* consensus in this case means 90% or more, as there are always guys who disagree.
Consensus != Fact
There was once consensus that bleeding patients was the cure for disease. There was once consensus that Earth was flat. There was once consensus that there was no relationship between eating citrus and preventing scurvy. And etc etc etc.
This goes to the fallacy that we (humans who are alive right now) have solved all the problems and now know everything worth knowing. Think about it. The elites who persecuted Copernicus thought themselves wise and modern at the time.
Thus: while I will not necessarily assert that today's climate "consensus" is wrong, I do maintain that there is a very real possibility that we will someday discover it to be, at the least, inadequate. Every generation finds previous generations to have held some pretty stupid ideas.
When I visit the States, I definitely wish they were coins.
You are welcome to holiday in any of the other 200+ countries.
Meanwhile, the very dumbest of the bottom of the barrel of humanity here (inner-city youths, illegal immigrants, etc) manages to visually separate Benjamins from singles, and they can't even post on Slashdot. Pretty much everyone knows that 100 > 50 > 20 > 10, etc.; those being the numbers that are clearly marked multiple times on every bill.
It also doesn't mean we shouldn't be working to stop obviously damaging emissions (such as those from coal fire power plants that destroy the local environment and create dangerous conditions for humans and other animals).
Nail on head. This is what frustrates me so much about the whole AGW argument. It's a red herring.
We can work on cleaner energy, plant more trees, rebuild the soils, reduce pollution, reduce consumption. We can do all that without ever giving ONE FUCK about AGW.
We have a pretty good idea about some things that would give us cleaner air and cleaner water. We don't need to argue about 1 degree Celsius in 100 years. We don't need to sample ice cores or count tree rings to know that it's a good idea to not dump chemicals in rivers, or use less gasoline, or that more trees make a nice environment.
And another thing! You AGW proponents who are after top-down government solutions like carbon taxes: fuck off! When has government ever solved any problem? You do realize that when we talk about things like a "War on Drugs" and "War on Terror" that it's a fucking joke, right? It's pointing out the *obvious* fact that more government is not the solution to anything.
Anyone who is willing to trust Microsoft for security should get the hell out my server room and run
I dunno about you... but in my server room, we don't trust Microsoft for operating systems, either. Or anything at all. If you're running Windows servers in the enterprise, I'd hope your expertise and security policies are such that you don't need to run any AV software at all. Otherwise, you've got bigger problems than you might imagine.
Me, I'm just talking about the occasional desktop user. I do treat business clients different than Aunt Millie. Business clients get solid backup plans. Aunt Millie doesn't. Aunt Millie isn't paying for my expertise, so I don't care if she loses some cat pictures. In the "friends & family" domain, I prefer that those with the money buy Apple, those without get converted to some noob-friendly (currently Mint) Linux. I don't care to support people for free, just as I don't give away my other skills, like carpentry and auto repair, for free. At least, not just because of the F&F thing.
Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program
How could they be aware? I mean, it's only been widespread news for the last year or so!
Their statement is 100% lawyer-drafted weasel language crafted to tell enough truth that they don't get in trouble, while still lying about whatever it is they're lying about. Next it'll be something like "We're really sorry you think there are security flaws in our product, and we're working hard to change that perception."
Personally, I'm offended if one of my friends spends more than a few seconds staring at a smartphone in a social situation.
Amen, brother, preach on!
It's not like I'm Miss Manners or some socialite from finishing school, but that really chaps my hide. It is perhaps the rudest behavior I can think of.
I was at a party a while ago when half the room was busy on their phones... I loudly said, "hey, I'm at this party with people I know... but I'm busy sharing it with my REAL friends on Facebook!"
The phones stayed put away at the next party.:) I think people just don't realize how rude it is until you point it out.
of the keyboard warriors who vowed to kick the ass of anyone wearing glass, yet the closest they have ever gotten to fisticuffs in the real world is a round of Wii boxing
Says the AC... *smirk*
C'mon, tell the "keyboard warriors" where you go for your morning coffee!
Most of the time, with Windows 7 and 8, the drivers just magically install themselves.
That's funny. Not long ago I did a fresh install of Win 7 on a fairly new laptop. There was no driver for the ethernet card. Had to download that on a Linux box and install from a flash drive.
How is it that in 2013, there are ethernet cards unsupported by Windows? Not to mention numerous other pieces of hardware... ALL of which magically work under any newer Linux distro. Dinosaurs still roamed the earth the last time I had to manually install an ethernet driver on Linux.
I always get them to buy good quality computer protection software like Norton 360
That would be the last time I ask your advice......hey! Maybe you're smarter than we thought!
Truth is, people who are not computer whizzes always end up with malware, whether you install an AV or not. It really doesn't matter. I have discovered that setting up anything more than a firewall on such a person's computer is a complete waste of time.
If you want one, okay, I'll install MSE for you. It's going to do the same amount of good as any AV you pay hundreds of dollars for -- which is zero. None of them protect users from things (attack vectors & such) that they do not know or understand. You're doing good if they follow your advice to not open unknown email attachments.
You must mean... the God-fearin' blue-collar union fellas, the illegal (Catholic) immigrants, and the Baptist welfare queens...
Yeah, I think there's a lot of Democrat sentiment there, for sure.
And yes, I know what you were *trying* to say. I'm just sick of hearing it. Neither of the two major parties has a monopoly on moron constituency.
I know, I know... you think that because you're smart enough to sign up for a/. account, and some of your smart friends think Ohbummer is the bee's knees... that every smart person must be a Democrat and that all Republicans must be stupid. This is called confirmation bias and is a sign that you live in a very small box with a very ideologically limited social circle.
Those tools often become crutches. I had a chemistry teacher who used videos so often I began to wonder if she knew the subject at all. I later figured out my suspicion was correct.
If you let me use recorded MIT lectures and some iPad software, I can teach a class on particle physics, or heck, any subject at all. Or, why have teachers at all? The iPads can do it all, so we'll just project a hologram in front of the class so all the kiddies will feel welcome... and discipline will be administered by a robot with a Taser.
Technology is grand, but people need to slow down and think a bit about how and where and why we embrace it. Do we really need this? We are already seeing a drop in the ability to read and write, because kids do not read and write to learn, but rather watch.
the problem with our education system (its abysmal quality) is so deep that even new tools cannot help teachers.
Precisely. These people who would have us believe that if we just give all the kiddies some toy computer-like thingies, they'll all learn so much more... are the same people constantly trying to raise taxes because the only thing holding the kids back is a lack of money in teacher union pension funds.
Well... in the USA, we spend more money per student than any other country on the planet. If money were the problem, we'd have solved it already, and would be enjoying the finest educations known to man. Hmm... not so much.
It's not money, and it's certainly not a lack of Apple toys. The whole system is broken, from top to bottom. We have whole generations of teachers who cannot spell or construct a sentence. How did it get this way?
The educational system is not designed to educate every child to his or her potential. It's there to create mostly compliant consumers and worker drones. That's its purpose.
Oddly enough, I suppose giving every kid an iPad might work toward that end.
In the end, it doesn't matter what school district you reside in, or how much money they can throw at each child... expectations of good education from public schools are misplaced.
I have seen articles by two different scientists in my local paper... one alleging that our recent floods were proof of global warming... the other claiming proof of global warming in the decade-long drought.
Rain, snow, ice, drought, wind, hurricanes, no hurricanes, tornadoes, no tornadoes, heat, cold, record highs, record lows -- ALL proof of global warming.
In fact, it doesn't matter what the weather does. Global Warming (TM) is real because it makes weather change, and the weather is changing, so Global Warming (TM) is real.
And remember, kids, God never lies, but he put dinosaur bones here to test your faith. He can't lie to you because He's God.
Don't assume that I haven't bothered to learn them. I've watched ALL of Monty Python's Flying Circus as well as their movies. Thank you, BitTorrent.
With that, and a few other important one-liners -- "I love it when a plan comes together", "I pity the fool", and "I ain't gettin' on no plane!" -- I think I've pretty well got covered any "cultural reference" worth knowing from the history of television. The rest of it can vanish into the dustbin of history, because the next generation isn't going to know it, anyway.
You bring up a sad thought. I have long hoped to raise my (someday) kids without the mental chains of religion. It is true, though, that many of our cultural references do come from King James's Ye Olde Faerie Tale Book. Seems we'll be at least a few more generations getting away from it.
As for your last assertion, I assure you that I am well aware of the fact when -- on rare occasions -- that I am missing part of the conversation. My brain does tell me, "note to self... missed something here." Though usually, when I miss part of a conversation, it's because it's in a language other than English.
Bottom line here: your argument is a pretty lame one, and is certainly not anything remotely resembling a good reason to raise kids in front of the idiot box.
I find it disconcerting that the others in the room are often completely unaware of the fact that they have no attention span.
Like a "they don't know what they don't know" kind of thing.
Oh, surely this topic will bring out the people who say, "I was baby-sat by a TV, and I'm fine!" But it's not so, and such a person cannot see themselves from the perspective of the person with the "analog" childhood.
At a recent dinner party, several people (adults!) were ooh-ing and aah-ing over a YouTube channel where a guy made a water balloon launcher from PVC pipe, and made hydrogen by electrolysis. Who the hell is impressed by that? It's child's play... if you were a child who played outside, I guess. You just have to inwardly shake your head and walk away sometimes.
There was no TV or video games in my house when I was growing up. I'm pretty sure I'm not mentally under-developed as a result.
Most of my peer group, however, was raised on television... and it shows. It is somewhat disconcerting at times to be the only one in a room with an attention span.
Slashdot Mirror
* consensus in this case means 90% or more, as there are always guys who disagree.
Consensus != Fact
There was once consensus that bleeding patients was the cure for disease. There was once consensus that Earth was flat. There was once consensus that there was no relationship between eating citrus and preventing scurvy. And etc etc etc.
This goes to the fallacy that we (humans who are alive right now) have solved all the problems and now know everything worth knowing. Think about it. The elites who persecuted Copernicus thought themselves wise and modern at the time.
Thus: while I will not necessarily assert that today's climate "consensus" is wrong, I do maintain that there is a very real possibility that we will someday discover it to be, at the least, inadequate. Every generation finds previous generations to have held some pretty stupid ideas.
When I visit the States, I definitely wish they were coins.
You are welcome to holiday in any of the other 200+ countries.
Meanwhile, the very dumbest of the bottom of the barrel of humanity here (inner-city youths, illegal immigrants, etc) manages to visually separate Benjamins from singles, and they can't even post on Slashdot. Pretty much everyone knows that 100 > 50 > 20 > 10, etc.; those being the numbers that are clearly marked multiple times on every bill.
So... WTF is your malfunction?
And, just for good measure --
Your currency is ridiculously annoying.
Your beer sucks.
It also doesn't mean we shouldn't be working to stop obviously damaging emissions (such as those from coal fire power plants that destroy the local environment and create dangerous conditions for humans and other animals).
Nail on head. This is what frustrates me so much about the whole AGW argument. It's a red herring.
We can work on cleaner energy, plant more trees, rebuild the soils, reduce pollution, reduce consumption. We can do all that without ever giving ONE FUCK about AGW.
We have a pretty good idea about some things that would give us cleaner air and cleaner water. We don't need to argue about 1 degree Celsius in 100 years. We don't need to sample ice cores or count tree rings to know that it's a good idea to not dump chemicals in rivers, or use less gasoline, or that more trees make a nice environment.
And another thing! You AGW proponents who are after top-down government solutions like carbon taxes: fuck off! When has government ever solved any problem? You do realize that when we talk about things like a "War on Drugs" and "War on Terror" that it's a fucking joke, right? It's pointing out the *obvious* fact that more government is not the solution to anything.
Ah, sir, the man who sexually assaulted you with the nightstick was not a policeman; he was a sheriff's deputy.
I mean, I'm glad you're right, and that you're detail-oriented and all....
Are there still ash trees in China? Yep.
Something eats or otherwise controls the emerald ash borer. We just haven't imported *that* creature yet.
Consider the kudzu, running rampant in the southeastern US. Now they've realized they need the bugs that eat the kudzu, too.
So... while it certainly looks bad right now, there's no real cause for alarm. The ash is not going extinct, Chicken Little.
Eventually, everything makes its way around the planet, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it but make sure stuff stays in balance.
Anyone who is willing to trust Microsoft for security should get the hell out my server room and run
I dunno about you... but in my server room, we don't trust Microsoft for operating systems, either. Or anything at all. If you're running Windows servers in the enterprise, I'd hope your expertise and security policies are such that you don't need to run any AV software at all. Otherwise, you've got bigger problems than you might imagine.
Me, I'm just talking about the occasional desktop user. I do treat business clients different than Aunt Millie. Business clients get solid backup plans. Aunt Millie doesn't. Aunt Millie isn't paying for my expertise, so I don't care if she loses some cat pictures. In the "friends & family" domain, I prefer that those with the money buy Apple, those without get converted to some noob-friendly (currently Mint) Linux. I don't care to support people for free, just as I don't give away my other skills, like carpentry and auto repair, for free. At least, not just because of the F&F thing.
Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program
How could they be aware? I mean, it's only been widespread news for the last year or so!
Their statement is 100% lawyer-drafted weasel language crafted to tell enough truth that they don't get in trouble, while still lying about whatever it is they're lying about. Next it'll be something like "We're really sorry you think there are security flaws in our product, and we're working hard to change that perception."
Personally, I'm offended if one of my friends spends more than a few seconds staring at a smartphone in a social situation.
Amen, brother, preach on!
It's not like I'm Miss Manners or some socialite from finishing school, but that really chaps my hide. It is perhaps the rudest behavior I can think of.
I was at a party a while ago when half the room was busy on their phones... I loudly said, "hey, I'm at this party with people I know... but I'm busy sharing it with my REAL friends on Facebook!"
The phones stayed put away at the next party. :) I think people just don't realize how rude it is until you point it out.
of the keyboard warriors who vowed to kick the ass of anyone wearing glass, yet the closest they have ever gotten to fisticuffs in the real world is a round of Wii boxing
Says the AC... *smirk*
C'mon, tell the "keyboard warriors" where you go for your morning coffee!
Most of the time, with Windows 7 and 8, the drivers just magically install themselves.
That's funny. Not long ago I did a fresh install of Win 7 on a fairly new laptop. There was no driver for the ethernet card. Had to download that on a Linux box and install from a flash drive.
How is it that in 2013, there are ethernet cards unsupported by Windows? Not to mention numerous other pieces of hardware... ALL of which magically work under any newer Linux distro. Dinosaurs still roamed the earth the last time I had to manually install an ethernet driver on Linux.
I always get them to buy good quality computer protection software like Norton 360
That would be the last time I ask your advice... ...hey! Maybe you're smarter than we thought!
Truth is, people who are not computer whizzes always end up with malware, whether you install an AV or not. It really doesn't matter. I have discovered that setting up anything more than a firewall on such a person's computer is a complete waste of time.
If you want one, okay, I'll install MSE for you. It's going to do the same amount of good as any AV you pay hundreds of dollars for -- which is zero. None of them protect users from things (attack vectors & such) that they do not know or understand. You're doing good if they follow your advice to not open unknown email attachments.
Back in my day, the *Russian* spooks defected *to* the *USA*.
Now get off my lawn!
Except that's damnably creepy when you think about what a change that is.
Fat lot of good it does if you can't *grow* potatoes in 9x Earth gravity.
If they can grow potatoes in their centrifuge... then we have a useful study. :)
White evangelical Protestants, why do you hate the Bible?
They don't hate it. They just haven't read it.
You must mean... the God-fearin' blue-collar union fellas, the illegal (Catholic) immigrants, and the Baptist welfare queens...
Yeah, I think there's a lot of Democrat sentiment there, for sure.
And yes, I know what you were *trying* to say. I'm just sick of hearing it. Neither of the two major parties has a monopoly on moron constituency.
I know, I know... you think that because you're smart enough to sign up for a /. account, and some of your smart friends think Ohbummer is the bee's knees... that every smart person must be a Democrat and that all Republicans must be stupid. This is called confirmation bias and is a sign that you live in a very small box with a very ideologically limited social circle.
Devices that people are comfortable creating in creating twitter;
"Creating twitter"?
That's about as much "creating" as is "creating" a turd from the contents of my colon.
Those tools often become crutches. I had a chemistry teacher who used videos so often I began to wonder if she knew the subject at all. I later figured out my suspicion was correct.
If you let me use recorded MIT lectures and some iPad software, I can teach a class on particle physics, or heck, any subject at all. Or, why have teachers at all? The iPads can do it all, so we'll just project a hologram in front of the class so all the kiddies will feel welcome... and discipline will be administered by a robot with a Taser.
Technology is grand, but people need to slow down and think a bit about how and where and why we embrace it. Do we really need this? We are already seeing a drop in the ability to read and write, because kids do not read and write to learn, but rather watch.
the problem with our education system (its abysmal quality) is so deep that even new tools cannot help teachers.
Precisely. These people who would have us believe that if we just give all the kiddies some toy computer-like thingies, they'll all learn so much more... are the same people constantly trying to raise taxes because the only thing holding the kids back is a lack of money in teacher union pension funds.
Well... in the USA, we spend more money per student than any other country on the planet. If money were the problem, we'd have solved it already, and would be enjoying the finest educations known to man. Hmm... not so much.
It's not money, and it's certainly not a lack of Apple toys. The whole system is broken, from top to bottom. We have whole generations of teachers who cannot spell or construct a sentence. How did it get this way?
The educational system is not designed to educate every child to his or her potential. It's there to create mostly compliant consumers and worker drones. That's its purpose.
Oddly enough, I suppose giving every kid an iPad might work toward that end.
In the end, it doesn't matter what school district you reside in, or how much money they can throw at each child... expectations of good education from public schools are misplaced.
I have seen articles by two different scientists in my local paper... one alleging that our recent floods were proof of global warming... the other claiming proof of global warming in the decade-long drought.
Rain, snow, ice, drought, wind, hurricanes, no hurricanes, tornadoes, no tornadoes, heat, cold, record highs, record lows -- ALL proof of global warming.
In fact, it doesn't matter what the weather does. Global Warming (TM) is real because it makes weather change, and the weather is changing, so Global Warming (TM) is real.
And remember, kids, God never lies, but he put dinosaur bones here to test your faith. He can't lie to you because He's God.
Just the other day, I heard an 18-year-old tell his mother that she spends too much time on Facebook.
I about fell off my chair. Maybe it gets better, after all! :)
It's working perfectly. If it's not, it's just a 'glitch'.
It'll be working fine in an hour, or a year from now, but if it isn't, use this toll-free number.
As I understand it, Twitter is a place where vapid idiots can post short throwaway bits of random verbal diarrhea for other vapid idiots to read.
Will that suffice, sir?
Don't assume that I haven't bothered to learn them. I've watched ALL of Monty Python's Flying Circus as well as their movies. Thank you, BitTorrent.
With that, and a few other important one-liners -- "I love it when a plan comes together", "I pity the fool", and "I ain't gettin' on no plane!" -- I think I've pretty well got covered any "cultural reference" worth knowing from the history of television. The rest of it can vanish into the dustbin of history, because the next generation isn't going to know it, anyway.
You bring up a sad thought. I have long hoped to raise my (someday) kids without the mental chains of religion. It is true, though, that many of our cultural references do come from King James's Ye Olde Faerie Tale Book. Seems we'll be at least a few more generations getting away from it.
As for your last assertion, I assure you that I am well aware of the fact when -- on rare occasions -- that I am missing part of the conversation. My brain does tell me, "note to self... missed something here." Though usually, when I miss part of a conversation, it's because it's in a language other than English.
Bottom line here: your argument is a pretty lame one, and is certainly not anything remotely resembling a good reason to raise kids in front of the idiot box.
I find it disconcerting that the others in the room are often completely unaware of the fact that they have no attention span.
Like a "they don't know what they don't know" kind of thing.
Oh, surely this topic will bring out the people who say, "I was baby-sat by a TV, and I'm fine!" But it's not so, and such a person cannot see themselves from the perspective of the person with the "analog" childhood.
At a recent dinner party, several people (adults!) were ooh-ing and aah-ing over a YouTube channel where a guy made a water balloon launcher from PVC pipe, and made hydrogen by electrolysis. Who the hell is impressed by that? It's child's play... if you were a child who played outside, I guess. You just have to inwardly shake your head and walk away sometimes.
You have some smart friends.
There was no TV or video games in my house when I was growing up. I'm pretty sure I'm not mentally under-developed as a result.
Most of my peer group, however, was raised on television... and it shows. It is somewhat disconcerting at times to be the only one in a room with an attention span.
My kids (someday) aren't going to have TV either.