True enough. After my son was having trouble paying attention in school, we started talking to the doctor about ADHD. Started to recognize a lot of traits in myself. I still think that ADHD is not so much a 'disorder' than it is the hunter/farmer syndrome where our brains are just wired differently. Unfortunately the farmers run the schools and much of society so the hunters seem to be 'misfits'.
>can anyone name the event in SciFi history that took place to day?
Would that be the day that the moon was knocked out of earth's orbit and Martin Landau and Barbra Bain got stuck on Moonbase Alpha with a bunch of other third-rate actors and some cheesy special effects?
That's an interesting point, I guess the difference between humans and other predators is that we have the capability to understand the difference between excessively hunting a species to extinction and just catching the next meal.
If a pack of hungry aligators jumped on a boat and went to the habitat of the dodo and just gorged themselves on the easy prey, no - I don't think I'd judge them as harshly as humans who did the same thing, because the humans _should_ have the ability to understand the consequences.
You could argue that the dodo was ill-suited for survival and that their time was over. You could also argue that the dodo (like any living thing) existed in an ecological system where their continued presence was the result of some self-sustaining cycle and that their presence was beneficial. In other words, even though they were flightless and had no evolutionary developed skill for evasion of predators because there had been no predatious pressure, they still were a part of a balanced eco-system where their presence was beneficial (eating overgrowth, producing fertilizer, etc).
Also - going back to the first post, I think it was funny. Tasteless, but funny.
Well, I'm not very sure about that... Presence of oxidation would indicate O2, wouldn't it? Sure, oxygen atoms might have been present in molecules like CO2, but that wouldn't explain oxidation evidence? What you say is correct, life processes using CO2 would create atmospheric oxygen over time, not oxygen atoms themselves. So oxygen *atoms* were indeed present, but the oxidation would indicate O2 *molecules*.
(someone please correct me if I'm wrong, its been a long time since my last chemistry class)
Well, actually there are radar-absorbing materials, in addition to the facetted surfaces that merely 'deflect' the radar energy. (mind you, this is from watching the Discovery Channel waaay too much:-) )
It is true from what I recall that the major radar-evading mechanism of the f-117a is the physical structure which causes the radar energy to be reflected by flat surfaces, rather than by rounded surfaces on traditional aircraft that provide the tell-tale signatures that radar systems key on.
But, in addition, radar absorbing materials are used in the construction that reduce the energy returned from critical areas like bomb-bay doors and the canopy.
Oh geezus, if that don't set him off, I can't imagine what would!
I'm not real passionate on the whole GNU/Linux controversy one way or another, but this is pretty irritating. Sheesh, they couldn't go to gnu.org and steal some of the background there instead of coming up with this boner?
Back on-topic, it is good at least to get some 'good' press about GNU and Linux and encryption out in the mainstream. The average reader won't notice or care about this misstatement, but will probably pick up on the implications of unrestricted encryption (hopefully).
Meanwhile, back at the CNN newsroom...
"Ya come up with any copy today with the word 'Linux' in it yet?"
"Well, sorta... there's this GNUpg thing, and I think its kinda about Linux, but I don't know what this GNU thing is."
"Go ask Harry, he did a story last week about RedHat and he knows all about that stuff. C'mon - we got a deadline!"
"Uh, oh... Harry?"
"Oh yeah, GNU is that thing that they started in 84, MIT, I think... yeah, right.. they're the ones who claim they invented Linux and want to make sure you call it GNU/Linux. I got yelled at a press conference once by one of their guys."
"We must ensure that our country remains the technological leader of the universe in order to reserve the rightful place in the hierarch of mankind that our children deserve. Therefore, I submit to this distinguished body, that we must dis-allow the importation of any encryption technology onto our hallowed American soil that would seek to undermine the very moral and ethical fabric of our socienty and force our children to submit to functioning on the same pathetic level as the children of all the other nations on this Earth!"
(to be read in the monotone drawl of your favorite clueless bible-belt Senator).
Um, no. This is a a CD player that can decode MP3 files from a CD. A RIO (AFAIK) has no CD motor to spin so there is little use in comparing its battery life here.
>The fact that you hate Luke for being whingy means that he has done his job perfectly
Nope, you miss the point I was trying to make. I don't hate Luke for being whiny. I love Luke's character, he starts out as a naieve (sp?) snotty punk and ends up beating the crap out of his dad. Mark Hammil's delivery through most of the series is distracting, but not all that bad. What I can't stand the most is how shallow and tinny most of the dialogue in the movies feel (fault of the author, not the actor giving the reading).
"but uncle owen, I was going to go to Tashe Station to pick up some power converters!"
man I cringe at a couple of those crappy lines everytime I see that movie. (but for some sick reason, I still love all 3). I used to think it was just the crap way Hammil delivered some of the lines, but I have to agree that some of Sir Alec's were equally banal and although he pulled them off very well, they still are trite and shallow. "stretch out with your *feelings*".
Some of the best lines are Han Solo's but I've heard that Harrison Ford ad-libbed most of those anyway. Yeah, Lucas was able to (create/adapt/rip-off) some pretty good immersive visual environments, but he should have left off some of the wordsmithing of the dialogue to someone else more able (IMO).
That's a really good point, and I have to point out that, at least in my case, it is actually usually a good thing when I have a hightened awareness when I have points. When I read/. on a daily basis, I do it at -1 mostly because I get a wierd feeling when I see a +3 post attached to a post below my threshold - I have to click on it to see what the +3 post is responding to. Usually I just skim the comments sorted by score until I get the general idea then I'll go look at the article if it seems interesting.
When I drop into an article an see that I have points, my MO changes. Usually, I will go get a cup of coffee, take my time reading the article then go back and refresh the comments in chronological order and I read them carefully from top to bottom, focusing on promoting good comments. Sometimes I'll go back to the article to see if the comment really is on-topic and adds to the discussion.
More often than not, I won't score any posts down on the first pass. But I find that I pay more attention to the 'bad' posts than I would under normal reading. I'll apply my points on the comments i've scored then go read another article. Later I'll come back and sort the page by scores and go to the bottom to see if any ofmy 'bad' posts got marked down and if they seem to be unfairly scored, I will sometimes move them up.
I guess the gist is that I feel like I get a little more out of/. when reading as a moderator than other times, and it wouldn't bother me a bit to do it that way more often.
(ps. I thought moderators weren't supposed to reveal their identities, although everyone seems to be 'breaking' this rule today so Rob, pleas don't bust me)
I can think of one use for this, I can't always 'haul my ass' to my computer when I'm trying to supervise my children. Lots of times I'll be out in the yard keeping an eye on the kids and wish I could do some light surfing or read my mail. I've thought of getting a laptop and a wireless lan setup but I'm not sure if I can justify the expense. If this thing were just as expensive, yeah - forget it. If it comes in a a couple hundred, it would be a real convenience. Added to that whatever stand-alone features it has when its out of range of its wireless connection to my home computer.
Surf the web standing in front of my fridge? Nope. Get and send e-mail? Not unless I'm sending a shopping list to my wife at work with what we're out of. Food management? For sure! I've thought about this before where it would be cool if there was an easy way to keep a list of what was in my fridge, and also keep a list of what I need on the next shopping trip. Sure, I can kind of do this with a dry-erase board - but the idea of running a a database and spreadsheet application over Linux on my refrigerator is an appealing idea! Now let me have recepies and cookbooks and nutritional data handy and I would find this very interesting. Again, sure you could do this with a laptop that doesn't have to be imbedded in the appliance, buteventually when imbedded devices are cheap and ubiquitous (sp?), why not have interesting application ideas already worked out and refined?
No, don't get me wrong, I have a huge distrust of these government agencies' ability and track record to abuse their power. I was just chuckling at the paranioa that your multimedia desktop PC is somehow going to become a magic doorway for the spooks to watch you brush your teeth.
Ooooh, and I bet they could grab your web cam and take compromising pictures of you with your girlfriend in bed if the computer is in your room!
And they could remotely install a plug-in to get your keyboard to capture your fingerprints in case you download any kiddie porn, and turn your monitor into an x-ray machine so they can take pictures of your brain while you play quake to tell if you are a potential school-shooter.
Geez, too bad the NSA doesn't have anything better to do than spy on average computer hackers. Guess they got tired of interecpting everyone's email and following foriegn nationals around watching for them to rent u-hauls and buy fertilizer.
Was that the name of the story? God, it has been a while since I read that. Trying to remember, didn't they use the same medicine on a retarded man after they experimented with the mouse. If I remember, the guy grew to superhuman intelligence then it all slipped away. Seem to remember the mouse dropped off first and dies before the guy had the same thing happen.
>For whatever reason, Intel doesn't understand that to sell a good looking consumer computer, it still has to be recognizable as a computer.
<sarcasm>c'mon! I'm sure they know far better than any of us *exactly* how good looking consumer computers have to look nothing like traditional computers! After all, they spent $millions on consumer focus groups and marketing consultants to come to this conclusion!</sarcasm>
Yeah, their customer focus demographic was effeminate cappucino junkies, coincidentally the same compositionas the marketing consultancy staff.
Slashdot Mirror
True enough. After my son was having trouble paying attention in school, we started talking to the doctor about ADHD. Started to recognize a lot of traits in myself. I still think that ADHD is not so much a 'disorder' than it is the hunter/farmer syndrome where our brains are just wired differently. Unfortunately the farmers run the schools and much of society so the hunters seem to be 'misfits'.
>can anyone name the event in SciFi history that took place to day?
Would that be the day that the moon was knocked out of earth's orbit and Martin Landau and Barbra Bain got stuck on Moonbase Alpha with a bunch of other third-rate actors and some cheesy special effects?
That's an interesting point, I guess the difference between humans and other predators is that we have the capability to understand the difference between excessively hunting a species to extinction and just catching the next meal.
If a pack of hungry aligators jumped on a boat and went to the habitat of the dodo and just gorged themselves on the easy prey, no - I don't think I'd judge them as harshly as humans who did the same thing, because the humans _should_ have the ability to understand the consequences.
You could argue that the dodo was ill-suited for survival and that their time was over. You could also argue that the dodo (like any living thing) existed in an ecological system where their continued presence was the result of some self-sustaining cycle and that their presence was beneficial. In other words, even though they were flightless and had no evolutionary developed skill for evasion of predators because there had been no predatious pressure, they still were a part of a balanced eco-system where their presence was beneficial (eating overgrowth, producing fertilizer, etc).
Also - going back to the first post, I think it was funny. Tasteless, but funny.
Well, I'm not very sure about that...
Presence of oxidation would indicate O2, wouldn't it? Sure, oxygen atoms might have been present in molecules like CO2, but that wouldn't explain oxidation evidence? What you say is correct, life processes using CO2 would create atmospheric oxygen over time, not oxygen atoms themselves. So oxygen *atoms* were indeed present, but the oxidation would indicate O2 *molecules*.
(someone please correct me if I'm wrong, its been a long time since my last chemistry class)
Well, actually there are radar-absorbing materials, in addition to the facetted surfaces that merely 'deflect' the radar energy. (mind you, this is from watching the Discovery Channel waaay too much :-) )
It is true from what I recall that the major radar-evading mechanism of the f-117a is the physical structure which causes the radar energy to be reflected by flat surfaces, rather than by rounded surfaces on traditional aircraft that provide the tell-tale signatures that radar systems key on.
But, in addition, radar absorbing materials are used in the construction that reduce the energy returned from critical areas like bomb-bay doors and the canopy.
Don't agree? Check out howstuffworks.com
Oh geezus, if that don't set him off, I can't imagine what would!
I'm not real passionate on the whole GNU/Linux controversy one way or another, but this is pretty irritating. Sheesh, they couldn't go to gnu.org and steal some of the background there instead of coming up with this boner?
Back on-topic, it is good at least to get some 'good' press about GNU and Linux and encryption out in the mainstream. The average reader won't notice or care about this misstatement, but will probably pick up on the implications of unrestricted encryption (hopefully).
Meanwhile, back at the CNN newsroom...
"Ya come up with any copy today with the word 'Linux' in it yet?"
"Well, sorta... there's this GNUpg thing, and I think its kinda about Linux, but I don't know what this GNU thing is."
"Go ask Harry, he did a story last week about RedHat and he knows all about that stuff. C'mon - we got a deadline!"
"Uh, oh... Harry?"
"Oh yeah, GNU is that thing that they started in 84, MIT, I think... yeah, right.. they're the ones who claim they invented Linux and want to make sure you call it GNU/Linux. I got yelled at a press conference once by one of their guys."
Well that shouldn't be too hard. ;-)
"We must ensure that our country remains the technological leader of the universe in order to reserve the rightful place in the hierarch of mankind that our children deserve. Therefore, I submit to this distinguished body, that we must dis-allow the importation of any encryption technology onto our hallowed American soil that would seek to undermine the very moral and ethical fabric of our socienty and force our children to submit to functioning on the same pathetic level as the children of all the other nations on this Earth!"
(to be read in the monotone drawl of your favorite clueless bible-belt Senator).
Um, no. This is a a CD player that can decode MP3 files from a CD. A RIO (AFAIK) has no CD motor to spin so there is little use in comparing its battery life here.
>The fact that you hate Luke for being whingy means that he has done his job perfectly
Nope, you miss the point I was trying to make. I don't hate Luke for being whiny. I love Luke's character, he starts out as a naieve (sp?) snotty punk and ends up beating the crap out of his dad. Mark Hammil's delivery through most of the series is distracting, but not all that bad. What I can't stand the most is how shallow and tinny most of the dialogue in the movies feel (fault of the author, not the actor giving the reading).
god, aint it the truth!
"but uncle owen, I was going to go to Tashe Station to pick up some power converters!"
man I cringe at a couple of those crappy lines everytime I see that movie. (but for some sick reason, I still love all 3). I used to think it was just the crap way Hammil delivered some of the lines, but I have to agree that some of Sir Alec's were equally banal and although he pulled them off very well, they still are trite and shallow. "stretch out with your *feelings*".
Some of the best lines are Han Solo's but I've heard that Harrison Ford ad-libbed most of those anyway. Yeah, Lucas was able to (create/adapt/rip-off) some pretty good immersive visual environments, but he should have left off some of the wordsmithing of the dialogue to someone else more able (IMO).
Go to your user page, Rob has added your 'instant Karma' number.
:-)
(good comments too, BTW)
That's a really good point, and I have to point out that, at least in my case, it is actually usually a good thing when I have a hightened awareness when I have points. When I read /. on a daily basis, I do it at -1 mostly because I get a wierd feeling when I see a +3 post attached to a post below my threshold - I have to click on it to see what the +3 post is responding to. Usually I just skim the comments sorted by score until I get the general idea then I'll go look at the article if it seems interesting.
/. when reading as a moderator than other times, and it wouldn't bother me a bit to do it that way more often.
When I drop into an article an see that I have points, my MO changes. Usually, I will go get a cup of coffee, take my time reading the article then go back and refresh the comments in chronological order and I read them carefully from top to bottom, focusing on promoting good comments. Sometimes I'll go back to the article to see if the comment really is on-topic and adds to the discussion.
More often than not, I won't score any posts down on the first pass. But I find that I pay more attention to the 'bad' posts than I would under normal reading. I'll apply my points on the comments i've scored then go read another article.
Later I'll come back and sort the page by scores and go to the bottom to see if any ofmy 'bad' posts got marked down and if they seem to be unfairly scored, I will sometimes move them up.
I guess the gist is that I feel like I get a little more out of
(ps. I thought moderators weren't supposed to reveal their identities, although everyone seems to be 'breaking' this rule today so Rob, pleas don't bust me)
I can think of one use for this, I can't always 'haul my ass' to my computer when I'm trying to supervise my children. Lots of times I'll be out in the yard keeping an eye on the kids and wish I could do some light surfing or read my mail. I've thought of getting a laptop and a wireless lan setup but I'm not sure if I can justify the expense. If this thing were just as expensive, yeah - forget it. If it comes in a a couple hundred, it would be a real convenience. Added to that whatever stand-alone features it has when its out of range of its wireless connection to my home computer.
Hmm... now just update the server to display the right images on the main page (apple, us flag, crypto, hardware) and you'll be all set.
(nice job overall, tho). *clap clap clap*
whitespace can be your friend :-)
...and you could overclock the hell out of them with the abundance of refrigerant available!
(god i'm bored today!)
would be sweeeet! :-D
(sirry, had to do it)
Surf the web standing in front of my fridge? Nope.
Get and send e-mail? Not unless I'm sending a shopping list to my wife at work with what we're out of.
Food management? For sure! I've thought about this before where it would be cool if there was an easy way to keep a list of what was in my fridge, and also keep a list of what I need on the next shopping trip. Sure, I can kind of do this with a dry-erase board - but the idea of running a a database and spreadsheet application over Linux on my refrigerator is an appealing idea!
Now let me have recepies and cookbooks and nutritional data handy and I would find this very interesting.
Again, sure you could do this with a laptop that doesn't have to be imbedded in the appliance, buteventually when imbedded devices are cheap and ubiquitous (sp?), why not have interesting application ideas already worked out and refined?
no argument. see my reply to the previous post
No, don't get me wrong, I have a huge distrust of these government agencies' ability and track record to abuse their power. I was just chuckling at the paranioa that your multimedia desktop PC is somehow going to become a magic doorway for the spooks to watch you brush your teeth.
Ooooh, and I bet they could grab your web cam and take compromising pictures of you with your girlfriend in bed if the computer is in your room!
And they could remotely install a plug-in to get your keyboard to capture your fingerprints in case you download any kiddie porn, and turn your monitor into an x-ray machine so they can take pictures of your brain while you play quake to tell if you are a potential school-shooter.
Geez, too bad the NSA doesn't have anything better to do than spy on average computer hackers. Guess they got tired of interecpting everyone's email and following foriegn nationals around watching for them to rent u-hauls and buy fertilizer.
You might wanna go back and try that with NSA, CIA FBI and AT&T also! ;-)
...not to mention the little shadowman emblem you get to peel and stick on your case after you've scraped the windows logo off! :-)
Was that the name of the story? God, it has been a while since I read that. Trying to remember, didn't they use the same medicine on a retarded man after they experimented with the mouse. If I remember, the guy grew to superhuman intelligence then it all slipped away. Seem to remember the mouse dropped off first and dies before the guy had the same thing happen.
>For whatever reason, Intel doesn't understand that to sell a good looking consumer computer, it still has to be recognizable as a computer.
<sarcasm>c'mon! I'm sure they know far better than any of us *exactly* how good looking consumer computers have to look nothing like traditional computers! After all, they spent $millions on consumer focus groups and marketing consultants to come to this conclusion!</sarcasm>
Yeah, their customer focus demographic was effeminate cappucino junkies, coincidentally the same compositionas the marketing consultancy staff.