Re:Smoking bans: reducing freedom, or increasing i
on
2006's Bill of Wrongs
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· Score: 1
The right isn't that of the smoker vs. non-smoker it's the right of the store/bar/restaurant owner. Banning smoking in public buildings is fine. Banning smoking in the restaurant I own is not fine. Owners of these establishments should be able to make them smoking or non-smoking if they want to. In fact where I live a few non-smoking bars have opened and they are doing great business. As the balance starts to tip where there are more non-smokers than smokers I expect even more bars to switch over.
A better example of brute force sports are shot put, javelin, high jump, weightlifting and even 100m dash.
Even in these sports technique is a big factor. Something like shot put, javelin, and high jump are all about timing and technique. Brute force alone won't get it done against similar competition. Even something like weightlifting, which seems like brute force, is also very much about technique. Take something as simple as a bench press. By altering someones technique you can add and subtract large amounts to and from their max.
I finally played with a Zune in BB the other day. It was a display model and could have been busted by someone, but I was able to play a video on it. The interface buttons felt like cheap plastic, especially the wheel thing they have on it. The form factor I also found poor. It's thick and boxy. The bigger screen seemed okay, but the brightness didn't look any different than the ipod right next to it. I guess if you really wanted a portable video player the zune might* be a better option. I couldn't see wearing something like that to the gym or carrying it around just for music though.
As far as scratching goes, I'm pretty sure anyone who gets any of these players usually gets some sort of case with it. So that seems like a useless point.
Most are saying Zune 1.0 lost this round, but that's typical MS fashion. It'll be interesting to see Zune 2.0.
*I also watched a fast action skate video on the zune and (I'm guessing b/c the screen is the same res, but bigger?) I could see more pixelation than I do while watching similar speed surf videos, etc... on the ipod.
Why? They are providing you the cover art for free in an easy and convenient way. In return you have to sign up for an account that they hope one day you'll use. You don't have to ever buy anything.
The so called "halo" effect the iPod is claimed to have on this site and elsewhere doesn't seem to exist where I live.
I was in Denver last week (stuck b/c of the snowstorm) with time to kill and went into an apple store for the first time. They were selling ipods as fast as they could unpack the boxes. Anyway, there were tons of people looking at MBs (a few buying). I think the halo effect is there and starting to work, but moving from a $100-$200 purchase (which can be an impulse buy for many people) to a $1000+ purchase takes time. Also, keep in mind that many people don't need to buy new computers very often. The real test will be over time as these 'new' ipod lovers PCs die will they look at apple for their next computer?
PS: I am still waiting on a MacBook Pro is something similar to either the plain Macbook or smaller.
Same thing happened to me. I've been going to BB everyday during lunch looking for a wii and have had a couple opportunities to buy a ps3. Still don't have my wii though.
But we must not assume that CO2 is the source, or sole source, of the problem when we discuss how to stop global warming.
You're also assuming that it can/should be stopped. The earth has been doing it's thing long before we were here and will be doing it after we're gone. What if this warming trend is part of a natural cycle? Do the environmentalist just want to sit back and let the environment do its thing then?
Huh? I have an ipod and none of my music is DRMed. In fact with another piece of software I can download any music I have ripped to anywhere else. Perhaps you should call yourself an anti-ITMS evangelist?
Guess what? Someone is paying those developers. Many are even being paid to work on linux.
Back on topic, if we want new content delivery systems then we have to quit stealing and demand new systems. Having a system like ITMS be moderately successful takes us in the right direction that shows people will pay to download content if it's done right.
If China creates the next super bomber, do we not lose when they use it to bomb us? If Russia creates a space-based laser, do we not lose when they shoot down our satellites?
By outsourcing old technologies it frees us up to do new technologies. China (they already do but the rest of the world) will eventually figure out the nuclear bomb whether or not we outsource to them.
There is the idea out there that if we all trade and become dependent upon each other, there will never be war again. That is just wishful thinking considering it hasn't been true even in the last hundred years. Germany and Great Britain were each other's largest trading partners before the start of World War I.
This isn't wishful thinking, this has mostly been shown. The last time the US took a isolationist stance we ended up with WWII. By tying countries together in economic ways that help not only the political elite, but also the average person in the country, there is a much lower change of going to war. The populace of the invading country are less likely to support acts of war when it hurts them directly.
The more dependent we become upon the likes of China or India, the more vulnerable we are as a nation. We may be a super power now, but that doesn't mean we will stay so in the future. We certainly will NOT stay a super power by handing over our manufacturing to China and our technology to India.
China and India are going to take our manufacturing whether the US wants them to or not. It's impossible to stop. The real way that the US is going to fall out of being a super power is our lack of importance placed on education. Things like manufacturing are old now. It's the farms or the industrial age. The be the super power of the next age you have to be the one who invents it. I personally believe that the country that comes up with the next source of energy (fusion? or something similar) will the country that leads the way. The only way that will happen here is if we encourage education and bring as many smart people here as possible. Closing our borders and turning back towards an isolationist stance does nothing of the sort.
No one is born knowing these things. It is not surprising that CS undergraduate program did not teach you exactly how to write an emulator. But as parent said, don't be scared of not knowing. None of us knew anything until we sat down, invested serious time and thought, and actually did something about it.
Well said. I'd venture a guess and say most of my workdays either start or end with me not knowing something and then (hopefully lol) figuring it out. That's the nature of CS and technology in general. The unknown and learning something new also ends up being the main draw for me.
I used to think execs (CxOs) had it easy, but once some friends started getting into those positions I've seen how much work they do. Sure they may be out playing golf or not in the office all the time, but then they are traveling 24/7, on the phone 24/7, and rarely can take any vacations w/o being interrupted. Thanks, but no thanks, unless of course it's my own company.
For the most part, most Americans have what you are saying. Many (most?) of the homeless you see are that for other reasons like being mentally ill. They aren't that way b/c they can't find a job or whatever.
What's even more interesting to me is the many Americans who are living at your line and have the means to work (and get education) to get themselves above it and don't.
Stores seem to get them in pretty regularly. You just have to check daily. Funny thing is that I went to Bestbuy the other day looking for a wii and they had 6 ps3s. Who would've thought...
I didn't explain my original comment fully. Working at work and all:)
People are driven by rewards. One of the greatest (not the only one of course) rewards out there is wealth. If you have ability and work hard you can generally become wealthy. If everyone is forced to make the same thing (and stay in the same position, and not be allowed to gain more power) regardless of ability or how hard they work, then people who have the extra ability or drive will have less motivation to use it.
I have some ability and work ethic. Why would I bust ass 12 hours/day while someone else only has to work 6 hours/day and we both end up with same reward at the end (except the other guy has more free time!)? What's going to happen is that I'll slow down and work 6 hours/day and only do as much as the least working person. This is why socialism doesn't work and can't work with human nature such that it is. Capitalism, even with all it's problems, works with human nature and not against it.
Do I do that? Hell no! I kept trying to study and have just this last year managed to learn programming. Now I am in a position to give back to society in some way with these skills.
And of course society (I use this term loosely to include all public and private orgs/individuals) should (and is if you're already on disability) give back to you most likely with wages of some sort.
The great thing about socialism is that everybody eats. The bad thing about it is that everybody eats the same food--so why should I work harder at my job? What's motivating me to work my ass off in the fields while some computer scientist programs in an air conditioned office, in the end we both get the same thing.
I disagree that everyone eats in socialism. Of course that's the ideal, but in practice it doesn't work. It's human nature to do as little as possible to get by. The problem with socialism is that it goes against human nature, in that you don't have to do anything and you're still supposed to get by. When everyone starts doing nothing, then people start starving.
How can you say that while kids keep dying for not having something to eat??? It's amazing how we have the technology for almost anything and children keep dying of hunger.
Oh my, we have to save the children...you must be talking about Africa for the most part. Kids there aren't dieing from a lack of food, but mostly from crazy regimes and govs. that take all of the supplies that are sent over there. Technology alone won't change that.
It's a sad state of affairs. And don't come with that crap that it's the way things are, or that's the way economy works, or any other bullshit. The fact that 2% of the people owns half the world's wealth is not only mind boggling
You should read Growing Artificial Societies sometime. Given simple rules like maximize my health and reproduce when I can, wealth naturally distributes this way. I can't remember the citation, but I read about a theory where the guy said even if you take all of the money in the world and distribute it evenly to everyone, it wouldn't be long till we're back in this distribution. Maybe it is just way things work (and the book above has some pretty startling examples about just this).
Also, like Bjarne said, you can write just about *anything* in C++. Can you write device drivers in VB? Can you write a multi-threaded webserver? My bet is that if you can, it'd be an ugly ugly beast.
Pick the right tool for the job. VB isn't the right tool for a multi-threaded web server as much as c++ isn't the right tool to build a front end, database data entry program. Sure you could do both in either language, but it wouldn't make much sense to.
Actually, I like VB. I believe it's good for what it's for- RAD and if properly used (as applies to any tool).
I'm posting to/. and I agree completely. Of course I'm only talking about VB6. With VB.net, it's pretty much c# with more syntax. I still don't think there are many easier or faster ways to provide quick data entry or data views into a database than VB6.
Just last week I was talking to an old friend at college and he said, "I don't know why college never bothered teaching us SQL and Database?
My CS program actually had a class on databases and SQL. It was taught from a theory standpoint (relation calc, normal forms, etc...), but also made use of Oracle and DB2 (which you had to go figure out on your own for the most part). The class ended up being a good mix of CS with actual examples of usage.
Good point, plus like I originally said I was looking at a display model (who knows what hell those go through). From what I can tell MS just isn't really pushing the zune for whatever reason. Perhaps they're just testing the waters for the 2.0 version.
I found that the individual community editions work much better than the full VS you can get from MS. For some reason I think some of the added tools/plugins that come with the full version cause very buggy behavior. I've used the c#,c++, and webdev community tools since they came out w/o any issues. Another guy in the office has the full version and he has problems all the time. Another friend of mine at a different company also has the full version, again with tons of issues. Give the community editions a shot:)
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The right isn't that of the smoker vs. non-smoker it's the right of the store/bar/restaurant owner. Banning smoking in public buildings is fine. Banning smoking in the restaurant I own is not fine. Owners of these establishments should be able to make them smoking or non-smoking if they want to. In fact where I live a few non-smoking bars have opened and they are doing great business. As the balance starts to tip where there are more non-smokers than smokers I expect even more bars to switch over.
A better example of brute force sports are shot put, javelin, high jump, weightlifting and even 100m dash.
Even in these sports technique is a big factor. Something like shot put, javelin, and high jump are all about timing and technique. Brute force alone won't get it done against similar competition. Even something like weightlifting, which seems like brute force, is also very much about technique. Take something as simple as a bench press. By altering someones technique you can add and subtract large amounts to and from their max.
I finally played with a Zune in BB the other day. It was a display model and could have been busted by someone, but I was able to play a video on it. The interface buttons felt like cheap plastic, especially the wheel thing they have on it. The form factor I also found poor. It's thick and boxy. The bigger screen seemed okay, but the brightness didn't look any different than the ipod right next to it. I guess if you really wanted a portable video player the zune might* be a better option. I couldn't see wearing something like that to the gym or carrying it around just for music though.
As far as scratching goes, I'm pretty sure anyone who gets any of these players usually gets some sort of case with it. So that seems like a useless point.
Most are saying Zune 1.0 lost this round, but that's typical MS fashion. It'll be interesting to see Zune 2.0.
*I also watched a fast action skate video on the zune and (I'm guessing b/c the screen is the same res, but bigger?) I could see more pixelation than I do while watching similar speed surf videos, etc... on the ipod.
Idiotic, if you ask me.
Why? They are providing you the cover art for free in an easy and convenient way. In return you have to sign up for an account that they hope one day you'll use. You don't have to ever buy anything.
The so called "halo" effect the iPod is claimed to have on this site and elsewhere doesn't seem to exist where I live.
I was in Denver last week (stuck b/c of the snowstorm) with time to kill and went into an apple store for the first time. They were selling ipods as fast as they could unpack the boxes. Anyway, there were tons of people looking at MBs (a few buying). I think the halo effect is there and starting to work, but moving from a $100-$200 purchase (which can be an impulse buy for many people) to a $1000+ purchase takes time. Also, keep in mind that many people don't need to buy new computers very often. The real test will be over time as these 'new' ipod lovers PCs die will they look at apple for their next computer?
PS: I am still waiting on a MacBook Pro is something similar to either the plain Macbook or smaller.
Why not just get a MB then?
Same thing happened to me. I've been going to BB everyday during lunch looking for a wii and have had a couple opportunities to buy a ps3. Still don't have my wii though.
But we must not assume that CO2 is the source, or sole source, of the problem when we discuss how to stop global warming.
You're also assuming that it can/should be stopped. The earth has been doing it's thing long before we were here and will be doing it after we're gone. What if this warming trend is part of a natural cycle? Do the environmentalist just want to sit back and let the environment do its thing then?
Huh? I have an ipod and none of my music is DRMed. In fact with another piece of software I can download any music I have ripped to anywhere else. Perhaps you should call yourself an anti-ITMS evangelist?
Guess what? Someone is paying those developers. Many are even being paid to work on linux.
Back on topic, if we want new content delivery systems then we have to quit stealing and demand new systems. Having a system like ITMS be moderately successful takes us in the right direction that shows people will pay to download content if it's done right.
If China creates the next super bomber, do we not lose when they use it to bomb us?
If Russia creates a space-based laser, do we not lose when they shoot down our satellites?
By outsourcing old technologies it frees us up to do new technologies. China (they already do but the rest of the world) will eventually figure out the nuclear bomb whether or not we outsource to them.
There is the idea out there that if we all trade and become dependent upon each other, there will never be war again. That is just wishful thinking considering it hasn't been true even in the last hundred years. Germany and Great Britain were each other's largest trading partners before the start of World War I.
This isn't wishful thinking, this has mostly been shown. The last time the US took a isolationist stance we ended up with WWII. By tying countries together in economic ways that help not only the political elite, but also the average person in the country, there is a much lower change of going to war. The populace of the invading country are less likely to support acts of war when it hurts them directly.
The more dependent we become upon the likes of China or India, the more vulnerable we are as a nation. We may be a super power now, but that doesn't mean we will stay so in the future. We certainly will NOT stay a super power by handing over our manufacturing to China and our technology to India.
China and India are going to take our manufacturing whether the US wants them to or not. It's impossible to stop. The real way that the US is going to fall out of being a super power is our lack of importance placed on education. Things like manufacturing are old now. It's the farms or the industrial age. The be the super power of the next age you have to be the one who invents it. I personally believe that the country that comes up with the next source of energy (fusion? or something similar) will the country that leads the way. The only way that will happen here is if we encourage education and bring as many smart people here as possible. Closing our borders and turning back towards an isolationist stance does nothing of the sort.
No one is born knowing these things. It is not surprising that CS undergraduate program did not teach you exactly how to write an emulator. But as parent said, don't be scared of not knowing. None of us knew anything until we sat down, invested serious time and thought, and actually did something about it.
Well said. I'd venture a guess and say most of my workdays either start or end with me not knowing something and then (hopefully lol) figuring it out. That's the nature of CS and technology in general. The unknown and learning something new also ends up being the main draw for me.
I used to think execs (CxOs) had it easy, but once some friends started getting into those positions I've seen how much work they do. Sure they may be out playing golf or not in the office all the time, but then they are traveling 24/7, on the phone 24/7, and rarely can take any vacations w/o being interrupted. Thanks, but no thanks, unless of course it's my own company.
For the most part, most Americans have what you are saying. Many (most?) of the homeless you see are that for other reasons like being mentally ill. They aren't that way b/c they can't find a job or whatever.
What's even more interesting to me is the many Americans who are living at your line and have the means to work (and get education) to get themselves above it and don't.
It's human nature to try to achieve as much as possible in life.
You're missing the "and rewarded for the achievements" part.
Stores seem to get them in pretty regularly. You just have to check daily. Funny thing is that I went to Bestbuy the other day looking for a wii and they had 6 ps3s. Who would've thought...
My question is does anyone actually make minimum wage? Even in HS working at a grocery store I made above minimum wage...
I didn't explain my original comment fully. Working at work and all :)
People are driven by rewards. One of the greatest (not the only one of course) rewards out there is wealth. If you have ability and work hard you can generally become wealthy. If everyone is forced to make the same thing (and stay in the same position, and not be allowed to gain more power) regardless of ability or how hard they work, then people who have the extra ability or drive will have less motivation to use it.
I have some ability and work ethic. Why would I bust ass 12 hours/day while someone else only has to work 6 hours/day and we both end up with same reward at the end (except the other guy has more free time!)? What's going to happen is that I'll slow down and work 6 hours/day and only do as much as the least working person. This is why socialism doesn't work and can't work with human nature such that it is. Capitalism, even with all it's problems, works with human nature and not against it.
Do I do that? Hell no! I kept trying to study and have just this last year managed to learn programming. Now I am in a position to give back to society in some way with these skills.
And of course society (I use this term loosely to include all public and private orgs/individuals) should (and is if you're already on disability) give back to you most likely with wages of some sort.
The great thing about socialism is that everybody eats. The bad thing about it is that everybody eats the same food--so why should I work harder at my job? What's motivating me to work my ass off in the fields while some computer scientist programs in an air conditioned office, in the end we both get the same thing.
I disagree that everyone eats in socialism. Of course that's the ideal, but in practice it doesn't work. It's human nature to do as little as possible to get by. The problem with socialism is that it goes against human nature, in that you don't have to do anything and you're still supposed to get by. When everyone starts doing nothing, then people start starving.
How can you say that while kids keep dying for not having something to eat??? It's amazing how we have the technology for almost anything and children keep dying of hunger.
Oh my, we have to save the children...you must be talking about Africa for the most part. Kids there aren't dieing from a lack of food, but mostly from crazy regimes and govs. that take all of the supplies that are sent over there. Technology alone won't change that.
It's a sad state of affairs. And don't come with that crap that it's the way things are, or that's the way economy works, or any other bullshit. The fact that 2% of the people owns half the world's wealth is not only mind boggling
You should read Growing Artificial Societies sometime. Given simple rules like maximize my health and reproduce when I can, wealth naturally distributes this way. I can't remember the citation, but I read about a theory where the guy said even if you take all of the money in the world and distribute it evenly to everyone, it wouldn't be long till we're back in this distribution. Maybe it is just way things work (and the book above has some pretty startling examples about just this).
Also, like Bjarne said, you can write just about *anything* in C++. Can you write device drivers in VB? Can you write a multi-threaded webserver? My bet is that if you can, it'd be an ugly ugly beast.
Pick the right tool for the job. VB isn't the right tool for a multi-threaded web server as much as c++ isn't the right tool to build a front end, database data entry program. Sure you could do both in either language, but it wouldn't make much sense to.
Actually, I like VB. I believe it's good for what it's for- RAD and if properly used (as applies to any tool).
/. and I agree completely. Of course I'm only talking about VB6. With VB.net, it's pretty much c# with more syntax. I still don't think there are many easier or faster ways to provide quick data entry or data views into a database than VB6.
I'm posting to
Just last week I was talking to an old friend at college and he said, "I don't know why college never bothered teaching us SQL and Database?
My CS program actually had a class on databases and SQL. It was taught from a theory standpoint (relation calc, normal forms, etc...), but also made use of Oracle and DB2 (which you had to go figure out on your own for the most part). The class ended up being a good mix of CS with actual examples of usage.
Like anything, having a passion for what one does will make them better at it than someone who lacks that passion.
Good point, plus like I originally said I was looking at a display model (who knows what hell those go through). From what I can tell MS just isn't really pushing the zune for whatever reason. Perhaps they're just testing the waters for the 2.0 version.
I found that the individual community editions work much better than the full VS you can get from MS. For some reason I think some of the added tools/plugins that come with the full version cause very buggy behavior. I've used the c#,c++, and webdev community tools since they came out w/o any issues. Another guy in the office has the full version and he has problems all the time. Another friend of mine at a different company also has the full version, again with tons of issues. Give the community editions a shot :)