The solution seems simple. Separate the bandwidth providers and content providers. Neither CNN nor Bob in Tuscaloosa provide any connectivity, so they wouldn't be a part of network peering agreements and would have to pay some ISP for that connectivity. If they wanted to get into the ISP business and start providing connectivity, it would have to be an entirely separate entity from their current offerings.
Of course, this would mean splitting up a lot of the current ISPs that are having their cake and eating it too (selling you bandwidth, and then selling you content along that bandwidth) but it's the best option in the long run.
Or even simpler, just kill the geographical monopolies. Where I live, there is exactly 1 (one) option for High Speed Internet. They've been adding fees and charges by the boatload for the last several years, while happily pointing out their monopoly when I call. Most recently they added a modem rental to my bill, for absolutely no reason. I have only ever used my own modem. Even better, the addition of a modem rental negated the automatic payment that I'd setup, so I stumbled into a bevvy of late fees which were never refunded, despite the ISPs admission that the original rental fee was in error. I also incurred a fee for speaking with a person, and another for not using their automated phone system to pay the bill (which only accepts check routing numbers as payment method, no credit cards, debit cards, etc.) There was a fee to reestablish the automated payments, and to "reactivate" the account, even though service hadn't been interrupted... The best part though, I was charged a "restocking fee" on the modem.
So you'll forgive me if I don't see the need for a deeper view quite yet. The ISPs are enjoying their status as de facto monopolies, and are more than willing to piss off (or piss on) their customers to squeeze out a few bucks. I can only imagine the lengths to which they'd go, if they thought they could shake down Reed Hastings near 1,000,000,000 net worth.
Why are we so focused on making life as miserable as possible?
Why not use these drugs to shorten actual sentences while still serving justice. If someone is supposed to serve 50 years in jail, why not have them serve 2 years under the effects of this drug (or whatever is required to achieve the proper effect.) Then we can start a rehabilitation process, lower jail populations, and hopefully get this person back into society.
But no... we, as a society, are too consumed by PUNISH. PUNISH THE BAD PERSON, despite a warped vision of what evils have actually transpired.
There's nothing particularly "techy" about kids starting rumors. And removing one messaging app is certainly not going to stop bullying at schools.
It's just a symptom, with dozens of core issues that should be treated instead. From better parenting, to accountability, to a better teacher:student ratio... plenty of ways to address the problem. Deleting an app really isn't one of them, be it from an single student or an entire school.
Interesting thought. I was under the impression that the point of contention with Snowden's actions was conflicting rules at various levels.
Sure, he's guilty of breaking the rules set forth by his company, but that's not necessarily against the law. And even if it were, his actions upheld the 4th amendment, which supersedes any local laws, and absolutely supersedes any company regulations.
Once music started to make a ton of money, it shifted from an art to a business
Why wait for years while bands practice, learn instruments, tour to build a following and all that... skip it. Tell people "here's the latest band to be exited about," and just auto-tune them, have studio musicians play on the CDs, and lip sync in concert. We can now do in days or weeks what used to take years. And then we move onto the next big thing. There's no money to be made in people wearing the same band's tshirt for years on end. Make them buy new tshirts once a month for the new band that just newly got popular. And again and again and again.
Sarcasm aside, there are still plenty of good artists out there. Musicians who make great music, tour and genuinely love what they do. But they just don't get any of the publicity or marketing. "It's just business." I think the pendulum will swing back eventually. In the meantime, I think I'll listen to some Chickenfoot.
Agreed. A judge isn't supposed to decide what's right or wrong, but rather what's legal or illegal. Judges are just supposed to interpret the laws as written. If there's no law against something, then a judge has no recourse but to deem that thing legal. Even if any rational person would find it in poor taste.
It's then the job of Congress (aka the legislators, aka the law makers) to make a law that rectifies the issue. So expect results sometime between now and Judgement Day. Unless, of course, some senator (or senator's daughter) gets some upskirt pictures taken. Once lawmakers actually feel the effects, the law will be passed so quickly, it might just be signatures on the back of a napkin.
Funny you should mention that. He and I chatted about it last night, spurred by this thread. He's actually considered a group points system as well
It would all be one big group, to help promote class teamwork, but the concept is similar. Example : If 5 people get a perfect score on the quiz, everyone in the class gets +5 points to their total class grade. Or if no one gets an F on a test, everyone gets +10 to their overall. Even the smartest kids can't get the maximum points without helping their classmates. And the kids who don't do as well feel good when their peers succeed. (these points would be extra credit, of course)
His next step is more advanced bonuses, derived from Video Game Power-ups. Whoever gets the highest score on a quiz earns a class-wide autocorrect power. They can pick a question on the NEXT quiz, and using that power makes it count as correct for the entire class. "everyone got question #5 wrong? Use the power, and now everyone got question #5 right!" -OR- The first student to reach the point threshold for a B grade gets full credit for the rest of the homework and doesn't have to actually do any of it, or turn it in. (given the point-count system and weight of the Final... a perfect grade student would only reach this threshold near the end of the semester anyway, so not a HUGE deal, but still it's a goal for the kids)"
Correct. It's the solution I'm using currently, but hardly the only one. Should this DRM thing become more trouble than it's worth, and if my current machine bites the farm, I'd definitely explore other options... but for now, well...
We do. A few of them actually, with indoor plumbing and everything... but the closest one is down the hall.
I could go down there, fill a kettle, plug it in, wait for it to heat, pour everything into the press (or pour-over if you prefer) wait for it to steep, clean up the grounds and carry the completed
But it's a convenience thing. I can do all that, or I can just put the pod in the machine right at my desk and press GO. Done and done. Like I said, it's not the perfect solution, but it's self contained and low maintenance. That trumps a slight increase in flavor, in my books. YMMV
When congress routinely demonstrates the forethought of a mayfly, we can consider any project that doesn't produce immediate results to be "pork" in their compound eyes
Any computer programmer should be able to tell you which is the overall more efficient solution for the general situation.
Well, I'm not a programmer, but that's exactly the point I was making.
For my general situation, K Cups are the most efficient solution. No filters to mess with. No grounds to measure. No water to measure (reservoir unit). Near instant cleanup (k cup into the trash). I only need a single cup in the morning. Maybe another in the afternoons. Occasionally a guest makes a cup. So for me, something like Keurig is the best solution. I wouldn't rule out some other flavor of 1-shot coffee maker, and this DRM (how is a physical object subject to digital rights?) situation might cause me to lean away for my next purchase... but for now this one is working like a champ.
Possible, but doubtful. The final is still worth a pretty large chunk of the total grade (15%, I think) so it's impossible to have an A halfway through the semester and coast to the finish.
Also, generally the A students need less motivation. It's the C students who need help visualizing the importance of the coursework. For instance, each test is worth around 5% of the total grade. Completely bombing a few tests is worth a full letter grade. Conversely, getting an A on a test will cause a significant bump up in your grade.
Amusing that you should mention "Extra Credits." Extra Creditz is a web video series from which he got the idea for this method, a few years ago.
So, fun fact. I've recently come to terms with an ugly fact : I have a legitimate physical addiction to caffeine. If I go a full day without, I get headaches by the end of the day.
Hardly the worst withdrawal symptoms ever, and defeated by some motrin and water... but still, a bit upsetting. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to indulge my habit
No electric kettles in the office. Fire hazard (also no space heaters, or various other personal electronics). They probably shouldn't allow coffee pots either, but YOU try to tell a hundred or so office monkeys that they can't have coffee. Good luck. I suppose I could get a nice tea cosy to disguise the kettle... but like you said, then there's the grounds to deal with. Shaking the press doesn't really get much out of it, and the fire marshal REALLY frowns on my compost pile in my office.
Keureg is hardly a perfect solution, but it's self contained and low maintenance.
Anecdotal, but a friend of mine is a teacher who has implemented a video-game style "points" system
Every student starts with 0 points at the beginning of the year, and counts up from there. At the end of the semester, everything is exactly the same. Total grade is the exact same balance of homework, quizzes, tests, etc... but instead of students bouncing around (A after the first few assignments, down to a C after a bad test, up to a B in a few weeks, back down to a C after skipping some homework, etc) they just count up up up and can see each threshold as they approach it.
Anecdotal, but he's noticed a definite improvement in overall student participation and engagement. Instead of working hard to try and maintain your grade, you're working from the ground up and can better visualize the progress.
Downside : a normal coffee brew process generates 6-12 cups of Joe.
I guess we could all switch to a press... but that's a bit messy and requires a stand alone heating method (I've not the space to keep a proper tea kettle on my office desk)
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The solution seems simple. Separate the bandwidth providers and content providers. Neither CNN nor Bob in Tuscaloosa provide any connectivity, so they wouldn't be a part of network peering agreements and would have to pay some ISP for that connectivity. If they wanted to get into the ISP business and start providing connectivity, it would have to be an entirely separate entity from their current offerings.
Of course, this would mean splitting up a lot of the current ISPs that are having their cake and eating it too (selling you bandwidth, and then selling you content along that bandwidth) but it's the best option in the long run.
Or even simpler, just kill the geographical monopolies. Where I live, there is exactly 1 (one) option for High Speed Internet. They've been adding fees and charges by the boatload for the last several years, while happily pointing out their monopoly when I call. Most recently they added a modem rental to my bill, for absolutely no reason. I have only ever used my own modem. Even better, the addition of a modem rental negated the automatic payment that I'd setup, so I stumbled into a bevvy of late fees which were never refunded, despite the ISPs admission that the original rental fee was in error. I also incurred a fee for speaking with a person, and another for not using their automated phone system to pay the bill (which only accepts check routing numbers as payment method, no credit cards, debit cards, etc.) There was a fee to reestablish the automated payments, and to "reactivate" the account, even though service hadn't been interrupted... The best part though, I was charged a "restocking fee" on the modem.
So you'll forgive me if I don't see the need for a deeper view quite yet. The ISPs are enjoying their status as de facto monopolies, and are more than willing to piss off (or piss on) their customers to squeeze out a few bucks. I can only imagine the lengths to which they'd go, if they thought they could shake down Reed Hastings near 1,000,000,000 net worth.
Why are we so focused on making life as miserable as possible?
Why not use these drugs to shorten actual sentences while still serving justice. If someone is supposed to serve 50 years in jail, why not have them serve 2 years under the effects of this drug (or whatever is required to achieve the proper effect.) Then we can start a rehabilitation process, lower jail populations, and hopefully get this person back into society.
But no ... we, as a society, are too consumed by PUNISH. PUNISH THE BAD PERSON, despite a warped vision of what evils have actually transpired.
No whoosh - whatever clueless turd wrote that was deadly and boringly serious.
Are you sure about that?
for anything more than a hobby OS, Windows 98/NT/2K are your only choices.
Someone already wrote that thesis and made a movie out of it: Idiocracy.
NASA is one potential solution to the crisis
At least, that's their pitch
Either we get off this rock or we start collecting resources from off-world... else the collapse consumes us
There's nothing particularly "techy" about kids starting rumors. And removing one messaging app is certainly not going to stop bullying at schools.
It's just a symptom, with dozens of core issues that should be treated instead. From better parenting, to accountability, to a better teacher:student ratio ... plenty of ways to address the problem. Deleting an app really isn't one of them, be it from an single student or an entire school.
Interesting thought. I was under the impression that the point of contention with Snowden's actions was conflicting rules at various levels.
Sure, he's guilty of breaking the rules set forth by his company, but that's not necessarily against the law. And even if it were, his actions upheld the 4th amendment, which supersedes any local laws, and absolutely supersedes any company regulations.
Once music started to make a ton of money, it shifted from an art to a business
Why wait for years while bands practice, learn instruments, tour to build a following and all that... skip it. Tell people "here's the latest band to be exited about," and just auto-tune them, have studio musicians play on the CDs, and lip sync in concert. We can now do in days or weeks what used to take years. And then we move onto the next big thing. There's no money to be made in people wearing the same band's tshirt for years on end. Make them buy new tshirts once a month for the new band that just newly got popular. And again and again and again.
Sarcasm aside, there are still plenty of good artists out there. Musicians who make great music, tour and genuinely love what they do. But they just don't get any of the publicity or marketing. "It's just business." I think the pendulum will swing back eventually. In the meantime, I think I'll listen to some Chickenfoot.
Agreed. A judge isn't supposed to decide what's right or wrong, but rather what's legal or illegal. Judges are just supposed to interpret the laws as written. If there's no law against something, then a judge has no recourse but to deem that thing legal. Even if any rational person would find it in poor taste.
It's then the job of Congress (aka the legislators, aka the law makers) to make a law that rectifies the issue. So expect results sometime between now and Judgement Day. Unless, of course, some senator (or senator's daughter) gets some upskirt pictures taken. Once lawmakers actually feel the effects, the law will be passed so quickly, it might just be signatures on the back of a napkin.
Funny you should mention that. He and I chatted about it last night, spurred by this thread. He's actually considered a group points system as well
It would all be one big group, to help promote class teamwork, but the concept is similar. Example : If 5 people get a perfect score on the quiz, everyone in the class gets +5 points to their total class grade. Or if no one gets an F on a test, everyone gets +10 to their overall. Even the smartest kids can't get the maximum points without helping their classmates. And the kids who don't do as well feel good when their peers succeed. (these points would be extra credit, of course)
His next step is more advanced bonuses, derived from Video Game Power-ups. Whoever gets the highest score on a quiz earns a class-wide autocorrect power. They can pick a question on the NEXT quiz, and using that power makes it count as correct for the entire class. "everyone got question #5 wrong? Use the power, and now everyone got question #5 right!" -OR- The first student to reach the point threshold for a B grade gets full credit for the rest of the homework and doesn't have to actually do any of it, or turn it in. (given the point-count system and weight of the Final... a perfect grade student would only reach this threshold near the end of the semester anyway, so not a HUGE deal, but still it's a goal for the kids)"
Correct. It's the solution I'm using currently, but hardly the only one. Should this DRM thing become more trouble than it's worth, and if my current machine bites the farm, I'd definitely explore other options... but for now, well...
We do. A few of them actually, with indoor plumbing and everything ... but the closest one is down the hall.
I could go down there, fill a kettle, plug it in, wait for it to heat, pour everything into the press (or pour-over if you prefer) wait for it to steep, clean up the grounds and carry the completed
But it's a convenience thing. I can do all that, or I can just put the pod in the machine right at my desk and press GO. Done and done. Like I said, it's not the perfect solution, but it's self contained and low maintenance. That trumps a slight increase in flavor, in my books. YMMV
When congress routinely demonstrates the forethought of a mayfly, we can consider any project that doesn't produce immediate results to be "pork" in their compound eyes
(many data gathered after *extensive* testing),
with minimal muss and minimal fuss
Does not compute. Either the coffee solution requires EXTENSIVE testing, or it requires minimal muss/fuss.
These things seem mutually exclusive, unless you're suggesting a large front loaded muss and fuss ... which I would decline.
Any computer programmer should be able to tell you which is the overall more efficient solution for the general situation.
Well, I'm not a programmer, but that's exactly the point I was making.
For my general situation, K Cups are the most efficient solution. No filters to mess with. No grounds to measure. No water to measure (reservoir unit). Near instant cleanup (k cup into the trash). I only need a single cup in the morning. Maybe another in the afternoons. Occasionally a guest makes a cup. So for me, something like Keurig is the best solution. I wouldn't rule out some other flavor of 1-shot coffee maker, and this DRM (how is a physical object subject to digital rights?) situation might cause me to lean away for my next purchase ... but for now this one is working like a champ.
Plus, I can tell everyone in the office that I'm going for a Brazilian.
Possible, but doubtful. The final is still worth a pretty large chunk of the total grade (15%, I think) so it's impossible to have an A halfway through the semester and coast to the finish.
Also, generally the A students need less motivation. It's the C students who need help visualizing the importance of the coursework. For instance, each test is worth around 5% of the total grade. Completely bombing a few tests is worth a full letter grade. Conversely, getting an A on a test will cause a significant bump up in your grade.
Amusing that you should mention "Extra Credits." Extra Creditz is a web video series from which he got the idea for this method, a few years ago.
Yes.
Both ;)
Doesn't that require a separate filter for each cup? And a tea kettle or some other 3rd party heating solution?
So, fun fact. I've recently come to terms with an ugly fact : I have a legitimate physical addiction to caffeine. If I go a full day without, I get headaches by the end of the day.
Hardly the worst withdrawal symptoms ever, and defeated by some motrin and water ... but still, a bit upsetting. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to indulge my habit
Does caffeine count as crack?
No electric kettles in the office. Fire hazard (also no space heaters, or various other personal electronics). They probably shouldn't allow coffee pots either, but YOU try to tell a hundred or so office monkeys that they can't have coffee. Good luck. I suppose I could get a nice tea cosy to disguise the kettle... but like you said, then there's the grounds to deal with. Shaking the press doesn't really get much out of it, and the fire marshal REALLY frowns on my compost pile in my office.
Keureg is hardly a perfect solution, but it's self contained and low maintenance.
Anecdotal, but a friend of mine is a teacher who has implemented a video-game style "points" system
Every student starts with 0 points at the beginning of the year, and counts up from there. At the end of the semester, everything is exactly the same. Total grade is the exact same balance of homework, quizzes, tests, etc... but instead of students bouncing around (A after the first few assignments, down to a C after a bad test, up to a B in a few weeks, back down to a C after skipping some homework, etc) they just count up up up and can see each threshold as they approach it.
Anecdotal, but he's noticed a definite improvement in overall student participation and engagement. Instead of working hard to try and maintain your grade, you're working from the ground up and can better visualize the progress.
A web video going into details on Skinner box, here
In general, most of the addictive games out there (from MMOs to Vegas Slot machines) utilize a version of the Skinner Box
I'm honestly surprised that the lessons learned there haven't been put to use in office or schools already.
Downside : a normal coffee brew process generates 6-12 cups of Joe.
I guess we could all switch to a press ... but that's a bit messy and requires a stand alone heating method (I've not the space to keep a proper tea kettle on my office desk)
Keurig provides a clean single-cup solution