand when shopping on line browsers automatically encrypt credit card transactions and other sensitive information. Sure its not perfect but its a heck of a lot more successful then having everyone rely on themselves for secure transactions online.
I don't think a mobile phone will ever handle household bandwidth needs. Other than that my Kyocera 7135 Smartphone is my MP3 Player, PDA, Phone, notepad, datebook, plays games, has 911 GPS, no 802.11 yet but I could add one with a SDIO expansion card....etc
It works fine. Very reliable. How often do you expect networks to go down and with number portability how is Verizon (or any carrier) going to be able to raise rates?
Realistically handling the security for networks should NOT be handled by the end user, not even ones as technically astute as Slashdot users.
Just exactly how many people do you think travel between continents on a regular and frequent basis?
Whether you want to believe it or not a good proportion of Slashdot users really DO need to "get a life". This IS just a website after all but the way some folks get so worked up over it you would think they were in some sort of company meeting that was deciding arbitrarily the fate of their employment.
Then again if most Slashdot users are geeks and most geeks have some form of autism it would really explain their inability to just "let go" of an issue and not argue it into the ground.
Graphics apps you dolt! They're still available on Macs you know.
What was funny is that via a simple act of AstroTurfing they were able to completely deflate the sails of the protesters.
I hate SCO but there's no denying that what they did WAS hilarious.
The main difference between France then and the US now is that France had a MUCH larger percentage of their population starving while the US just has people who occasionalyl "go hungry" and their numbers are far far less.
Simply not enough people to cause a revolution.
Because there are other things to spend the money on does not make the space race pointless. Its not about how many starving people there are but about humans continuing to push the envelope and continue to innovate, create, dream and achieve.
Its hard to to do that when you only think about the problems that are around you.
You are confusing a person's ability to pay for food with a nation's ability to provide it in the first place.
Yes some Americans are too poor to buy food. But the food IS there. The US Government provides subsidies to farmers who's products go unbought because of a global food GLUT. The issue isn't food availability, its food affordability.
So yes the US is quite capable of feeding itself, and then some.
Annoying Prophets Who Think Because They Don't Like Something Its Destined To Fail = Annoying Prophets Who Think Because They Don't Like Something Its Destined To Fail
Check back with me in 2015, and see if they're any less annoying.
I already HAVE put money into investments and savings. Can I please actually enjoy something before I retire however? The purpose of saving and investing is not to save and invest EVERYTHING, just enough.
Not yet but I plan on buying two soon. A Nissan Pathfinder and that Lexus SUV.
Its called "disposible income". You know, money that can be spent on anything without subtracting from your investments or savings?
It pretty much shows how out of touch with reality most Slashdot posters are when they compare video game industry professionals with people who commit cold blooded murder.
In case you did not notice, your joke was not funny.
What the fuck is a tram?
And whats the value of free software to someone with enough mony to buy all the commercial software he needs?
Yeah they're evil for protecting their work from the likes of those who probably won't ever leave their parents basements before they die.
Its not like the workers at Blizzard have families to feed or anything. And any company that tries to protect its IP is obviously evil because here in the Slashdot world, the dot.com mentality still exists where online business are somehow "different" from regular brick and morter business where its ok to earn a living. BUt not online! Don't you dare try to earn a living online! If you do, you're EVIL!
I keep my personal fun and my politics separate.
I'll be one of the first ones in line to buy their next game.
Aren't you overestimating the influence of Slashdot just a tad? The overwhelming majority of Blizzards customers don't even know Slashdot exists and even the ones who do don't always agree.
Take me for example. I'm a Blizzard customer and a Slashdot user. But I hardly ever agree with the Slashdot groupthink. I see nothing wrong with Blizzard's actions today and will remain a customer for years to come.
Why?
Because I like GOOD video games and Blizzard makes em. I don't want to have to wait 2 to 3 years for an open source half-assed equivalent to come out. Some of the very BEST open source games look like something that was first introduced 5 years ago. And before anyone goes off on a rant about how GOOD games don't always need the best graphics well I agree. But that doesn't mean I also want to be a second-class citizen on the video gaming front.
For the love of GAWD can't you pedantic nerdy geeks keep politics out of ONE realm of your lives? Folks just want to play games not stand on idealogical grounds for or against something. Whatever happened to just appreciating good work without an alterior motive?
Uh no it doesn't work that way or that quickly. Evolution works by "selecting" the genes of the survivors because the survivors are the only ones who live to pass their genes on.
:-)
But in the modern world, foods are enriched with vitamin D. It no longer matters if your skin can make it or not and we also have sunscreens and better management of our time to prevent over-exposure to the sun. So the sun is no longer an evolutionary pressure that would cause current humans to darken or lighten.
So if you want darker skin kids, you'll have to find a dark skin lady to be your wife.
Ok now that we've gotten that out of the way lets get back on topic.
There was more to the PBS special than "PBS says black people are black because of sunlight". The scientific explanation was that in parts of Africa where sunlight is most intense human skin has the least amount of trouble manufacturing vitamin D. Therefore there's an overabundance of that kind of sunlight hence the darker pigmentation to shield against it.
As humans moved further away from Africa the sunlight became less intense making vitamin D production less efficient with darker pigmentations so the skin became lighter. In nordic regions where this type of sunlight is the lowest in those parts of the world people have nearly pale skin.
There was also a "re-darkening" of the skin as people discovered new regions of the earth which also had very intense sunlight, such as Austraila.