It's no more cheating than spell-checkers and calculators.
Is it cheating to run your HTML/XML through a validator?
Is it cheating to test-compile your scripts with "perl -c"?
Is it cheating to run a hardware diagnostic to check for faults?
Humans are tool-users, technologists doubly so. This is how civilization advances: by developing processes to eliminate typical sources of error, allowing man to apply his thinking mind to higher-level problems.
I don't think the guy has a special ability; rather, he has honed in on something that a lot of people really, really want.
They keep coming back to check subsequent announcements in hope that just maybe, finally, someone has created a tool that would allow us to run Apple's operating system on cheap 'n fast x86 hardware. People have been dreaming of that for at least 15 years. However much we know it to be unlikely, you never quite give up hoping.
Campaigns are realizing that blogs are very popular because people want to read about what real people think...
This is not entirely true. I say that with confidence, because it doesn't describe why I read blogs, and therefore is provably non-universal.
I don't read blogs because I'm "interested" in what "real people" think. I think most "real people" are uninteresting dorks. Rather, I'm interested in finding an articulate and well-expressed thought that differs from my own -- something that I couldn't have thought of, but is sufficiently well-backed that it just may be superior to my original position.
In that light, I don't care if the blogger is being paid. In fact, I don't care if the blogger actually believes what they wrote. Hell, I don't believe half of what I write (including this? not sayin!) Rather, I read good bloggers for the same reason I read any articulate writer (Noonan and Dowd, Sullivan and Will) -- because they are mighty word-smiths who can give any idea a powerful and compelling defense.
I want to read each idea framed by its most articulate sage. I want each idea to be expressed in its most effective and persuasive context. That way I feel assured that I've given it the fullest and most open audience; given each proposal "its best shot" as it were. Then I can either accept it or shoot it down with conviction that I acted in reasonably full knowledge.
Bloggers aren't meant to be "reporters." You worry that "nobody would trust what they were reading anymore," but good heavens, why would you trust any blogger in the first place? Placing trust in the blogger would be an implicit Appeal to Authority. Don't do it. Any blogger can be biased, bought, or simplest of all wrong.
You should be evaluating the ideas they defend, rather than the validating the credentials of the defender. If John Kerry or George Bush, Fidel Castro or Kim Jong Il, wanted to hire a top-flight writer to lucidly expound upon the best and finest merits of their platforms, then more power to them. If one function of the blogosphere is to provide an open market for ideas, then let us allow each idea the capitalist right to market itself as fluently as it may. Then we may most surely discern the defensible from the ribald, the emotive from the rational.
Then a lot of people who also didn't read the proposed City Ordinance have a fight about the merits of proposals which have never been proposed. Par for the course for this place.
Point taken, but I don't see this as an entirely bad thing.
People post about what is close to their heart. The proposal touched on some issues which are very dear to some people. They're taking this opportunity to make plain to all those politicians who read Slashdot (hah) -- or rather, the bloggers and commentators who do read Slashdot -- the depth and intensity of their convictions.
It's a way of saying, "Hey, you're getting mighty close to my personal space; how about backin' off a few paces?" It's good to sound off and sound the depths of the waters you're navigating. Maybe this particular proposal is still in the shallows, but it's veering uncomfortably close to dark chasms where we really don't want to go.
Why were the parent (and grandparent) modded Troll? When did truth, or even someone's opinion of "truth", suddenly go out of fashion on Slashdot?
This story is about the right to comment on politics, and moderators are thumping anyone who disagrees with them. What the hell?
Fortunately, readers have the "right" to set our reading preferences to full inclusion, but I find it disturbing when long-time community members (moderators) squelch dissent in "YRO." I didn't think that's what we were about.
I'm not a VOIP fanatic myself (though I've business friends who are), but wireless and RFID are certainly interesting. I think most people see the fascinating implications for wireless by themselves, so let me try to preach RFID for a moment.
Computer technology spans many "core" disciplines: processing (figuring things out), communication (hooking people and things together), visualization (graphics & simulations), etc. But one of the most significant has always been information: instant automated access to the who, what, and when of the world. ("Why," for the nonce, remains left to we mere mortals:-)
But while computers provide wonderful database access to that information, we still need someone to type most of it in. You can't OCR an invoice until it's been keyed; eye-safety and unobstructed line-of-sight requirements sharply bound barcode scalability; and ATR (automatic target recognition) "isn't there yet" in a big way.
If you want real-time access to real-world data about real-world objects, then you need some kind of inexpensive wireless automated tracking/ID mechanism which can be remotely queried through simple obstacles (cloth, paper, etc). RFID provides that.
Combined with wireless networking, RFID opens up a Pandora's Box of interesting new possibilities -- some wonderful, some frightening, especially from the privacy standpoint. But just because the "killer apps" haven't yet been identified and married to effective markets doesn't mean they aren't there.
Many other computer technologies languished on the sidelines for a few years before the groundbreaking new applications "clicked." Don't give up on these three just yet!
Well, it did come with an Illinois-shaped key featuring a gasoline pump, and another one oddly festooned with the flag of the Dominican Republic, but I've been afraid to touch either.
This is my first time reading Slashdot on the new Dell I just got from IT. I was astonished at the current Dell corporate configuration:
DVI video (no VGA)...didn't PC folks always mock Macs for having non-standard video ports?
no floppy drive...ditto
monitor that rotates into "portrait" mode...instant flashback to old Mac "PageMaker" displays (with SCSI monitor cables!)
all-black look (NextStation, anyone?)
borderless form-fitting keyboard (IIgs!)
nary a PS/2 port
LCD-only monitor option
Now, I'm not saying that any of these things are new to Dell/Wintel, or that Apple necessarily invented them. But they are all attributes which were at one time commonly associated with Apple, and they're now part of our default corporate Dell configuration.
It's a weird world.
(Disclaimer: I have Windows & OS-X boxen at home.)
A dorm hallway could solve the whole issue by downloading 1 copy of Outkast's "Hey YA", and then sharing it with each other. Instead kids prefer to download crappy songs in massive parallel groups.
Um...I don't think you understand how BitTorrent works. When one kid at the university downloads the song and keeps the torrent open, every other kid on the network *can* share the file at ridiculously high speeds.
"Massively parallel groups" is exactly what turns BitTrickle into BitTide into BitTorrent.
"The person who allegedly leaked the first episode of Doctor Who onto the internet has been sacked. The BBC did not provide details about the individual, saying only that the person worked for a 'third-party company in Canada.'
"The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) - one of the BBC's international production partners - investigated the leak and found the person responsible.
"In a statement, BBC Worldwide said: 'After a thorough investigation by BBC Worldwide's Canadian broadcast partner, the source of the leak of episode one of the new Doctor Who series has been traced to a third party company in Canada which had an early preview copy for legitimate purposes.'
"'The individual responsible for the leak has had their employment terminated by that company as a result.'"
As great a person as you probably are, you're not likely to make many close friendships if that's your reflex. You've got to open up and take risks to form genuine relationships.
Off the top of my head, I would guess this is an expression of the American reflex for democracy and freedom of expression. That is, if a crowd of people are gathered and an opinion is uttered, Americans automatically feel they have a right to "vote" on the worth of that opinion. Cheering and applause is the simplest expression of that vote.
While things like Slashdot, blogs, Civilian Band and short-wave radio, "letters to the editor", and so forth are all found in other countries (and many originated beyond our borders), I don't think there are many other countries in which the populace has so determinedly availed themselves of the right and indeed responsibility to exercise and express their capacity for critical judgement.
I'm aware that not every opinion is equally well-considered or defensible, and that some in other cultures will consider this American insistance on reactive involvement to be obnoxious and even counter-productive. However, it certainly keeps the free flow of ideas alive, and makes things like Slashdot more fun:-)
Representative institutions are of little value, and may be a mere instrument of tyranny or intrigue, when the generality of electors are not sufficiently interested in their own government to give their vote...
John Stuart Mill, Representative Government, 1861
The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas. The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.
Mr. Justice Holmes, Abrams vs. United States, 1919
It is impossible, if no more than one opinion is uttered, to make choice of the best: a man is forced then to follow whatever advice may have been given him; but if opposite speeches are delivered, then choice can be exercised.
Herodotus, on freedom of discussion
The female lead (unknow to us americans, so i won't call her by name) acted like the typical Doctor sidekick: confused, panicky, causing more trouble than she's worth.
Um, that's just wrong, dude. The closing lines were very clear:
Rose: You would have failed miserably without me.
Doctor: Yes, I would have.
The episode was named, scripted, and structured specifically to introduce Rose as one of the "active" companions (like Ace), rather than the old Victoria-style screamers.
Gah. They're not "full 2hr episodes". They're serialized stories, with cliffhanger endings that are supposed to form a break in continuity.
A lot of the early video releases used the rolled-up American "movie" versions, and they're nowhere near as good. You're supposed to hear the closing music cut in, just as the monster is about to grab the girl (preferably Sarah Jane Smith).
That's where the horror comes in. Otherwise, you carry through for a few more seconds, and realize it's just a corpse / costume / target / whatever. No chill-thrill at all...
How's this for DRM? Instead of buying the channel (and having to record the episodes), skip the middle-man. (Especially since you can't get the channel, regardless.)
Of course it's a smart question. Obviously, it's a real question. Once the test becomes readily available, doctors are going to ask plenty of people that question, as precursor to asking whether they would like to undergo the test. Unless you prefer to make up such answers on the spur of the moment, you'd do well to consider it in advance.
If your post was rhetorical, and indicated that you would never want to know those things, then fine, but others have their own right to choose, and many will choose to know. I would.
For one thing, I'd want to know because it would spur me to get off my ass and file a Living Will so I didn't drag my whole family through the Terry Schiavo case. I'd move some investments around and make some "gifts" to minimize the Death Tax and preserve as much as I could for my heirs.
I'd tell or write some things down for my sons that, perhaps, I would have otherwise "always intended" to tell them, but never quite get around to. I'd take that trip to Rome or Tokyo or wherever that I'd always kinda wanted but never done.
And then I'd row out into the middle of a lake with a bottle of scotch, my sax, and some Bach:-)
Slashdot Mirror
Is it cheating to run your HTML/XML through a validator?
Is it cheating to test-compile your scripts with "perl -c"?
Is it cheating to run a hardware diagnostic to check for faults?
Humans are tool-users, technologists doubly so. This is how civilization advances: by developing processes to eliminate typical sources of error, allowing man to apply his thinking mind to higher-level problems.
They keep coming back to check subsequent announcements in hope that just maybe, finally, someone has created a tool that would allow us to run Apple's operating system on cheap 'n fast x86 hardware. People have been dreaming of that for at least 15 years. However much we know it to be unlikely, you never quite give up hoping.
-Inveterate Sucker
I don't read blogs because I'm "interested" in what "real people" think. I think most "real people" are uninteresting dorks. Rather, I'm interested in finding an articulate and well-expressed thought that differs from my own -- something that I couldn't have thought of, but is sufficiently well-backed that it just may be superior to my original position.
In that light, I don't care if the blogger is being paid. In fact, I don't care if the blogger actually believes what they wrote. Hell, I don't believe half of what I write (including this? not sayin!) Rather, I read good bloggers for the same reason I read any articulate writer (Noonan and Dowd, Sullivan and Will) -- because they are mighty word-smiths who can give any idea a powerful and compelling defense.
I want to read each idea framed by its most articulate sage. I want each idea to be expressed in its most effective and persuasive context. That way I feel assured that I've given it the fullest and most open audience; given each proposal "its best shot" as it were. Then I can either accept it or shoot it down with conviction that I acted in reasonably full knowledge.
Bloggers aren't meant to be "reporters." You worry that "nobody would trust what they were reading anymore," but good heavens, why would you trust any blogger in the first place? Placing trust in the blogger would be an implicit Appeal to Authority. Don't do it. Any blogger can be biased, bought, or simplest of all wrong.
You should be evaluating the ideas they defend, rather than the validating the credentials of the defender. If John Kerry or George Bush, Fidel Castro or Kim Jong Il, wanted to hire a top-flight writer to lucidly expound upon the best and finest merits of their platforms, then more power to them. If one function of the blogosphere is to provide an open market for ideas, then let us allow each idea the capitalist right to market itself as fluently as it may. Then we may most surely discern the defensible from the ribald, the emotive from the rational.
>
> Wrong.
>
> [snip]
>
> Any judge who tries to make a distinction needs to be killed.
Ah-hmm. I can see why you feel such antipathy for people who exercise "judgment" to make "distinctions" :-)
People post about what is close to their heart. The proposal touched on some issues which are very dear to some people. They're taking this opportunity to make plain to all those politicians who read Slashdot (hah) -- or rather, the bloggers and commentators who do read Slashdot -- the depth and intensity of their convictions.
It's a way of saying, "Hey, you're getting mighty close to my personal space; how about backin' off a few paces?" It's good to sound off and sound the depths of the waters you're navigating. Maybe this particular proposal is still in the shallows, but it's veering uncomfortably close to dark chasms where we really don't want to go.
This story is about the right to comment on politics, and moderators are thumping anyone who disagrees with them. What the hell?
Fortunately, readers have the "right" to set our reading preferences to full inclusion, but I find it disturbing when long-time community members (moderators) squelch dissent in "YRO." I didn't think that's what we were about.
Computer technology spans many "core" disciplines: processing (figuring things out), communication (hooking people and things together), visualization (graphics & simulations), etc. But one of the most significant has always been information: instant automated access to the who, what, and when of the world. ("Why," for the nonce, remains left to we mere mortals :-)
But while computers provide wonderful database access to that information, we still need someone to type most of it in. You can't OCR an invoice until it's been keyed; eye-safety and unobstructed line-of-sight requirements sharply bound barcode scalability; and ATR (automatic target recognition) "isn't there yet" in a big way.
If you want real-time access to real-world data about real-world objects, then you need some kind of inexpensive wireless automated tracking/ID mechanism which can be remotely queried through simple obstacles (cloth, paper, etc). RFID provides that.
Combined with wireless networking, RFID opens up a Pandora's Box of interesting new possibilities -- some wonderful, some frightening, especially from the privacy standpoint. But just because the "killer apps" haven't yet been identified and married to effective markets doesn't mean they aren't there.
Many other computer technologies languished on the sidelines for a few years before the groundbreaking new applications "clicked." Don't give up on these three just yet!
- DVI video (no VGA)...didn't PC folks always mock Macs for having non-standard video ports?
- no floppy drive...ditto
- monitor that rotates into "portrait" mode...instant flashback to old Mac "PageMaker" displays (with SCSI monitor cables!)
- all-black look (NextStation, anyone?)
- borderless form-fitting keyboard (IIgs!)
- nary a PS/2 port
- LCD-only monitor option
Now, I'm not saying that any of these things are new to Dell/Wintel, or that Apple necessarily invented them. But they are all attributes which were at one time commonly associated with Apple, and they're now part of our default corporate Dell configuration.It's a weird world.
(Disclaimer: I have Windows & OS-X boxen at home.)
"Massively parallel groups" is exactly what turns BitTrickle into BitTide into BitTorrent.
"The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) - one of the BBC's international production partners - investigated the leak and found the person responsible.
"In a statement, BBC Worldwide said: 'After a thorough investigation by BBC Worldwide's Canadian broadcast partner, the source of the leak of episode one of the new Doctor Who series has been traced to a third party company in Canada which had an early preview copy for legitimate purposes.'
"'The individual responsible for the leak has had their employment terminated by that company as a result.'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_ra dio/4378881.stm
As great a person as you probably are, you're not likely to make many close friendships if that's your reflex. You've got to open up and take risks to form genuine relationships.
While things like Slashdot, blogs, Civilian Band and short-wave radio, "letters to the editor", and so forth are all found in other countries (and many originated beyond our borders), I don't think there are many other countries in which the populace has so determinedly availed themselves of the right and indeed responsibility to exercise and express their capacity for critical judgement.
I'm aware that not every opinion is equally well-considered or defensible, and that some in other cultures will consider this American insistance on reactive involvement to be obnoxious and even counter-productive. However, it certainly keeps the free flow of ideas alive, and makes things like Slashdot more fun :-)
Hey, it's cool...I was getting Dave Lister chills all over.
Rose: You would have failed miserably without me.
Doctor: Yes, I would have.
The episode was named, scripted, and structured specifically to introduce Rose as one of the "active" companions (like Ace), rather than the old Victoria-style screamers.
Opened like a pop video, sequed smoothly into Hinchcliffian horror, then the Doctor showed up with proper English humor. Sweet.
Plus the best S/FX I'd ever seen in the series (unsurprisingly, given the leaps in CGI), and some of the better incidental music I remembered.
A lot of the early video releases used the rolled-up American "movie" versions, and they're nowhere near as good. You're supposed to hear the closing music cut in, just as the monster is about to grab the girl (preferably Sarah Jane Smith).
That's where the horror comes in. Otherwise, you carry through for a few more seconds, and realize it's just a corpse / costume / target / whatever. No chill-thrill at all...
- The Young Ones: Every Stoopid Episode
- Waiting for God
Check this out, too:- Hetty Wainthrop: Season One
Hyacinth Bucket and Merry Brandybuck...can't beat that with a stick.I wouldn't waste my time on Yes, Minister. Paul Eddington is good, but British politics are just as depressing as the American version.
And Faulty Towers, of course. *sigh*
If your post was rhetorical, and indicated that you would never want to know those things, then fine, but others have their own right to choose, and many will choose to know. I would.
For one thing, I'd want to know because it would spur me to get off my ass and file a Living Will so I didn't drag my whole family through the Terry Schiavo case. I'd move some investments around and make some "gifts" to minimize the Death Tax and preserve as much as I could for my heirs.
I'd tell or write some things down for my sons that, perhaps, I would have otherwise "always intended" to tell them, but never quite get around to. I'd take that trip to Rome or Tokyo or wherever that I'd always kinda wanted but never done.
And then I'd row out into the middle of a lake with a bottle of scotch, my sax, and some Bach :-)
The article didn't say, but I think 500lb of concrete would want ~5 gallons (50lb) of water, too.
When you add it all up, it does cast rather a negative light on things.